Funny/stupid drag racing stories
Posted 02-12-2011 at 19:21 by Bill Powell
Stupid was me. Fayatteville, NC 1960 I found a little drag strip on a guy's private land. It was not much of a drag strip, but it was the only one I could find. Before every race day they had to take a tractor and fill a drainage ditch that cut the strip in the shutdown area. The ultimate car stopper was a pond at the the end of the shutdown. They got cars from Virginia and the other surrounding states. They had dragster powered by Oldsmobile, Chevy 348, Buick, Lincoln, and even Studebaker. My stupid was a 1948 Anglia, powered by a small block Chevy, and driven by a 15 year old kid. There was no right floor so I wrapped my arms around the roll bar, put one foot on the right frame rail and one on the driver's seat support, and went through the quarter at 108 mph. The only thing between me and the strip were happy thoughts. That was my stupid for the month of Aug, 1960.
One of the funnies was during the Jr Fueler era. (AFD) Naturally aspirated dragsters burning nitro an maximum cu in of about 305. Little turkeys were turning over 200 in the quarter. One guy decided he was going to build a two wheel Jr Fueler. He sat a Ford V-8 side winder at the rear, driving a 12 inch slick. he built a long frame with tall forks and took it to the track. On his shakedown run he turned 164.something mph and when he opened the parachute a weak point in his plan showed up. When the chut opened it was a 22 ft dragster crossform chute. When that chut opened the bike went Skeeeeek, and he did a single gainer over the handle bar at 160 mph. He landed on his ass with his legs spread and slid to a stop. Then the lucky bastard got up and hobbled away.
A jet dragster, similar to the one shown, was the star of the next story. I think it was on the Ohio Turnpike many years ago. The crew was coming home from an exhibition drag race when their truck crapped out. They figured the best way to the next turnpike gate was to fire the car in the back of the trailer and push the rig. It worked great til they saw a toll booth and tried to stop. The throttle was stuck open and did not stop till it burned up all its fuel. It did not run out of fuel til it had pushed the tow rig through the toll booth at considerable speed. They conned their way out of a serious ticket, but the toll booth operator said it sounded like a jet plane going through his gate.
One of the funnies was during the Jr Fueler era. (AFD) Naturally aspirated dragsters burning nitro an maximum cu in of about 305. Little turkeys were turning over 200 in the quarter. One guy decided he was going to build a two wheel Jr Fueler. He sat a Ford V-8 side winder at the rear, driving a 12 inch slick. he built a long frame with tall forks and took it to the track. On his shakedown run he turned 164.something mph and when he opened the parachute a weak point in his plan showed up. When the chut opened it was a 22 ft dragster crossform chute. When that chut opened the bike went Skeeeeek, and he did a single gainer over the handle bar at 160 mph. He landed on his ass with his legs spread and slid to a stop. Then the lucky bastard got up and hobbled away.
A jet dragster, similar to the one shown, was the star of the next story. I think it was on the Ohio Turnpike many years ago. The crew was coming home from an exhibition drag race when their truck crapped out. They figured the best way to the next turnpike gate was to fire the car in the back of the trailer and push the rig. It worked great til they saw a toll booth and tried to stop. The throttle was stuck open and did not stop till it burned up all its fuel. It did not run out of fuel til it had pushed the tow rig through the toll booth at considerable speed. They conned their way out of a serious ticket, but the toll booth operator said it sounded like a jet plane going through his gate.
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