In The Beginning

[ZiggyL78]

Sun, Mar 13 at 1:53 p.m.

So the next morning I checked for any damage. I looked down the carbs and couldn't believe what I saw. The throttle blades were bent at a perfect 90 degrees. It was like someone bent them on a brake. I've seen all kinds of damage from nitrous backfires but never anything like this. I knew there was a Holley booth at the fairgrounds, so off I went carbs in hand. Luckily it was early and they weren't busy. I figured they would say forget it and sell me new carbs. One of the tech guys takes a look down one of the carbs. Are you kidding me!!! Hey Mike. Check this out. He was just as startled. I figured these guys had seen it all. What the hell happened? I've never seen anything like this before. I started to tell them the story. Mike says. Are you the guy with white Vega that blew his scoop off? Ya.WOW! I heard the story. Did the cops really try to take you away? Oh ya. He said you should go to the dog track and place a bet. Funny. I had already planned a trip to the Grey Hounds before we left for home. I didn't win. lol. So the tech guy tells me to come back at noon. I stopped at a parts store and picked up a piece of gasket material. During the backfire, the gasket between the 2 piece tunnel ram had blown out. I was all back together and running fine that afternoon. We had a great time.

The closest track to Toronto was in Georgetown. You could drive there without getting on the highway which was great for us nut bars that drove on the street with a 4.88 gear. There were many stories about that place. I was in the tower talking to the guys one night when I saw a 69 Camaro pulling up to the line. I knew the car and it was pretty quick for a streetcar. BBC 4 SPD I think it ran high 11s. He pulled into the water up to the lights and staged. It was a big meet that weekend and the rosin was down. As the lights came down this guy brought the revs up and drops the clutch on the last yellow. I kid you not. I saw his generator light come on when the car bogged really bad. I instantly heard a cling of something hitting the window on the tower. The guy blew his clutch and a piece of the clutch disc hit the window!!!. Even the track owner had never seen that before.

So after the track had been closed for a year we decided to drive by on the way home from our other track. There it was. So sad. Weeds growing up through the asphalt and remnants of the bleachers all broken up. One of my friends jokingly said. Hey. We have our cars here. Let's make a couple of passes.lol. Another guy says. I hope you're strong enough to carry the cars over the barricades. The cement barriers were blocking the entrance. I said I have a pretty strong tow rope. Another friend had a diesel dually. We actually pulled the barriers out of the way. Crazy. Everyone pulled into the pits and started to put their slicks on just like a regular Sunday. I wish I had more pics. Everyone was having a great time except me. There was no one for me to run. Boohoo.
Everyone pulled into the pits and started to put their slicks on just like a regular Sunday. Some other guys arrived. I have no idea how these guys found out what was going on. No cell phones back then. They showed up with a couple of cars. I think they lived in the area and heard all the noise. Within an hour more cars arrived and there were probably over 100 people. I should have charged $20 ahead. I was getting nervous as anyone driving by would have easily seen and heard all the commotion.

A white Nova came in on a trailer. It was a big tire car and was all lettered up. I knew the car and it ran 10s. It was called the Polar Express. And of course, my bottle was empty. As you can see in the pic he was sleeping and I got him by about 2 lengths off the line. I couldn't see him but I did hear him as he was right on my rear bumper at about half-track. He started to pull me in high gear and passed me right near the end of the track. I didn't admit it at the time but I think he got me. The Cops arrived and that was the end of that day. I ran him 1 year later at the track. Instead of a street motor this time, "I was loaded for bear." LOL. Does anyone remember that saying! I now had Shafroft long rod 327 tunnel ram with NOS. I had also picked up a built 2SPD Powerglide with a brake and race convertor. Fairley new stuff for 1978.

The Glide and Brake really make things simple. I wait for the starter to guide me through the puddle and onto the edge where it is wet but not a puddle. The starter gives you the sign to spin the tires just enough to get them wet. Then he directs you 1'or 2' ahead and stop. As soon as the cars that just ran are off the track he gives you the OK to do your burnout. You step on the brake put the line lock on, let go of the brake and put the car in high gear and nail it. Some guys think if you do that the car will overrev instantly. It won't. It's hard to explain but imagine your car has rear tires that are 4' tall. You can't get the car to over-rev instantly. If you have short 26" tires and use first gear, sure. So after hitting it, you let the tach get to around 4000 the starter should signal you when the tires are smoking and to pull up. You let go of the trans brake ease off the throttle and let the car slide out onto the dry pavement and let right off once you are on the dry pavement. The car will slide about 2 feet and then squawk just as the tires bite. Even though you are now off the throttle the inertia of the tires spinning will keep them going until they bite. Back into first and you are ready to stage.

Back soon!