When I first met my husband in 1967 he was driving a (’66 or ’67) Chevy Chevelle SS 396. Meant nothing to me, at the time, except it was a nice new red shiny fast car. Some of the first dates we went on were to drag strips, where he raced his Chevelle. I had never been to a drag strip and this was exciting and different, especially since he won almost every time he raced. That Chevelle was hard to beat in its class. We went to several different drag strips over the years, with Muncie and Indpls Raceway Park being our favorites. Muncie was always at night and we’d get home in the wee hours of the morning. He raced that Chevelle for a couple of years and him and his buddy invested in a trailer to haul it around. To say that those 2 men lived and breathed cars is an understatement. We drove all the way to Chicago once and went to where “THE" Carroll Shelby, himself, had his business located and my husband had the nerve to ask if Mr. Shelby was there – he wasn’t. We spent almost every weekend at a drag strip for many years. It got monotonous at times, but mostly it was a lot of fun. We even flew to Gainesville, FL one year to watch the Spring Nationals in the early 70’s.
Then we invested in a 1969 or 1970 Mustang Mach 1, went straight to the dealer and ordered it special. I have no idea how big the engine was or any other details, that was my husband’s field of expertise. All I know is it was yellow with a wide black strip on each side and it was fast. Now that car could run! It was unbeatable in its class and we took it all over the Midwest. I don’t think we ever lost a race with that mustang. When we weren’t racing that mustang, I was driving it as my “regular” car. I even drove it to work and the grocery!!! I had never driven a car so powerful….keeping in mind I went from driving a corvair to this Mach 1 Mustang! Everyday when I got home, I would back the mustang into our garage, ever so slowly. Just touching the gas and letting the clutch slip a little would jump the car several feet. I ripped off the frame around the garage door – twice! I went through the drywall in the garage into the kitchen – once! I was kind of glad when we sold the mustang, although I sure did get a lot of attention when I drove it (big smile). We sold that car to another interested drag racer, and then bought a Camaro Z-28 the first year they came out. That car was a dog! Drove it to FL once, then sold it.
note: the pictures here are only similar to the cars I owned.
The reason I’m giving you this little excerpt from my life is because I now live close to Avon about 5 miles south of Indpls. Raceway Park – now called O’Reilly Raceway Park – and this is a BIG weekend for them. This is the NHRA Drag Racing Championship event of the year, held right here in Clermont, IN. For 2 days now, I have been listening to those cars, with 2 more days to go. Yes, I can hear them from my house and the weather has been perfect, so I’ve had my windows open. I really wish I were there. Hearing those big engines make me long for the good ole days, and a fast car!
2 comments:
Joker - This reminds me of our son racing go karts in the Midwest. A lot of fun to meet people from all walks of life. Pulling our trailer, the smell of oil and methanol. The good friends we would see. Kyle, our son falling asleep with a big trophy by him in the seat. He placed 1st a lot. We have shelves all around the top of Kyle's old bedroom here at our house for trophies. We have over 100 trophies and plaques. When Kyle built his own house, he took 4 or 5 of the big ones (over 3 ft) for his "pool table room" and the rest live here with us. We raced when Kyle was in junior high and high school, about 5 1/2 years. We stopped racing when Kyle went away to Purdue to get his Engineering Degree.
This reminds me too of Hawks 62 black Corvette with the red interior and convertible hard top. Stolen when we were married about 10 months.....that was a fun car! Like you said big engine and would it go fast. I remember going 100 mph on 465. We sat so low it felt like a rocket. We always seemed to have a police escort where ever we went. Hawk most of the time obeyed the speed laws.
Mrs. Hawk
I know what you mean about the smell of oil and burning rubber. At Muncie dragway you could literally stand within 20 feet of the "christmas tree" (countdown lights) and when they had "funny cars" it was so loud, I'm surprised I'm not deaf. Actually my ex-husband is almost deaf!
I remember one time we were dragging with some friends, taking turns, on Arlington Ave and someone comes out yelling "the cops are on their way!" We went in all different directions and hid. They never did find us, but it was a close call. We were driving down a side street parallel to Arlington and saw the paddy wagon going real slow looking for us.
Post a Comment