Hi guys, I'm new here although I do have some friends that members. I hate to ask for a favor being a 'newbie' but I'm searching for pictures of Mason Dixon or 75-80 Dragway from the late 60's and early 70's. I'm really looking for some of a green 67 Shelby that says Mr.Preston on the side (see attached). This is my Dad's car that he raced back then. He actually raced there years before in different cars like his 56 Mercury, 63 Galaxie, etc but this was undoubtedly his favorite. We dont have many pics of it so any would be very appreciated, even if it's just in the background, etc. Any and all pics from Mason Dixon or 75-80 would be appreciated. Some cars that he raced againist were Mr.Clean, The Matador, Wild Child, That Dart,Hemi Hunter, Super Cuda, etc. Feel free to post them here, private message me or e-mail me, I have some pics from back then I'll be happy to share as well. Thanks, Div1Racer.
Is this the car that wound up at purvis ford and they raced up into the 90,s even while doing pro stock? Any summerduck racers here? They might know.
I remember the Wild Child race car from 75-80 Dragaway. It was an American Motors Javelin or AMX. It pulled the wheels off the ground and drug the rear bumper every time Sorry but I do not remember your dad's car.....looks cool though
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=268950&highlight=mason+dixon search is your friend... that said I too would like to see some from the late 60s too! esp from 75/80
No, he never sold the car. He did race it at and other cars at Summeduck, he even raced at the Duck when the still started with flags instead of a tree. Div1Racer.
Here's some pics of Jimmy Raffensberger's Nova the King Duce (Deuce). He raced at Mason dixon and 75-80. The track shot is 75-80.
Yeah, I remember "Mr. Preston", and I saw him race many, many times. When I was living in Baltimore County in 1962, I made the long drive to Monrovia and raced my '52 Chevy in N/S at the track. Later, I moved to Carroll County and that's when I started working at the track. I announced at 75-80 for years and years, starting around 1970. I have many fond memories of that track.
I appreciate DYNO360 bringing it back up. A lot of folks have come and gone since 2008. Hopefully this will inspire some new people to post up pictures and memories. He just joined up in July and with his background I'm sure he has some great tales to relate.
Yeah, the "Deuces" were wild at 75-80. In addition to Rafensberger's King Deuce, there was Buddy "Anvil Arm" Bodmer's Double Deuce, and Sonny Dix's B/S Little Beaver. Nelson Grimes had a beautiful '66 called Poison Ivy. Chub Whiticker (sp?) had a modified production Chevy II, the Rush, that always ran under the index. I know I'm forgetting a lot of Chevy IIs, but there were so many cars and so many memories.
I remember a 1960 Chevy that ran at 75-80. It was called the Bracket Squad. Car was painted police colors in blue and white. Had a police light on the roof. Man, when that car launched it pulled the left front wheel about 2 feet in the air. Looked like the car was twisting in half. Another that comes to mind was a Corvette called the Virginia Gentleman. An older guy owned and raced it. I talked with him one evening up there and he told me he had quit drinking and instead used the money he wasted on booze to build and maintain the Vette. Hence the "Virginia Gentleman" name. Also remember the Malco super coupe and the malco super vette. Lot of nice memories!
Hey Dyno360, an old friend of mine used to announce up at 75-80 back in the 70's and 80's. His name is Jim Whelan. Just curious if you knew him.
Name sounds familiar, but I can't picture the guy. Yeah, the announcers at 75-80 were a bunch of wild guys, starting with Chauncey Kramer who announced in the early days when the timing tower had no windows, just a roof. His favorite line was saying "miles per day" instead of mph when reading the ets and speeds of the car. He was a show in himself. After Chaucey, a guy named Joel announced for many years. His career ended abruptly when his wife arrived one night without notice and caught him with his girl friend in the tower. The tower was rockin'. I was working the staging lanes that night and Bill Wilcom's brother, Webber, knew that I had announced at York US 30 and came and got me to fill in. That same night I started announcing at the track. A smooth talker was Bob Bartee that announced for a little while. Also, Jimmy Warfield was a hoot. He also had a g***er, the Iron ****erfly, that he would sometimes race. He said some things that I won't mention, that still make me laugh. There was another guy, who also was a racer that did some announcing, I think his name was Al Kitchen. He lived in Hagerstown and was a really nice guy. So many memories. I'll get off my soapbox now, I have talked too long.
There is a thread on Facebook for those that are on it that has a lot of old photos from 75-80. It is called 75-80 Photos and Memories. This link may work for you. https://www.facebook.com/groups/228819823955962/
DYNO 360....Do you recall a white 55 chevy that ran C or D/Gas at 75-80. If I recall the car came out of DC....Thanks JT
Link worked, but it is a "closed group". You've got to join to see or add pictures? Don't know too much about Facebook. Too bad, it looked interesting.
Can't recall right now, let me think on it. 75-80 had many modified eliminators, in the summer it was almost every Saturday night. So many outstanding cars. They even had A/G***ers from time to time, including "Big Dave" Saul's blue corvette (would run on the index - very fast) and a Willys coupe called the "Eliminator". Larry Kopp's "Mad Man" '57 wagon won a lot of 'em. Of course Chris Lang had his Malco Vette there from time to time, along with Jimmy Porterfield's "Patriot" corvette out of Martinsburg, WV. So many cars my head is spinning. Some well known white '55 g***ers were the "Rapid Rodent" and also the "Stormin Bull", but they were from PA or NJ. At York US 30 there was a white '55 called "Mr. Modified", driven by Ronnie Bristoe. A 4 spd, 327, dual quad speedster. Had a four tube collector coming out each fender with "noise" lettered above. Won a lot of races at York, but never ran at 75-80. I been looking for a picture of that car for weeks. When I find it I'll post.
'58 thru '64 Chevys will twist like that, due to the "X" frame. Yeah, I recall the "Bracket Squad". There was another one (I think called Super Trooper), a Mopar ex state police cruiser. Lettered on the back edge of the trunk was "Was Fuzz, now is the Racer's Pacer". Had a big cartoon on the trunk too, featuring "Little Annie Fannie" from ******* fame taking a bubble bath (in order to keep it PC). Somebody could really paint professionally, it was that good. Don't remember the driver's name, but he was having fun. The "Virginia Gentleman" was a cl*** act. Raced every week.
That's "Mr Modified" at 75-80 alright. Wow, I never knew he ran there! Great pictures. It was one of my favorite g***ers. I think he ran a modified corvette at Cecil County Dragway after running the '55 Chevy. My all time favorite g***er was "Scarlet Fever". I saw it in the pits at the U.S. Nationals in '62 or '63, but never saw it run. What drove me wild was painted in tiny letters on the moon tank were the words, "Scarlet Fever Medicine". How cool is that!
There has to be a mistake in this photo. Here we have a real running "B" g***er and not a straight axle in sight.