bobw - And I thought I had medical issues. I sure hope you get better soon. I agree you really don't need the dragster when you can take the Bantam out for a few passes. Still would have liked to see what she would have run. bobw, old sparks, 440 ---- Well friends, I have taken the medical stuff as it comes, the stroke a 1 1/2 year ago has messed with me more than just my eyes, not looking to get any better. I love drag racing "front motor" cars and will sure miss it if I never get in the seat again. The good side that keeps me going is that I ran a car for 53 years and many would have liked to done the same. Was able to run one door car 65 bbc Vet, 4 front motor dragsters and 1 altered. Ran as quick as 7.02 @ 189. So racing has been good to me, but life throws a few curve balls along the way that we all will have to take a swing at. At 70 years old I am glad to be able to look back and enjoy the times with good race friends. Happy 4th to all and thank god we live in the USA.
Hang in Bob. I won't hit 70 until next year but I know what you are going through with the prostate. I had to have prostate surgery for cancer 2 1/2 years ago and have been struggling with some auto-immune problems since my government sponsored vacation to southeast Asia in '67. The key to living a happy life is to never give in and give up. Keep your mind believing you're 20 even if your body knows you are crowding "four score". You will get it back if you do the rehab exercises they recommend. It's too bad that you won't be able to make it to the meltdown this year. I was really hope to get to see the 'bullet in action this year. The real secret to it all is to keep cutting a better light than father time.
RacerRoy3, I have an ex-brother-in-law in the same predicament as you. You have a fantastic attitude. I'm trying hard to be as upbeat as you are. I'm actually healing quite quickly and there's a chance I'll make it. I worked on my Crosley today and almost have it ready to go to the Meltdown. My friend Dave is taking it there and running it. It'll be for sale, trailer and all.
That's the way to think Bob! Actually, my wife says that I have a really shitty attitude. I'm just too stubborn to quit trying. There are too many things that I haven't done yet that I want to try, too many things that I am still doing that I don't want to give up, and too many things that didn't kill me the first time that I want to try again! LOL. Well enough of that. Time to get back on topic. It's all about a great bunch of folks having fun doing things their own way.
Well. dammit! The Urologist scheduled a post op exam for next Friday, There goes the Meltdown Drags. The dragster sits on the trailer, all tarped up since last fall.
When I read your post Bob I went ahead and allowed my wife to schedule something else last weekend. Needless to say the weather turned out to be beautiful and I regretted the decision. My brother attended the Meltdown and told me that they announced that Saturday's crowd was the largest in the 50 year history of Byron Dragway. They are planning on adding 6-10 more acres of parking next year. Entries are limited to 500 cars racing so everyone gets more runs in.
My Crosley made it to the Meltdown Drags on Friday without me. On the first, and only run, Driver Dave made it to half track, then the little fella went nuts, going from centerline to wall in a quick hurry. Ran a 12.60 @ 57 MPH. I arrived Sat. morning and thought maybe the 4 link urethane bushings were cracked or loosened. Turned out to be something in the 3rd member failed. Done for the weekend. I watched racing by the multitude of period correct cars (over 600) til 6:00 when I left for the 375 mile drive home. This is one primo event. Attend if you possibly can.
Cool shot of your Crosley. Will be interesting to see what went south in the rear end. Do you have a posy or a spool in the rear end? Hope your feeling better. 375 miles is quite a road trip just to get home. A few of my friends have make the race and said the same thing, MUST SEE RACE. Bucket list item.
Funny you should ask. Yesterday I dug the dragster out of its mosquito infested resting place where it sat, on the trailer, since last August. Put the slicks on, the battery in, water in the cooling system and new needles and seats in the carb. Cleaned and regapped the plugs. It should be ready to go to the MSRA drag races at Brainerd, MN Saturday. Only problem is rain is in the forecast. With the passing of family members and my own health problems, this is the first time out the season.
Sure wish you could bring the silver bullet to Tulsa next month to the Nitro Nats you would sure have fun.
Went to Kingdon reunion in Lodi ca. There were maybe 3 real nostalgia cars and 300 plus street cars. very disappointing. Made 2 passes, packed up and went home. Over an hour stuck in the staging lanes cause it took over 5 minutes for each pair to run. Never thought I`d say it but eagle field is much more fun. Maybe nostalgia racing is really dead. Won` t be at Eagle cause I spent my racing money at Kingdon and nobody to race.
Ha Dan, Sure would be fun to pack up that fine Bantam and take a road trip to next years Meltdown drags. Sure would be nice to see it run with the great nostalgia group out there. Maybe you and Bob w could match race.
Hi Tom,hows everything? I guess that post was just a bitch session but it`s getting a bit old not having any like cars to race. Meltdown is a possible thing. After all I went to Woodburn and had a great time despite the 14 hour drive each way. Have to do some research on when and how. Maybe you could go along to knock another one off your bucket list
This Saturday the Meltdown Drags guys are putting on an exhibition at Rock Falls Raceway in Eau Claire, WI. Over 75 racers that meet the Meltdown criteria (old school and 1966 or older) will be running. I'll have my dragster and Crosley there. Supposed to be sunny and 72 degrees so the weather will be perfect. It will be a great finale for the season. We're hoping this event can grow and evolve into the Meltdown North.
old sparks --- Ya dan, that would be one to remember. bobw ---- Pictures and a report please, Good luck, stay safe.
In Metro Phoenix AZ , Nostalgia type drag racing is dead, over , done, With the closing of SpeedWorld drag strip. There a couple of Nostalgia type events in Tucson AZ drag strip. The rent for Wild Horse Pass drag strip is too high for a small event. Even when a few groups ran events on the same day at Wild Horse, It was crowded, confusing, long waits in the stage lanes. IF you were part of ''one event'' , you had to wait to enter the stage lanes, not get mixed in with another group by mistake. That would cause a slight delay in the program. stuff happens. Not much interest in the nostalgia cars we talk about here... inlines, flat head powered... We never had a large crowd of inlines. 5 , mayb 6 cars was tops as I recall. It was fun while it lasted.
Crosley , I agree. Went to woodburn Oregon and had 16 car field in the flathead/ inline class but that was the only race that had good participation in the last two years. Even eagle field where if you don`t have a couple of flat tires you can run has maybe 4 inlines and two or three flatheads. I`m going to put a bent 8 in my car and do a couple of anra`s and test and tune. Gonna run low 10`s so I don`t have to jump through the nhra hoops and still be fast enough to have fun. Like you said, it was fun while it lasted.
I could be wrong , but from what I hear and see over here in Australia the problem is partly that potential racers aren't interested in Nostalgia because they can't just plug a laptop in and tune the thing. No way are they going to actually read plug colour and change jets. That's witchcraft stuff.
The Meltdown Drag fellows put on a nostalgia event last weekend at Rock Falls Raceway in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. There was the regular event going on too We had about 100 cars that met the Meltdown criteria of being 1966 or older and not having late wheels, etc. There was one flathead there in the form of Bob Huberty's ex-HA/GR dragster, and one 6 cylinder car there in my ex-HA/GR dragster. At the Meltdown Drags in Byron, Ill. last July there were 2 ex- HA/GR dragsters with small block Chevies in them. I saw two 6 cylinder cars and two flathead powered cars. Of course, I could have missed a few. But, that's among 600 entries. It takes a certain kind of person; one who doesn't need to go real fast or care about winning to run a flathead or an in-line engine. One who likes to squeeze performance out of an obsolete engine in small amounts using home made parts and ingenuity. Or, someone who has dedicated much time and much money into making one go to the best of its ability. People of this nature are not common and it is a unusual circumstance to find enough of them in a given area to produce enough cars to consistently race each other, or form a class. The Tulsa SDRA guys, The Australians and the group from Oregon seem to be able to hold it together. And it sounds like the car count Down Under is dwindling based on Spanners reports.
The desire to run an obsolete combination is strictly up to the individual and I should have expected there to be a small number of entries. After all flathead/inline has been around for a long time and has always had poor participation. The real saving grace is bracket racing even with the poor ability of these powerplants to produce good top end acceleration. My interest was it is more of a driving problem to race that way. Also you can run as much as you want without a crew and the various certifications that allow you to get on the track. I have run much faster but it cost me on average 1k for every race so I was racing my checkbook, not my car. That`s why I`m going to run a v-8 with its better hi rpm breathing to be able to play a bit more at the top end
If I blew up the 300 Ford 6 I'd put the small block Chevy that's under my bench in the dragster. I'd like to convert it into a slingshot style but it doesn't lend itself to doing that. Easier to just build a new chassis.
As you said Bob, it takes a special king of person to run these things. If you can't get enough cars to form a class the other option is to find one other like minded individual (or as many as you can collect) and just go to meets together and do old time match races. It's not about putting on a show as much as it is about having old time fun drag racing. Two guys can have a ball at a test and tune or like at a meet like Rocky's Eagle Field Airport Drags. It isn't about winning as much as it is about running.
old sparks --- Hope you do put a V8 in your hot rod and make a few of the ANRA meets in Bako, I would make the trip over the grade to see you run. bobw ----- You might as well sell the dragster because after you get that BBC Bantam done it will be all the car you need "FOR SPEED".
When I got into this I wanted to stay out of the certification ordeal , try to build a competitive combo and have some fun racing. I also wanted to give my grandkids a chance to run and see what fun it is,well spanners is right, the grandkids would rather play with their I pods ( or whatever) than do anything that might require some real effort. I haven`t given up the competitive spirit yet and can`t see just doing parade laps so I have some motors under the bench that I`m going to dust off and do some real racing Tom I`m planning on making the first anra next year . Hope to see you there
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