Connection To Drag Racing (1 Viewer)

[ROCKY]

This may be a very bad idea since they are some who live to trash others, but I would love to know some of the people on this board and their ties to drag racing.
I have no ties other than being an old E-stock racer from years ago but have a love for drag racing that has lasted for years. I get on this board to learn some of the inside stories about what happened at the races on Sunday. Much of what I have found is that they are a lot of informed people on this board and not many bad apples. Sometimes opinions do differ but that's life.
Maybe the ones that don't mind can voluntarily post their connection to teams if any, or if they are a chassis builder,tuner, painter or family member. It would just be nice to know whos opinion I'm reading. Not to trash anyone.

 

[PJ]

I'm a nobody.

Pops raced econo dragster in the 70's but parked in when me and my bro came along.

Been a die hard fan since before I can remember. I do bracket race my daily driver and like many others hope that some owner out of the blue realizes that I would be the perfect driver for their race car

 

[downtime]

I fell in love with the sport in 1968 when I read a story about the Winged Express and Pure Hell fuel altered in a match race. There were plenty of pictures and the nickname of "Wild Willie" struck me as very cool and as a ten year old boy I quickly learned of Snake, Mongoos, and Big Daddy, amongst others.

There was little tv coverage in those days but I do remember seeing the 1970Indy nationals on Wide World of Sports and that too made a very lasting impression.

I also learned that Tom Prock, Phil Roberts, and the Custom Body Funny car could often be seen at my Uncle's gas station in Warwick Rhode Island.

I followed the professional side of the sport relentlessly, as a typical fan, until one day in 1998 when I remembered our local 1/8 mile drag strip was still in existance and my wife and I drove up for a Friday night event.

When i drove in the people at the gate asked if I wanted to race and although I had not planned on it I of course said "Yes". I asked all kinds of questions, made several tire screaching and amateur looking passes and then faithfully went back every weekend to learn the craft.

I had four runner up finishes that first season at Oxford Dragway and in October of 1998 went to New England Dragway for Camaro Day. I had never raced on a 1/4 mile track before and it was extremely exciting.

My car was a siz speed at the time and the track was mobbed. As I made it through the rounds that day I ended up in the final against yet another person I did not know as I had never raced at NED prior to that day.

When the last bulb flashed I was out first and the win light came on in my lane. It was my first victory at a drag race and I felt on top of the world. My final round opponent came up and shook my hand in congratulations and spent five minutes being personable and nice. After he left another fellow came up and said do you know who that was? I had to admit I had no clue.

Turns out the gentleman I defeated that final round was the New England Dragway Street Class Points Champion that season.

Anyway, time marches on and it is now 45 event wins later and one track championship each at Oxford Dragway and New England Dragway. Along the way I have had a transmission explode during a burnout, broken rears, and had plenty of adversity on the track but the quality of the people, their willingness to help, and the friendships I have made more than offset the frustration of a redlight or breakout pass.

The only time I have any "enemies" is between the water box and the traps. Otherwise we are all friends and do what we can to help each other out, share some stories, and have a good time.

 

[.]

I'm a 'nobody' that's been exposed to drag racing since I was 2 1/2 months old. I was born in June of 1971 and my parents took me to the World Series at Cordova that August. In the 31 years I lived in Iowa I think I went to 28 or 29 World Series events. I think my dad started going to the World Series in '60 or '61 and as far as I know he's only missed 1 or 2 of them to this day! My dad (Darwin Busch) ran a '62 Impala SS 409/409 back in the 60's at Cordova, NITA (Cedar Falls) and Union Grove and held a few records for a while with that car. He's also got a pile of trohpies to show for it too. If any of you ever went to Cordova in the 60's and saw a white '62 Impala SS with a gold interior, that was my dad. In the past I had a '67 Chevy II, '86 Suzuki GSX-R 1100 and '92 Suzuki GSX-R 750 that I'd take to the strip to goof around with on ocassion. I rarely did any bracket racing, I preferred going on test and tune days since you got more passes and I was there just to go as quick as possible.

 

[Kati]

Well....I'll try to make this as short as possible.

Sportsman Driver / Fan and try to be a as big of an ambassador for the sport as possible.

My dad was racing when he met my mom, so I was brought up at the tracks. Dad quit class racing and started braket racing in the late 70's - late 80's. I was away from drag racing from about '86 until I bought my Z28 in '99. Then I started going to our local track by myself. My then husband wanted nothing to do with my racing....

Since '99...

Met my husband/teammate....moved from bracket racing a street car to sportsman class racing (QR/SC) 2005. Was the pit reporter for IHRA on SPEED in 2003. I hope to do even more "drag racing" related TV in the future....but I also hope to race as much as possible and become a contender for a championship.....(some year). Finished #8 IHRA QR in my 3rd year....so hopefully I can keep building from there!


So there is the very short version........

 

[Kelly]

No connections here. Well, I do have friends that may or may not tell me stuff that I should or should not know. lol

 

[PJ]

No connections here. Well, I do have friends that may or may not tell me stuff that I should or should not know. lol

Oh I didn't know that we could admit to that kind of stuff lol

 

[Suzie Q]

Hmmmmmmmmm......................Oberhofer..................I Dunno?

 

[HEMI6point1]

I personally have no actual connection other than being a fan. My dad however raced a '70 Chevelle SS at E-town and Atco in a class called "Heavy Eliminator" and won several trophies. He parked the car and sold it when I came along.

 

[d'kid]

I have to go with Kelly on this, but for a different reason... Don't have any direct connections any more, most out here have passed away or walked away from the sport... but I do hear things still, but, until I hear it from multiple sources I trust... None of this I heard from a guy who's uncle's barber's kid know a guy who dates Doobie's wife's sister...

I do have my opinions from 40 plus years around the sport...

d'kid

 

[Professor Dave]

I loved drag racing as a kid-went to Ct Dragway from 63-65 while in high school-saw TV Tommy Ivo and the Frantic Four match race Rapid Red Lang among others, and saw some of the early Tasca ford stockers. Last time I went to the races was to see a bunch of AA/GS at New England Dragway in 1968. But then collge and grad school took up my time and stopped going.

In the early 90s, I started watching the races on TV again. I joined NHRA in the fall of 1997. I'd also go to Austin,TX every summer for the music and noticed a drag strip just off the side of I-40. I spend three weeks in Austin at the LBJ Library while on sabbatical in the Spring of 1998. On the way back, I noticed they were racing at that little strip and got off and went to the races for the first time since 1968. i knew nothing about bracket racing, but it was fun to be at the track-stayed right until the last two cars went down the strip. I decided to go to the keystones that fall and got there bright and early on Saturday morning, just in time to run into Dave Lebrun in the lanes when stock was going to run. I'd read in National Dragster he was still racing because he'd runnered up to Barry Parker in Stock at the Virginia National Event that previous spring. Dave was and is a member of the hot rod club from my home town when I was in high school, so I asked him about some of the people I'd known back then. I watched everything run, including all the sportsman classes on Saturday night. Sunday morning before eliminations I was walking through the pits and came across a couple of four cylinder comp cars. One of those guys (Al Ackerman) lost in the semis to the other guy (John Frech) and John went on to win the race. Both teams were very friendly. i went to a bunch of D1 points races the next couple of years as well as the national events and got to know a lot of the racers in all of the classes, particularly Al Ackerman. Al built a new motor for his dragster and we decided in the spring of 2001 to build a car to put the old motor in. The rest is history. You can see that car in my avatar. Lee Zane now drives it and we finished 5th in comp nationally in 2006 and 9th this year, plus second in D1 in both years. We won our first national event in 2006 at Memphis-it was a team final-Al was in the other lane. I was not at the race-our family always gets together for the month of August in Groton,CT. But the beach house is not far from Dave Lebrun's shop, so the next day I went to see Dave-I wanted to share the experience of being a national event winner with someone who understood (Dave's won a bunch).

It's an expensive hobby, but the people we race with are great and the fans seem to love our four cylinder cars. I'm lucky to be involved in such a great sport.

Hey Ted Hunter-one of my good friends in racing did a lot of testing at Oxford this year. Do you know Bob Letelier(former World champ in Stock and multi-national Event winner)? He owns Bob's Auto Sales in Biddeford. His kid Mike is majoring in Economics at Northeastern, just like I did way back when and is also driving Bob's Nova when he has time.

 

[Tim5636sc]

Great Thread!

My roots in Drag Racing go back to an old abandoned Airfield in Parris, Ca back in 1944...No I'm not that old, but that is when a 20 something railroad engineer named Don Charlet Sr. met up with a few guys from the California Highway Patrol and started to "DRAG" their cars on an old airport strip. My Grandfather grew up a motor head and his 32' coupe was featured in Hot Rod Mag. He also was a participant in the SANTA ANA DRAGS in 1951! When My Dad was born in San Jacento, Ca, he was introduced to HOT RODDING at a very young age. He would spend lots of time Class racing, MOSTLY AS THE MECHANIC OR CREW CHEIF, until the late 1960's. He took a sabatacle from Drag Racing right about 1973 when I was born! In 1977 he went with a friend of his to a drag race at Orange County International Raceway with his (4) year old son...(ME) and the rest is HISTORY!

I've been around the track since that summer day in june of 1977. My dad got back into racing when he purchased a 1965 Plymouth Barracuda and raced it in Pro ET at Riverside, OCIR, and Carlsbad. In the Early 80's we teamed up with a guy my Dad worked with at Deutsch ECD in Oceanside, Ca, (PHIL WOODARD and HIS BROTHER MONTE Who owned a Machine shop called MACHINE TECH..STILL GOING!) At the time they had an Injected Alcohol Super Pro Dragster called ALCOHOL ABUSE. Dad was the crew cheif on that car for many years, I started as a PLEDGE PUKE..(CAN OF PLEDGE, MOTHERS, OR SIMPLE GREEN IN ONE HAND..RAG IN THE OTHER), then started tuning the engine, swapping out Converters and tranny's, until it was time for the Generation NEXT SWAP at WBC RACING. Phil's Son Brad took over the driving chores, and Timmah became the crew cheif. We ran primarliy at Carlsbad Raceway in the OUTLAW BRACKET SERIES, and won 2 track championships, until 1996 when I left the team and moved out to Colorado. Like My dad, I took a year off to start my family, but was offered the best PART TIME GIG IN THE WORLD, WORKING ON THE STARTING LINE CREW AT BANDIMERE SPEEDWAY For the NHRA and the MOPAR MILE HIGH NATIONALS! I have been doing that for the past 10 years and love every min!

In 2003, I decided it was time for me to get back into Drag Racing, but I wanted to be a driver, so, I saved up some Money and went to Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School. I went in Feb the week after the winternationals, and I GOT RAINED OUT! So, I spent a good two day's bench racing with a few Local Super Comp Racers...Jack Beckman and Tom Bayer, and some good friendships started. Well, I went back to the School on Memorial Day weekend, and went thru the Super Comp Course. I got my competition License in (6) runs, and have had my license ever since.
I have worked with a few local racers here in Colorado, and tested a few cars, when given the opportunity, and have since upgraded my license to Advanced Et, (NHRA 3A)...and I'm currently looking for a Ride in any Car for the 2008 Season.

So I guess you can say that my Ties are stong...but...in the grand scheme of things....I'm also a NOBODY, whos looking to WORK HARD TO BECOME SOMEBODY!

 

[Ponyhntr]

Although I am still somewhat young (compared to some on here ), but I have been into drag racing/cars since I was 16. I didn't really get hooked on NHRA untill I was in college, when some friends and I went on a road trip to Englishtown (from western Ohio ) in 2001. I got hooked hard and when I graduated from U. of Northwestern Ohio (Associate degree in High Performance Motorsports), I went to work for a couple years on Nitro Funny Cars. The traveling burnt me out, so I decided to go back to doing street car stuff. I now live in the Kansas City area working for a leader in the High Performance street car scene. We also do a lot with the NMRA, NMCA, and the other smaller series'. We are starting to even make our way into the NHRA Sportsman ranks.

I love my job, I get to work on/with race cars everyday!

 

[holeshot]

Hi,been around all kinds of racing in my life,my dad is a well known sign painter in the midwest.My first taste of drag racing was helpin my dad lift funny car bodies on to 55 gallon drums so he could letter them.I used to stand under them and pretend I was driving cars such as Showtime,Telstar,Fat Fleet,and so on.Funny thing is when I started racing in 1987 swore I would not go to national event until I could enter it myself.That happened in 2004 at Firebird (yep live 175 miles from BIR but raced in Phoenix for 1st nats).Now race as many divisionals and nationals possible and love it.Funny thing is i start talkin to people about racing and about stuff like pollution packer,Jim Lutz and so on and they say you're only 40? ha ha


And always remember when you have a bad day at the track and your 1 of 130 cars in your class theres 1,000,000 or more people out there that wish they were out there!!!!


Chris"holeshot"Anderson

 

[whitelightning]

i got in to racing because of a friend in high school we would sit in the back of math class and read mag. (ok really just look at pictures) then in english we would be those cars and use our desk to act like we were racing and doing wheel stands and make the noises but of course someone would crash sometimes and we would flip our desk and hit the other and then run around acting like we were on fire but that tended to get us a trip to the office and a phone call to our parents ( i just knew to call pops he would laugh and say who won) of course this was all when i was a fish and sopm. in high school haha but the real start was when my math teacher told me i would never be anything or get any where with cars that they were stupid and useless so i told him if he could use math to do a car thing i would try till then i quite of course i in the end fail with a 30 something in that class for the year but all he did was make me mad and decide i was going to be something and be somebody and got into racing started with street cars moved to sport compact when it had just started up then moved on to other drag cars now i run a blown injected fuel altered that i own but just for grins i had to go back to homecoming after being away from school for awhile this past year to find him and show him what i have become because of him now i build cars and run them thanks to him and now i try and show you can be what you want to be if you try and also teach people that you can learn more then whats in books and that learnin aint that bad

p.s. of course if i wouldnt of screwed around in english i may of learned to spell and use periods instead of long run on sentences haha

 

[Big Ass Dave Lamm]

My ties to drag racing date back to 1999 when I moved back to California and needed a job after working in radio in Oklahoma for 4 1/2 years. After a lenghthy job search I was hired as a Media Relations Manager for the NHRA. I had the job for three days and then was put on a plane to Englishtown, N.J. to get thrown right into the thick of it. My official "initiation" into the sport was having to stand with Rick Stewart during Top Fuel qualifying on Friday night and standing between Jim Head and Kenny Bernstein. I could have sworn they were trying to kill me.

No longer working for the NHRA anymore but stay connected to the sport by writing for an auto racing website, FastMachines.com. I made a lot of friends while working at the NHRA and still stay in touch with many of them. Ask Reinhart. He is one that is on my "special email list".

 

[rocketman]

My connection to drag racing can be seen here
http://youtube.com/watch?v=TDEHTJrxwh0

 

[Ted]

No connections, nobody in the family ever raced, I just started watching on the TV and got hooked. Then I went to Ennis and was REALLY hooked!

 

[hellfirejim]

I am nobody famous. I have been racing since about 1963.....And we even had rubber tires......

I started setting up other peoples cars due to no money, something that has plagued me throughout my life. Late 70's started driving a bracket car and did ok. Started working on other peoples cars at their request. Worked on some really neat cars like a Hemi Anglia. Eventually I meet my long term friend and we went TAD racing and then on to TA/FC all told for about 10 years as a crew chief. I have messed with nitro for which I am very thankfully and damn is it addicting but I have also worked on some other cars that were different like a mid-engined blown alky astro van...

Now I am retired from racing as my health issues have been the top eliminator lately. I now watch other people and if I can help I will but I try to keep my mouth shut and just enjoy what is going on. I am a very lucky man as I have been blessed with memories that very few people on this earth have and I am greatful.

One final thought: I love the cars and the competition but it has been the people I have met along the way that made it one hell of a ride.

jim

So that is the short version but damn it has been a good ride

 

[srbmojo]

My family owns Applied Friction Techniques, Inc. (AFT Clutches) Manufacture, rebuild and service our parts every day, all day. Talk to racers and crew guys on the phone all day. See all the local So Cal drag racers and crew guys all the time. My dad has lunch with Jim Brissette (crew chief for Doug Herbert) every Tuesday. Del Worsham and Robert Hight are in here all the time.

My dad was a drag racer in the late 50's early 60's. Had the national speed record in top fuel for a while, drove the Doss Bros. world fastest Chevy powered top fueler, as well.

He went to work for Mickey Thompson in the 60's, then started BRC (Brooks Racing Components). Started AFT in 1985.

Pops has been a consultant with Dale Armstrong on Bernstein's, Dixon's and Toliver's cars in the past. And crew chief on Bartone's WWF funny car.

I have been going to the drag's since I was still in mom's belly. Look forward to taking my 15 month old when he is old enough.

I built the 60's style altered 1930 Ford sedan with a 392 Hemi in my avatar about 6 years ago.