I received several pages from Rand Man with the car pictures and specs. I'm waiting for the final pages from him before I do the brochure to present to Rob Park at KCIR Raceway. Rob Park contacted one of my partners on our car and said he wanted the HA/GR cars for a nostialgia race here at KCIR on May 24 & 25. He's suppose to call me and discuss it. However, before we commit to a race, the rules for us have to be finalized. Otherwise we may go to the race and be told we couldn't run because we didn't p*** tech. After Rand Man gets the pictures/specs to me I plan to talk to Rob and the Division 5 Tech Director ( Bob Blackwell). I've dealt with both of them in the past and think we can work out a cl***/E.T. bracket acceptable to all parties. I'll keep you up to date on the progress. If you think a bow to the East right at daybreak would help our cause by all means do it. Don't sacrifice any virgins though. Ron
Let's see Ron, I sacrificed my virginity in I believe 1956 so I think that is to long ago to have an effect on the NHRA gods. Oh, I see it was a virgin. Roy
Roy, I seriously doubt if there are any guys here that still have any form of virginity to sacrafice. Ron
Hi Ron, let's talk about those virgin HA/GR's, is your's still one and is the old ram/crooked 6 now considered one? And how many others are out there?
I believe ours is still legally a virgin, but I don't think we've quite reached "sacrificial" mood just yet. As for our crew, nobody seems to recall what "virgin" actually means. Something to do with olive oil wasn't it?
Ron, This is great news. I don't know if Minnesota is in the same NHRA division, but I'm sure hoping if HA/GR's get the OK to run in your division that a notice will be sent of other divisions, allowing them elsewhere. I have to be able to run test and tune and bracket races locally before it is sensible for me to build one.
Bob, The following states are in NHRA Division 5: Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming. There are 3 NHRA dragstrips in Minnesota @ Grove City, Moorhead and Brainerd. I think if we can get an E.T. bracket established here at Kansas City International Raceway the other NHRA Divisions 5 strips will follow. Then the logical progression would be for it to spread to the other divisions. At least thats what I'm shooting for. Equally as important right now is our guys getting together and organizing the HA/GR's so we can schedule and attend some of the nostalgia events and get recognized. We need to elect officers to represent the group, schedule races, collect dues, etc. Right now we're just a bunch of individual hot rodders with some strange cars. The guys in the Tulsa, Ok area have scheduled 8 races this year. I wonder how many cars will make the show at the 8 races. Have the car owners in the Tulsa area made a firm commitment to all 8 races? Are they going as individuals or as the HA/GR's? They have a good start in their area but need to expand it to cover the entire U.S. There are dedicated drag racers in our ranks that have spent lots of money on these cars and want to race. However, we're ****tered across the U.S. and lack the recognition that would come with an organization. I think the Tulsa area could become the nucleus for our HA/GR group. They have the largest number of cars in any area, and they damn sure have the drive needed to make it work. Comments, suggestions?? Ron
I don't have dog in the fight but I've been watching these things come along and I gotta say I'm impressed with the interest by the racers and kind of dissapointed with the hesitation of the powers that be,to giving them a go ahead. I would like to have thought that after the Indy episodes they would have been accepted/approved by now. Bob and Rob are definitely very sensible type guys and if they're in your corner you can hardly go wrong. I wonder what Zimmerman would/does? think about 'em. I'd suppose that even retired he'd be a good guy to have interested too.
Ron, You said we needed an organization so promoters could contact us. I feel that we probably could only do that if we did it via e-mail and snail mail. If we call it the E.R.A. Racing ***ociation: E.R.A. being Early Dragster ***ociation, then we could have a two paragraph by-laws and elect officers by e-mail. This would give the promoters an address and phone number to contact. We could keep in touch by e-mail and we would be able to satisfy the powers that be. I would serve in some capacity to help. We could work in conjuction with SDRA and promote these style rails over a wider area. Just some thoughts. Roy
Roy, What you've outlined is exactly what I've been thinking about. Like you said, almost everything can be done by e-mail, snail mail and on the phone. I do feel we need yearly dues ($10-25) to cover expenses. Have one of the elected officers control the money with an E.R.A. bank account, someone to coordinate event schedules, etc. I was in hopes the group in Tulsa would volunteer since the largest concentration of HA/GR cars are in that area. However, everyone is on the Internet so it could all be done online. Ron
I forgot to take my medicine so I was a little fuzzy or it could be the first signs of dementia. You're right it should be Early Rail ***ociation.Roy
Be SURE to take your medicine so theres not a race date set for Frostbite Falls Mininsota in January. LOL
Some input from the track owner / promoter at Tulsa might be of some help as far as input to NHRA on the safety record of these cars and the type of shows that have been run at his track. Input from this angle mightbe helpful for your cause. Hope this helps.
I'm kinda partial to Eary Rail Racing ***oication. They are era specific, but the extra "R" stands for racing. The racing compe***ion is a pretty important part of the organization.
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