The strangest things first time at the track

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Abodybomber

Abodybomber

Breaking street machines , since 1983.....:)
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First time,97 Famoso test n tune.70 El Camino big block/th400/4.10s out back.Nervous as hell,first time on a track.Lane two,behind my ex-boss(speed shop).Track P.A. calls the lanes. The lane director points the 340 Dart, and me in the right lane.In the left lane,a good friend,(hated my boss).These two been screaming about hitting the tens for years.Anyways,Camaro hits the water box, and pre stages.My ex boss,(340 Dart)hits the water box,and rolls past the stage point.So,he backs up in reverse.I never have seen anyone stage perfectly in reverse.He does.I am sitting behind him,eeady to hit the water.The staff has me,and the guy I am racing,heat the tires.I see the lights come down.My ex-boss cuts a great light -in reverse!He comes flying at me with no room to spare.Luckily,the NHRA guys saw this,and left me room.Thanks for reading,would love to hear strange stories :wack: and experiences.
 
Thanks for reading,I figured you would fall asleep!I just remembered they installed a reverse pattern valve body.They tried to use the column shifter.On a roller 340,shift points 7300.
 
same thing happened at arm drop live..john (my friend) jumped riches arm drop and the guy in the left lane launched in reverse...lol
 
Remind me to find a tree to stand behind when y'all race.
 
I pulled up to my first tech inspection for my cars maiden voyage and blew a transmission cooler line, spewing ATF all over the inspectors shoes. Not a real good first impression! He was cool about it though, and after a 1/2 hour and about a million rags of cleanup later, he passed me.
 
Well, the very first time I drag raced ona track, I realized belted in my car, waiting for the water box, that my glasses wouldnt fit on my head with the helmet I had... I did the burnout, staged, and ran it... But i couldnt tell where the end of the measured quater was. I was paired with a 10 second car... by the time I felt my way down to the turnoff, he was almost back in the pits...lol.
 
Not drag strip but a few of my circle track stories, second year racing (86 Shelby Charger with 2.2 h.o.) about half way through the feature the car in front of me pulls in the pits in the back stretch and I pull in the pits right behind him, I then pull back out on the front straight, got my spot back since it was under yellow and no actual work was done on my car. Another time I'm sitting in lineup waiting for my feature, I get this nagging feeling that something isn't right, check my belts, latched and tight, gloves, check, rech up to check that my fire suit is zipped up and feel something dangling, oops didn't buckle my helmet, pull my gloves off, get the helmet buckled and am putting my gloves back on just as I am pulling onto the track.
 
This wasn't a first time or a first time driver (either lane thank God!) but picture this....
Race event is on a overcast and moonless night but well lit track. My buddy is in an 11 second car in the right lane and another guy I know well is in a 10 sec. car in the left. They are just approaching the lights at well over 100 MPH and the track has a power outage! Like you flipped a switch off outage. Neither car has working headlights. The track is out in the middle of nowhere and it's F***ing DARK when the lights are out. My buddy who has been in combat said it was the scariest moment in his life getting that car stopped. The other guy was still shaking so bad 1/2 hour later, He couldn't hold a cigarette in his hand or mouth. Both needed a change of underwear! It's amazing that neither one hit the rail or each other.
 
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