I retired from drag racing and my job in 1993. After that, I restored three Pontiacs and won a room full of trophys and retired from that in 2001. Trophys is all I have to show for a expenditure of $100,000 and countless hours of my time. Now I an just trying stay alive (cancer, diabetes) and keep my 1991 S10 Blazer 4x4 running. It is the only toy I have left, except for my wife. My daughter lives in North Carolina and is married to "Mad Dog" Dave Ball, a Englishman from Preston, Lancashire County England. Mad Dog has made nearly 3,000 HALO parachute jumps and has not broken a thing, yet. He has had only two chute failures where he had to use his reserve. Dave's pastime is why his name is MAD DOG.....He said I am MAD too for going through the 1/4 mile at 180 MPH with my **** 6" from the ground!
My prostate cancer is low to medium grade, technically called Gleason 6. Gleason 1 to 5 requires no treatment. Gleason 8 to 10 can be terminal. If you catch cancer before it gets to Gleason 8, it can be destroyed by radiation treatment. I would bet that 30% of males have some grade of prostate cancer and don't know it. My diabetes is Type 2 and is not bad if it is controlled with oral medication such as metformin. I inherited diabetes from my mother. Diabetes does strange things to your body. I am so weak that I can barely walk and I would never be able to pick up another cylinder head again. In 1966, Ed Mabry built our first dragster ch***is (T-Bar Ch***is I think) and Wayne Calvert in Denton Texas built our first Jr. Fuel engine. Woody Gilmore built a beautiful ch***is in 1968 and Mabry later converted it into a "flex-ch***is", meaning the frame rails would flex upward upon acceleration, keeping the front tires on the ground. We had problem with too much traction and bogging. I feel like it was due to the Enderle injectors being too big. Smaller Hilborn injectors would have been better on the low end with a sacrifice of the top end power. Never really solved the problem because Hilborn injectors were never purchased and used. The Jr. Fuel dragster and all ***ociated equipment was sold to Beaver Machine in Arlington, Texas. Beaver immediately replaced the 355 CI SB Chevy engine with a 354 CI Chrysler Hemi, which dominated the Junior Fuel cl***. The nitro-methane cl*** limited the engine size to 355 CI with fuel injection only. The Carroll Brothers, Yancy Camp and the Anderson Brothers, a**** others were in that cl***. We had one chute failure at Bill Heilscher's Green Valley Race City but the hand brake stopped the dragster before the last return road turn off. Most of the time, we never needed a chute. In 1960s, my cousin, the late Adam Bomar, was the manager of the NHRA Abilene Dragstrip. I saw Bobby Langley run off the end of that strip and into 6 foot high Johnson Gr***. He made a U-tun in the weeds and came back on the strip, engine still roaring. I could see the weeds moving around as he made his U-turn. I raced a stock 1961 Chevy Impala Sport Coupe, 348 CI/350 HP, 3x2 bbl, Turbo-Glide at Abilene Dragway, best 15.5 ET. My cousin Mark Talliaferro from Odessa Texas is currently racing his Top Alcohol dragster, 5.554 ET and 255 MPH in 2000. At the 1968 AHRA Fall Nationals, Mark Talliaferro had a '55 Chevy called "Texas Reamer" . At the AHRA Nationals, I raced a a 3900 lb. '59 Impala with a 327 CI in F1-E/HR . It had a rebuilt 1965 Chevy engine from a C/FD with, tri-Y Hedman headers, Venolia pistons, aluminum rods, Mondello FI heads, 1959 B-W T-10 4-speed, Scheiffer Rev-Loc clutch, aluminum flywheel, and a Engle flat tappet cam. Best ET 13.30. Glad to still be here!
Welcome Brother, I'm plagues with health issues as well, after some nasty stuff in the military. Our life takes on new meaning. Thanks for coming here to the H.A.M.B.! Your knowledge will be a great contribution. I too will pray for you to remain with us and continue in your endeavors. Hello and welcome from Norfolk, Virginia
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