Randy -
My memory is still reliable, but after a while, year numbers become fuzzed. Back in 1987. I say, David Baca worked for me because his TAFC's were based out of the shop I worked and he did little more than drive and buy the stuff. In 88 or 9, Kenny Mooers built a new chassis for David which to this day is one of the most beautifully crafted cars I have ever seen, and Kenny was one of the most influential people I had ever met. Kevin Vornhagen painted all of the cars I designed for DB. In 90 or 91 at the PRO warm-up at Bakersfield you had a dark gray primered Olds Cutlass I believe, just getting your alcohol license. You went on and drove until you put in a driver, one of which was my cousin by marriage Larry Miner. I did the cylinder head machining for Fred Sr. for years and designed 2 of their paint jobs as well.
I was wondering when the last time you drove was, because I saw no rust at all, even the Ooops. It had to have been different not having a butterfly in your hands and the shaft between your legs.
Sorry for the name drops and the scenic route to get too my question, but you know the players.
- Thanks and romp on.
Thanks, Ray. I'll give you a brief but hopefully not too boring history.
I started out bracket racing my neighbors race car at OCIR and Irwindale from 1971 right after I got my driver's license when I was 16. I was just a teenager driving this:
Then in 1976 when I was 20 I ordered my first race car from New Visions. It was an Arias powered altered that I ran in the "Quick 32" at OCIR and in the Top Gas West series.
When OCIR closed I sold my altered and in 1984 I married Kathy. In 1989 I partnered in a dragster with Greg Oliver and we were going to share the driving duties but he crashed it in the final of a Top Gas West race at Bakersfield which destroyed the car on just it's 9th run. Shifting gears, in 1989 I ordered a new funny car from Steve Plueger for Top Alcohol and got my license in 1990. The first race I ran with it was the 1991 Winternationals. It was unpainted the first few times out. David Peters did an awesome paint design for it and Tom Stratton painted it for me.
I sold the car to Ron August the end of 1994 and purchased a Uyehara TA/FC roller. I ran it until 1996 and parked it to start a new business. One of my crew members, Pete Swayne, asked if he could drive so we licensed him. For the first time I was not the driver of one of my race cars. Pete went on to win the 1999 Division 7 championship placing #7 nationally that year.
He continued to drive until the finals at Pomona in 2000 where it was announced that the PSI screw blower overdrive would be reduced from 125% over to 92% over. Pete felt the car would slow down and wasn't interested in driving. I always maintained my license so I decided to get back in it 4 months later for the 2001 Pomona Winternationals. I made huge changes to the fuel system to accommodate for the reduction in boost, and on my first run I shut it off early and ran a 6.09 at 228 in order to check things out without destroying everything in case my calculations were off. Everything looked good so I went up for Q2, but on that run John Knox, who was in the other lane, launched before the tree came down, drove into my lane and stayed there. I launched at the green but had to shut it off. Q3 I ran a 5.82 at 246 for my first full run since 1996. That put me number 10 out of 24 cars. First round I raced Jay Payne and ran a 5.83 to his 5.81. I had a slight hole shot on him but lost by .001 of a second. My 5.83 was 3rd quickest of the session. Here's a link to the first round coverage on DRC:
https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCStory.asp?ID=85447&Filter=Year2001#indextop
That was my last run down the track in anything. After that I had people paying me to drive my car, and at times I was actually earning a living racing my car. Drivers included Larry Minor, Marc White, Dan Dickey, John Lombardo Jr (I licensed him), Russ Parker, and then Daniel Oliver.
Marc White ran a string of 5.50's with me in 2004 when they were very rare.
In just 8 races Daniel Oliver won two national events including the 2012 Winternationals and runner upped once. After the win light came on in our lane at the Winternationals I declared to everyone that I quit.
Then, as most of you know, my wife was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She encouraged me to find a hobby or something to do because she knew I was going to be a basket case after she passed. So, with her blessings, in early 2018 when JR Carr's RJ Race Cars Pro Stock Camaro less engine and transmission was listed for sale on Racingjunk I grabbed it within one minute of Frank Gugliotta placing the ad. Once I got it shipped out to California from Maryland I put it at the back of my shop with a car cover over it and it sat because I was with my wife 24/7 at home, in ICU, and finally in Hospice Care. When Kathy passed away on September 26th I waited a few weeks and decided to start working on it to get my mind off the tremendous grief I was experiencing. I ran it November 17th at the IN N OUT Burger 70th Birthday Party at Pomona and had a lot of fun with it but I knew it was too slow with the super gas engine I had sitting around in it, although I did go the unconventional route by putting a 3 speed B&J triple sprag transmission in it like I ran in my TA/FC's. After talking with Top Sportsman racers Chip Rumis, Joe Roubicek, and Mike Ferderer at Pomona I ordered a 777 Sonny's fuel injected hemi two weeks ago which will be here mid June. It should put it in the 6.40's-6.50's. Plenty quick for Top Sportsman. Todd at Sonny's says I should get 90 to 100 runs on a set of rods, and between rounds maintenance is very low. Perfect for me.
So, in a sense, I've returned to my drag racing roots by having a fast bracket car. In it's day back in the late 1970's/early 1980's my Arias powered altered was pretty quick bracket car and a lot of fun. This should be too.
But it's no substitute for the loss of my beautiful bride:
