Features Have you ever run a car down a drag strip or an oval track?

Go to a car show and ask the owner of the jacked up gasser how fast it runs. Most of the time the response is it’s never been down a track. Not picking on gassers, it’s the same with hot Rodded 60’s muscle cars to.

 

When I think back to some of the places we raced, it’s a wonder no one was killed. If you’ve ever seen pics of George Ray’s strip In Arkansas, you know what I’m saying. All the places we raced were about as sketchy. No sanctioning body, minimal regulations, run what you brung. Most tracks were about as wide as a two lane road, no center divider, maybe a cable fence in case a car went toward the spectators. Most had an ambulance on standby in case somebody crashed, which seldom happened. No such thing as a prepped track other than bleach and water burnouts. Some of the high dollar guys used VHT, but that was very few. I remember one of my first races I found out how important a tachometer was, I lined up against a guy with open headers, couldn’t hear my engine for shit to know when to shift! Seen more than one guy not have enough brakes and end up in the corn field! Drag him out, knock the dirt off, and run it again! Damn, that was a lot of fun!

All those places have now either went out of business or have evolved into decent safe places. Most of them all run boring bracket racing programs now, but a few still have some heads up stuff. But it’s so competitive you have to have truck loads of cash to even run, much less make a showing. But I sure miss the old days!

 

From my experiences it was something I've never regretted, even thought about doing it again. Give it a shot, you deserve it!

 

Did a lot of Drag racing in high school...but the best thrill was driving Atlanta Motorspeedway in a Cup car for 50 laps....@185 and having to turn left was a Hoot!

 

Yes, at Thunderbird speed way, here in Muskogee and many times on Tulsa International Speedway drag strip! Mostly on motorcycles at the drag strip! Back then I only weighed about 125 lbs! Guys would want me to ride their bike to get a better ET, than they could! It was fun!



Bones

 

I've been racing stuff down the quarter mile for the past 38 years. My first legal pass was in my mom's Thunderbird where I competed in the High School series at Sacramento Raceway. I ran a blistering 18 second quarter mile... and won my first round. I had been watching drag racing since 1981... when my dad took our family to the Nostalgia Drags at Fremont... after that, I was hooked. I've been around a circle track a couple of times... it's a lot harder that I thought... and takes way more dedication that I could ever give to it. I've also raced other things... basically, if you put me on a 2x4 with wheels and a 2hp Briggs... I would try to find another guy on a 2x4 with a briggs to race me.

 

I did that once. This big guy I knew in high school had his little 4 cylinder automatic econo-shitbox sedan at the strip for test and tune. It was slower than he thought it should be. We talked to him about weight reduction, which apparently he'd not thought of, and he proceeds to empty what seemed like his whole life's possessions from his trunk, including textbooks, tools, and a bunch of other random shit. There was a pile. He looks at me and asks "what do you weigh?" I told him (was probably 140ish at the time, I don't remember. Probably half his weight.), and he hands me the key and says "you drive". Turned his low 17-second ET into a mid 16. (Edit: Maybe it went from 18s to 17s.)

Aside from that, I've run three of my cars at Evadale, TX and Baytown, TX (RIP), and one other friend's car one night. Also did one road course driving school weekend at MSR Houston, and did a bunch of ride-alongs and some parade laps at Texas World Speedway (RIP). (Edit: No pics- everything is too new.)

 

Need a Land Speed option! I've done 60 passes at the drags, plus 6 laps at Atlanta Motor Speedway doing the Petty thing, but the land speed stuff, that's where I really flew!

 

Ran at the old Paradise Mesa strip in the 1950’s. When Goodguys put on a show south of Colorado Springs at the NASCAR track, I took my 31 A Rootleib speedster on the track and it scared the shit out of me! You had to do 70 MPH to get on the banking in a car with skinny tires, no doors, mechanical brakes and 80 year old running gear. Since my car was tuned for altitude, I had no problems getting up to speed and passing trailer queens.

 

Okay, well how 'bout a front end shot? Got a hood on it?

 

Strickly an amateur, just for fun!

 

Looks like a little 66 Dart with the flat fenders. I had a 65 GT, 273, 4 speed. I loved that car, a teacher sold it to me for $50. A guy going to work pulled out in front of me and totaled it. I asked him why he pulled out point blank in front of a car going 55? He said the guy that parked next to him had a car just like mine. I went through their parking lot and the other car was a rusted out, 300,000 mile, ex Taxi cab. My car had been garage kept since day one and only had 15-20 K on it. My teachers husband had a 64 Chrysler 300 K, and she had two Golden retrievers. He bought her the Dart to haul the dogs around.

 

Amen man, amen.

Stalwart? Relic? Pfft... they are just jealous. Still makes me grin seeing the HAMBster at full noise.

Cheers,
Harv

 

My friend built this car back around 2000. He had it NHRA certified. Made a pass and it wouldn't shift out of first. He contacted Ultra Bell and they told him what the problem was. He took it back to the track and it shifted smooth. He said it launched straight and was fast. The next year our local track closed up. He took it to my UPS Car Show the next year, and a local drive in car show a couple times. It's been tucked away in his garage ever since. A few months ago he told me he finally realized he couldn't save them all, and anything I saw was for sale. I asked, "what about the dragster?" He's into original "T's" and military vehicles. He has 3 T's to move to get the dragster out. We are waiting for the spring thaw. I've never driven an automatic with a 3500 Stahl, the anticipation is growing daily.

 

Well for me all this hot rod stuffstarted with Dad taking me to Great Lakes Dragway for the Olympics of Drag Racing and the Labor day shows as a kid so naturaly that evolved. Now Dad and I built these rwo to race at vintage drag races around Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana, as well as cruising the street.

 

Been drag racing this one for a few years. Working on safety upgrades now.

 

Hemi in a dirt track car? rare!

 

"9.70 at 143 in my '65 Karmann Ghia. 135 cu in. Alky injected and turbocharged."!!!!?! wow!

 

Probably 200 drag strips..Raced at half of them.
Maybe 2 circle tracks? ;-)

 

I still try and get out 4-5 times a year and probably always will until I forget which way is back to the pits.

 

We have a new track opening up close buy. I plan to run their points race season and see how I fare. Maybe talk with them about getting a annual vintage weekend event started.

 

Oswego, U.S. 30, Lake Geneva, Union Grove, P.I.R. and Woodburn drag strips, Sycamore Speedway clay oval, Road America road course.

 

Number of drag strips....hmmm....quite a few.

I got my 62 Vette running last June, and I've already driven it to and raced on 8 different drag strips.

All told, I think I've driven half a dozen cars down three dozen drag strips, from California to New Jersey.

 

Thanks!
I'd post a photo, but dies ist verboten!

 

Ran my T RPU on a dirt oval recently at a Jalopy Dust Up and have run it on the 1/4 mile many times (95@ 15 flat). JW

 

For my 60th birthday, my wife gave me a day at the Doug Foley School of Drag Racing. It was a 3 pass package . This is the last pass.


Not gonna lie. That pass and the fun in the shutdown area scared the crap out of me. Never need to do that again

 

I'm faster than a VW.

 

In the early 70's my friend Dennis Finley & I took his grandmothers '63 Rambler drag racing, we were kids that wanted to race, we were financially strapped but long on enthusiasm, the old Rambler had just enough power to get out of it's own way.

After a couple of trips down the track for both of us we realized everything there has been hopped up.

Dennis found a wrecked Cadillac and we bought it cheap, my granddad helped us stuff the engine and transmission under the hood of the rambler, it was a cobbled up hot rod but ran pretty good.

Gene Cromer made us a drive shaft, we played with the car a couple of years and ended up selling the car to a competitor. HRP

 

In the late 1950s I drag raced my C/A 34 coupe with 265 sbc. I ran Montgomery NY (a NASCAR dragstrip ! ) and Old Bridge NJ., a very short strip that was the front straight of an oval track. A flagman started the races. I was not very competitive but we were all having fun and made as many runs as possible before eliminations. I even won a few times. In those days the fastest cars won. No brackets. There were no sponsors then but a few speed shops entered cars.
We flat-towed our cars but I remember one day a truck pulling an enclosed trailer with matching paint schemes pulled in. Guys all had matching uniforms. They unloaded a coupe that was a show quality car. They were in my class! Their first run was a few tenths off the national record. They then covered the car so nobody could see their "secrets". After that it didn't seem to be as much fun any more.