So... what part of the Meltdown / HAMB drags event is forever etched in your memory. Of course this comes with the requisite comment of "Where do I start?" #1 - by far !! My first Meltdown event (Meltdown 3) I stood in the pits in total shock and awe. I simply could not take it all in. Trying to describe the impact this event has had on me in a few sentences would not do it justice. It has changed almost everything I do with my Hot Rods. In no particular order from here on: The Great Lakes Gassers and Nostalgia Gassers parading their way in prior to opening ceremonies at Meltdown 3. I was in the lanes immediately beside them and - I was totally blown away - I'm pretty sure I giggled and teared up all at the same time. (Must have been the race fuel - yah that was it) Running with the Great Lakes Gasser guys last year... (Wow) I went 0-2 in my debut but they have asked me back.... then again it might have been the Nostalgia Gasser guys asking me back to run for the GLG Sitting in the burnout box and watching Mike Belina do what he does for the first time. Damn near sh*t myself watching him stand that beast on the bumper (twice) and then bounce his way to a 9 second pass. Mike's fireside hospitality ranks up there as well My match races with Tom Hanson (RedlineRacer42). The Youtube videos and photos that showed up on the net are epic. the B&W picture could easily be mistaken for 1966. I have it framed and on my wall Seeing Steve Crook's Blew-by-You 56 Chevy make a pass. Having the MDA roll over as a group and thank me for coming each and every year. That says a lot about these guys. Over the years they have seen fit to hand me tokens of appreciation during these visits. Those little mementos have pushed my World Championship softball trophy off of the top shelf... Having the Scout featured on the Postcard Having a proefessional photoshoot at Meltdown 4. Watch for the feature in Canadian Hot Rods coming to a news stand near you All the folks I have met and now call "Friend"... Tom, Joel, Trish, Mike, Paul, Eric, Kip, Ric, Greg, Johnny, Mitch, Ron, BJ, Tim, Jeff, Jon, Rusty .... etc etc etc ... The list just keeps growing. I'm almost to the point where I would be more than happy to park the Scout as a display and simply meet and greet all weekend. The people are that good !
The first year I attended was the second annual Meltdown Drags. I had talked to Eric (MDA president) at an earlier event that year, and told him that we had four cars we were bringing...if you know Eric then you know how amped this event makes him. We rolled in that morning in the rain, and were welcomed like we were Garlitts. We stood around for three hours or so waiting for the weather to break. We did eventually get to run, but I don't think it would have been any less fun if it had rained us out. It was at this event that we knew we had to help out however we could.
The year I pulled All Hacked Up into the gates and felt like a rock star, wasn't even my car but I was hooked!! 1 year later I traded my sweet Camaro for the "SourGrape" and haven't regretted it for a minute, also being asked to be part of the MDA with my BorderBandit brothers!! And meeting life long friends from all over the country!!
Pulling up to the gate early Friday morning with my Dad in the passenger seat of the tow rig,and seeing the look on his face when Jeff and a bunch of MDA guys ran over to greet us,all excited like kids at Christmas cause we had made it to the event.... Getting a 'Non-Conformist Award' trophy from the MDA......You guys absolutely rule AJ taking the time to help us tow my junk back to the pits with his personal truck,while he was in the middle of doing 753 other things on what was probably the busiest day of his life... The general "Royalty Treatment" given to us by every last MDA member,track employee,security person,and anyone even remotely associated with the event... Meeting Isky,Ron,and Bones at the gas station on the way into town Meeting Isky,Ron,and Bones at the track Seeing Isky,Ron,and Bones on the highway on the way home (we couldn't go anywhere without running into those guys!) Meeting everybody that I had been talking to for months leading up to the race,putting faces to names,and even meeting some folks who had built magazine cars that were responsible for me getting into Hot Rodding (Ric Panneton,this means you.....That Specter Racing blue Chevelle is the reason the rear edge of my hood is raised like it is.Merek Chertkow,you're also on this list;your advice and insight on tuning and building an injected motor have been invaluable,and the friendship of both you guys has meant the world to me.) There are too many people to name really.....basically everyone we met on the property were incredible people...maybe one exception.... I FINALLY got to meet Moonrocket.....after he called me out in the lanes,and I proceeded to leave on his poor ol Chevy like it was tied to a fucking TREE. Seriously,you could count five Mississippi's in time it took that guy to shift from 2nd to 3rd.Apparently his car couldn't run near as good as his mouth! I think the best part of the entire event though,was how much closer together it brought my Dad and I. He has always been my hero,and to see how much fun he was having,like a kid in a candy store seeing so much vintage horsepower gathered in one place. If there was one thing I have done right in my life it was throwing my Dad in the truck and coming to this fantastic event put on by these amazing folks. I just don't think Jeffro's gonna be so happy to see me and the Shaker this year...Muaaahahahaaaaaaaaa! Love you guys.Everybody work hard to get ready for 2015,be safe,and God bless y'all! Scott Posted using two Dixie cups and a medium length piece of string.
Meltdown /HAMB Drags? Sounds like some glorious BBQ of resistant meat! Ok but seriously, the Meltdown Drags are serious vintage & nostalgia fun! My only regret is not being able to take more of it in while we worked on our ole heap chasing ignition gremlins. Our road to the Meltdowns started on page 6 of the 2014 Meltdown thread here on the H.A.M.B., when we were quadruple dog dared to tow back from California. We weren't gonna take this crap laying down, and decided come hell or high water we would answer the challenge!.., but not without some grade A smack talk of our own! I actually apologized in private messages to more than one HAMBer, and everyone of them (except X Racer, i didn't appologize to him)encouraged me, said they were getting a laugh out of it, and keep it up!.., so I abliged. Just so you know, my brother Marc was trying to throttle me back too. We did in six months what I had planned to take a years worth of work on the car, and the last three weeks, Marc & I averaged 4-5 hours of sleep. We left home @ 3AM Wednesday & drove straight thru 1965 miles (kind of amazing since this event takes you to the mid 60's), & 39 hours to get to Byron Thursday by 7:30 PM! About an hour out, I texted Eric to tell him we'd be cutting it close for the 7-8pm gate curfew, he said the gate would definitely stay open for us, & they had cold beer waiting for us. When we turned in to Byron off the River Rd., we received a 20-30 something Meltdown Crew standing ovation.., all those miles melted away, and a little piece of heaven showed up in the faces of brothers & sisters with the same love of "the way it was", not to mention THE COOLEST drag strip I've ever been to. The MD guys, along with Quain Stott, had saved us a premo pit spot with the South East Gassers, & everyone had slaps on the back for us & words of encouragement, they all treated us like royalty. The collection of real deal steel (& fiberglass n tin) racing & showing was spectacular, and coming from California, the night sky full of stars, fire flys, and the laugh of racing friends and my own brothers & son sealed the deal for me! Oh and don't forget the cruise to Sams Drive Inn, the streets full of uncorked, slick tired beasts that had beaten the quarter mile into submission all day Long, being chauffeured by the town police.., I had to pinch myself.., several times! TWO THUMBS UP FOR THE MELTDOWN DRAGS! PS. I forgot to mention, several days before we left for the Meltdowns, my brother Marc crawled under the RV and discovered it only had a 5K towing hitch, so in about 15 seconds, it was decided that "Yesterdays Child" would take the nearly 4000 mile trip to Byron & back, riding bare back on our open trailer. I wish I had a recording of us Panneton boys during the haul, as the Fleetwood RV, became "Fleet Wanda" with all of us doing our best impersonation of Wanda Sykes, bitching about dragging the "nasty ass Yesterdays Child, all across the country with her bad skin, while Wanda huffed & puffed up and down the highways & byways gett'n her doo all jacked up, and her grill full o bugs. Wanda even felt bad for little "Traily" hav'n to cary the Childs fat ass all that way with his four feet all burnt up from the road. (Hey man, give us a break, it was a long friggen way, and we needed stuff to keep us awake, and laughing.)
I remember when I was the long hauler. We were only double dog dared to attend and even then most didn't think we would show up from 16 hours north. We didn't get a standing ovation but we did get the MDA group coming over to show their appreciation. I kind of want to take credit for pushing the edge of the envelope for how far folks were willing to travel to attend but I'm sure that was going to happen and was already happening regardless. The fact there were folks from Texas that year proves that point.
You like making that long haul Davie, cause its still something below zero in Santa's Village where you and all the other insane in the membrane, Canadians live in July, and you need to thaw out, before it goes 56 degrees below WTF! Come on man fess up!
Actually - by July in these here parts it's not unusual to see temps between 35 & 40 celsius That's 95 - 104+ f kids. Yes, in these northerly climes we can see a temp change of over 100 degrees (celsius) between seasons. of course that hot stuff shows up after the rainy season. pretty much non stop rain from March until June around here
My most unforgettable moment at meltdown drags was late Saturday trying to get our digger through the huge crowd in the staging lanes.At one point my partner had to hold up the golf cart with Isky in it so we could get through.I finally get to the track, hit the starter button and the starter just grinds, I ask a spectator to reach down and turn the engine with the balancer, he does, the engine cranks and fires, I stage and have my best reaction time of the weekend. At the H.A.M.B. drags, on our last pass of the day I ran our best e.t. and best reaction time of the year, and as usual the Friday night party was great, we also got to pit next to our new friend we made at the meltdown drags, David, with the blue Chevy coupe.
I m the one that drove from Texas, there was going to be two of us but the other one got run over by his tractor 2 weeks before blastoff. Getting ready for next year now. I was pitted under the Byron sign on the corner and remember the greeting the Pannetons got . I liked that spot because I got to see everything coming in just couldn't hear the announcer out there
Was that the year that Jeffrey waterproofed the trailer deck boards with the contents of his oil pan?
The Jalopy Journal
