I went to my first drag race late in 1966 with my boyfriend at the time who had just taken delivery of a 1967 427ci-435hp Corvette. I was underwhelmed when we got there (Island Dragway, Great Meadows, NJ) sitting in old rickety, splinter filled bleachers. And me, in wool slacks, cashmere sweater and blazer. In fact, I was darned 'put out' that he brought me to 'that place'. And the noise! Geez! Then a 1966 Corvette pulled up to the line. It said NHRA national record holder. The announcer was talking about the car like it was something special (well, it WAS a 'vette)
. I was mildly interested in the run, but went back to having a set of the jaws when it was over.
Then, as fate would have it, they announced some Corvette parts for sale and the boyfriend was interested, but you had to go over to the other side of the track to see about them. In the car we got, back on to the gravel road we came in on and then it happened. From the moment we pulled through that pit gate, it was a love affair that continues to this very day. Being where it was 'happening', cars being worked on, the sights, sounds & smells of drag racing got a hold of me.
The boyfriend raced the 'vette for awhile, and I was lucky enough to learn about drag racing from the bottom up as he was learning. In the end, I dumped the boyfriend but bought his car from him, although I never raced it. We'd made a bunch of friends at that little track in NW New Jersey, and I truly loved drag racing. I continued to go to the track every Saturday or Sunday afternoon for about a year, depending on the time of the year and just hung with wives & girlfriends I'd made friends with. We'd all go out for something to eat after the race and I was loving it.
I absolutely refused to date anyone from the track. Didn't want anyone to think that's why I was coming every week. There were several people in our little circle who went on to become pretty successful in the sport. But who knew.
One Sunday afternoon I was out on my bike, going up to Sussex county to shoot some pictures that I might want to do paintings of at some time. I pulled into a Mobil station in Pompton Lakes, NJ to get some gas before getting on to the highway to go up to 'the country'. I'm taking the gas cap off, and I notice the guy coming out of the station, wiping his hands on a shop rag, to pump my gas. I look up and who is it but Frank Iaconio..."one of the guys" from the track. He looked like he'd never seen a girl on a motorcycle before and we laughed. Don't know who was more surprised to see the other, him or me. We talked about his car (yellow 1957 Chevy-Banana I) for awhile, how he was doing with it at something called 'points meets' and locally. We spent about a 1/2 hour yacking, and then I had to get going. I started up the bike and was saying my goodbyes and see ya at Island next week. Then Frank said something that would change my life. The romantic that he was,
, he said something like, 'maybe we should go to a movie sometime. I didn't see any harm in a movie with a friend, so I said sure, and drove away. Well, within a week or two, we did take in a movie, and although I hadn't planned it, that was the beginning of a several year relationship with him. It started with ol' 'nana, and went through to Pro Stock.
While the cards I held saw me eventually marry Ray Allen, I can honestly say that I am so fortunate and thankful that I had 'my time' in drag racing, back in those earlier years of the sport. The love of divisional and national competition, the match racing, the travel, the people, the frustrations, the thrill of winning, helping with the car(s), the all nighters working on the car, then loading up and driving straight through to the next national event or match race, the view/sight/sound of racing from the starting line ...the people, the places, the sights, sounds and smells of racing.... have stayed with me even after a painful divorce.
I put drag racing out of my mind & heart, lost contact with old friends, cancelled subscriptions to the papers & magazines, all because it was just too difficult for me to deal with. This was successful for nearly a couple of decades. Then, in May of 2001 I was channel surfing on a Sunday afternoon and came across drag racing from Englishtown. They called it something different, and it was in a different month, but if it's a national event at Englishtown, it was and always will be the Summernationals to me. I watched. I actually thought I could smell the burning rubber & nitro & feel it sting my eyes, right there in my living room. I broke down & cried for about 5 minutes because I finally realized that I could no longer deny my love of the sport and all that goes with it. The rest, as they say, is history. I've reconnected with some old friends from 'the patch' and beyond, via the Internet and I bench race with them and new friends online nearly every day.
That's why I LOVE DRAG RACING.
