Post your best racing related memory!

[68gtxman]

I raced a few times at Atco (NJ) over the years. Always had fun doing it. One night was with fellow car club members - which was the most fun. I beat a friend’s 440-6 Cuda 4 speed with my 440-4 auto trans GTX and he was not too happy about that.

 

[Demonracer]

My best memory is my then race partner, winning the only national event in his life. It was at the now defunct "concrete palace" outside of Kaufman, TX in 2009. It was called the "Inaugural Amalie Oil Texas Nationals Dallas Texas". We battled through the stock eliminator field, but it took 2 days because of track problems. When we were headed to the staging lanes, Preacher Bill from IHRA stopped us and our competitor and said a prayer with his hands on both cars. Unfortunately, Bob has passed on now but I still have the Iron Man trophy and the pictures from that race.

 

[rmchrgr]

Just being at the track with my car. Any round win is a bonus.

This is a still from a clip of me at Lebanon Valley several years ago. A friend of mine took it from the stands. I wasn't even that great of friends with the guy and had only known him for a little while but he offered to trailer me and my car over 3hrs. away just so he could watch me race. We had a great day. He passed away last year from cancer. I'll always remember that gesture.

 

[Les Gibson]

I think this is funny. late 70's I'm stationed at NAS Jacksonville, FL during my first Navy enlistment. Had a 70 440 six pack 4 speed Super Bee. Was out cruising the west side of Jax on a Saturday night. Stopped at a traffic light. Guy in a Chevelle SS pulls up next to me and starts whacking his throttle. I said to myself okay, I'll play. Light turns green we both hit the gas and we're off. But I got out of it after a couple hundred feet and the guy in the Chevelle is long gone. What I knew, and he clearly didn't was that on weekend nights there was always Jax PD parked on that stretch of road and sure enough I come around a corner and there's Mr. Chevelle SS pulled over by Jax PD! I just cruised on by!

Seriously tough, every pass on every track that I've raced on has been a memory. Got to run at a lot of the legendary tracks during my active duty Navy career. From Gainsville, the long gone Jax Speedway 1/8th mile track, Englishtown, Maryland International Raceway, Capital Raceway, Colonial Beach Dragway, the late great Fremont Dragway, Fomosa Raceway in beautiful Bakersfield, Sears Point Raceway, the departed Sacremento Raceway to now New Oxford and Winterport Dragways in Maine, New England Dragway in NH, Lebanon Valley Dragway, Maple Grove and hopefully Numidia this year. It's all been good!

 

[andysauto1]

My buddy and I go to the U.S. Nationals every year since 1972. Thats when the pits were still gravel and had shade trees. We were watching Big Daddy Don Garlits work on his Top Furl Car and he wasn't using a torque wrench. My buddy asked him why he wasn't using one, he didn't even look up, just said when you done this as long as I have you don't need a torque wrench. Tight is tight. Had to laugh. Good guy to taik to.

 

[jrc4y4]

I don’t know why this just came to me. Growing up I was always drawing cars in school. I’d get my work done so I could go back to drawing cars. I drew Bill Maverick’s Little Red Wagon and gave it to him. He actually framed it and hung it in his trailer. Growing up that was pretty cool. And as I get older I really realize how humble that was for a guy as famous as him to prize a little kid’s drawing.

 

[tinman2]

Probably 1978, I was just starting to learn to drive my just completed 67 Camaro drag car. My car builder stuck a stock block 302 hooked to a Chrysler 4 speed in it for me to learn on. Before that, I had only made a few passes in a street car and on a 750 Honda.
My first mistake was not learning the tree with a street car. That little 302 didn't have much until you got it twisted up to 8000rpm. My race car builder almost always went to the track. He said I started off dropping the clutch at about 3000rpm and changing gears at 6000. It took me a couple of races to get used to launching and changing gears at 8000. My car was hooking so hard, it would drag the engine way down in first gear with a 6.17 gear. We switched to a 6.50 gear which was an improvement but it could use more. We then switched to a 7.17 gear and it would carry the front wheels through 1st gear setting down right at gear change time. It would stay on the ground in 2nd gear, but 3rd gear popped the front wheels in the air again, and 4th gear would chirp the tires.
My inexperience with the tree became apparent because I did my best to get staged first so I could get my revs up to about 6000. As soon as the other car staged, I would floor it so I could get to 8000 in time to drop the clutch. I always felt too rushed to concentrate on the tree.
My best experience was when the track operator blamed his wife for forgetting the center part of the tree. She only packed the prestage, stage lights, and the bottom with 1 yellow, the green and red lights. Yeeesss!!!! Essentially a pro tree. And I may have been the only car there with a clutch and I had really quick reflexes. In the second round, I was paired up with a car dialed in about .15 quicker than me. I thought all he needed to do was leave on my light and I would be finished. Never saw him. In the semi final, I got paired up against Betty Sigmon driving the car in my avatar, the ex Carlton Plymouth Duster wire-car. Her car was black and at night, I couldn't find her coming up behind me. I stayed in it and crossed the line first, but broke out by .01 second. Actually, she wasn't even close.