Your Favorite Drag Racing Story I was reading in another post where Dan won some wheels in a drag race once. I was reminded of a race I had years ago, me in my 1972 Hurst Oldsmobile 455 c.i. against an older-than-me 'acquantance' (not to be confused with a 'friend') in his Mercury Marauder 429 c.i. If you've ever lived in a small town, you know that you can easily put on a hundred miles on odometer going up and down the main drag on Saturday nights. While doing this one Saturday night, I kept seeing the 'older guys' (meaning 21 years old) in that Marauder and Lloyd, the owner, would rev that 429 everytime he passed me (he had to get his hundred miles in also). Scared hell outta me. Finally, they flagged me and my girlfriend-du joure down in this one particular parking lot that the cops didn't run us off from. I got out knowing what was about to happen - these guys were going to talk me into a drag-race that I can't afford nor do I stand a chance of winning. Well, that's exactly what they had in mind. Billy was doing his best to convince me that I could outrun Lloyd in the quarter mile they had marked off outside of town (remember, Billy was riding shotgun in his buddy's Merc). By that time, my buddy had shown up with my younger brother (in his mom's '74 LTD 302). Peer pressure got the best of me. That, and the fact that my keen eye had noticed the skinny tires on Lloyds car. I'd gone through the 60-foot blues already and was on Mickey Thompsons that night. Against my beter judgement, I agreed to one race only for $100 - Win or Lose. Against my beter judgement, I borrwed money from my brother and his buddy (in the LTD) and we headed off to the 'track' outside of town - One race - Win or Lose - $100 Well, I put my girl out and Lloyd lets Billy out (these are things you do, right?) and we line 'em up. Billy has us both staged and ready - I'm standing on the converter waiting for Lloyd to take off - not so much for Billy's hands to go down (shady characters). Anyway, as he drops his hands, I nail it. At the time, I didn't know that in a close race, you could see the guy next to you pretty easily. It didn't matter, I had it figured he was gonna come on strong so I stayed in it. After what seemed to be about a mile and a half and looking for the finish line, I let out and look in my rearview to see TWO SETS of head lights coming up pretty fast-like. What the he(ck)? It was my buddy in his Mom's LTD and Lloyd in his Marauder headed my way at warp speed. My buddy pulls over but Lloyd is doing about a thousand miles an hour and not letting off. Turns out, as I suspected, Lloyd couldn't get out of his tracks from spinning too much. In the meantime, my buddy goes around him in his Mom's LTD and decides to get him some too. Turns out, he TOO went around Lloyd at the start and Lloyd had just then overtaken him! I head back to pickup my girl and wait around for Lloyd - who never showed. I drove us all back into town and waited in the parking lot for Lloyd to show. A couple of hours later, after we'd laughed ourselves silly, he shows up with the money and begrudgingly pays me. "If I hadn't spun so much", blah blah blah. He grabbed his buddy Billy and smoked the tires onto the main drag headed towards his home. As far me, I had hundred dollars and a girl with goo-goo eyes for me to tend to! Ahh, what a night.
I had been racing the Maverick bracket car for years. I have raced a guy in a mopar-powered dragster that runs 5.20's, me running 6.60s. I had run him probably 20 times and lost 19...I won on a red light in the first round, and had to run him again in the second round (buy back). Lost that one too LOL. Anyway, we were running one Sunday and Dad had already gone out I believe in the 3rd or 4th round. I was still in, 5 cars left. Me, a guy in a 5.90 Vega, a guy in a 7.00 Camaro, guy in the Mopar dragster, and a lady in a Falcon that we know well. Anyway, I won the bye, guy in the Vega lost to the guy in the camaro, and the Falcon lost to the stupid dragster. Next round, I had to run the Vega, won easily against his .449 red light. On to the final round. Up until then, I had been able to dump against the cars I ran because they were fairly close to my ETs and I had room to judge them. I also knew that the final would have to be a VERY good light and a very close ET in order to get the win light. I backed into the burnout box, cleaned the hides, and let the ol' boy do his burnout as he usually does a long one. I stayed back until he started backing up so I didn't have to sit there waiting on him (I hate waiting!). Anyway, I pulled up and started the burnout, but upon the first couple of revolutions I realized that the tires were not wet enough to get a SMOOTH burnout. I backed up into the box, again, and this time it went smooth. The Dragster guy has been waiting on me the whole time. I was cool, no hurries, no worries. Pulled to the line and I got the tree. Left, the launch felt good and the reaction wasn't too bad. I had dialed 8.75, he dialed 6.99. At the 330', I was in high gear and the finish was coming faster & faster. I look out the corner of my eye and could not see the digger. I didn't think twice and kept the right foot planted and the left foot planted on the floorboard, nowhere near the brake pedal. I did not want to dump with him running 142 mph at the trap and me only going 112. Too hard to judge, and I have lost to him numerous times by dumping early and letting him by. Keep in mind the competitor is running a hilborn-injected 499 wedge on alcohol, so if he dials 6.99..he's going to run 6.99. That thing is THAT consistent and he can dial it to the hundredth with ease. As I cross the finish line he blew by me at nearly 145 mph. My stomach is at the bottom of my throat and my heart sank as I knew for sure he had the better light and won. Well..I was partly right. He had the better light, but I ran dead on dial, 8.750 and had a .512 light. He had a .510 light and ran 6.989 on a 6.99, 143 mph. I was completely relieved to see my win light illuminate. I was also ecstatic. I pushed that SOB through and took the win, fair and square no BS. I haven't had a win that sweet in a long, long time. The dragster driver wasn't happy, but it was a fair race for which he took home 2nd place. I left with $550 and more importantly some respect from other drivers. Mr. dragster driver is a helluva nice guy and a great driver, but a sore loser and after a race is over and he is the runner up, it is best to stay away. I've lost more rounds than I've won, but that's the way it works out in bracket racing. I can remember many rounds won, including a sweet $2000 win at a 2 day race, which was also double points, and the year I won the track championship. Great year, and the last year I ran a 302. Probably should have kept that combo, but the urge to go faster took over and it had to go. Dad has it now and it still proably one of the toughest racers out there. For me, just keeping a motor together anymore has become a challenge in itself
I know about those guys who seem to always win - I'd made into the finals against one of those guys. He raced every Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. I concentrated as hard as I could to get a good light against that guy. You know the feeling when you know you've cut a good light. Well, I was certain I did. I look back around half-track, expecting him to come roaring by but then realized there was no way he was going to catch me so I let off and went on the the traps. WHAT? My win light didn't come on!! I look up to see him coming through the traps and HE GETS THE WIN LIGHT!! I couldn't wait to see what happened on that race. Turns out, they had my dial off by one second. I broke-out on a near perfect light coasting through the traps way ahead of the other guy. I was reminded that it is the racer's responsibility to look up on the board to ensure the dial-in is correct. It taught me a lesson for sure.
Ok I will say it....I USE to street race alot. Once at work a guy bought a vega with a tired 350 in it. He kept going on and on about how fast it was....short story I finally said enough. So we agreed to meet at lunch time on a empty road...ended up having 10-15 people there to watch!! My then present girlfriend was with me...we line up and I reached over and opened the door and said "get out". She said "if I get out we are done" once again I said "get out".....she never did go out with me again . Well I beat him by 2 car lengths and felt like king for a day!!! One more... My Dad was with me (wish he could take one more ride with me ) we are sitting at a red light. A 80 something Camaro was along side and he was playin with the gas...Dad said "you know them cause these boys want to race"!! I ask Dad if he cares if I run them, he ask me if I can take them and I laughed and said no problem. Forgot to say but I had my right foot in a cast and one of those large booties on my gas foot! Half way into the race Dad says they are coming on, I replied I cant get my foot tothe FLOOR. So with both of my feet I get it to the floor and bye bye we went...Dad laughing all the way by them. Quick one from the track...lol. Got beat in a gamblers race finals by the track champion, got him staging and confused ( yes I played games). Had him beat but broke the valve body and it wouldnt go into 3rd gear (beat by 0.07). But it wasnt worth blowing up a new motor for a 200 dollar race!! I will stop... Todd
I never did a lot with street racing, and my car has never been on a track. I did a few stoplight challenges, usually against people that I knew. I usually concentrated on keeping mine clean rather than making it faster. I came close on the money challenge once. A guy from a neighboring town came around one Sun. evening, he had a mostly stock '65/'66 Mustang coupe. He told me that he would give me $30 or something like that IF I could outrun him. This came about in the middle of some of the more serious guys working up a race in my town. There were some extremely fast cars in the Durham area up until the late 80's. There were lots of cars left over from the late 60's and early 70's, some pretty fast stuff. One of my buddies, Johnny Crim, had a '79/'80 Camaro. He had just gotten it back from having the 305 swapped out for a well built 350. I had ridden in it with him a couple of times. Johnny and I were not real close, he was kind of getting himself back on track after dropping out of school. We knew eachother because I was the teacher's aide in his English class my junior yr. I think he was a couple of yrs. behind. I was his tuitor the entire first semester of school. His Dad helped him get the 350 since he was doing so well in school. He was a pretty nice guy. This guy in a late 70's T/A with a 455 was pushing Johnny for a race. I think that they were only running for bragging rights-no money. I didn't know the guy in the T/A, but he seemed like a bit of a badass dude, probably in his early to mid 20's. As usual, other races came from these challenges-thus the guy in the Mustang wanting to run me. They kept dragging it out with conversation before everyone finally got their nerves up. By that time, I had to interrupt the fun to run the girlfriend home. After getting rid of her, I busted butt to get to the lake where the local 1/4 runs were usually done. As I rounded a curve headed through a straightaway approaching another curve, I saw flashing blues and reds. They didn't wait to start the competition at the quarter. A good friend, Jeff, was riding on the passenger side in the back seat with Johnny, 1 of 4 occupants. He now works as a machinist for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Jeff's recollection of what happened was that Johnny pulled out and passed the guy shortly after leaving the cruising spot where we started. He said that it was pretty much wide open back and forth from then on. If I remember correctly, the Camaro was around a 4.11 rear, it bit hard off the line and I expect that Johnny would have won in the 1/4. The T/A was built too, but probably not as quick. Jeff said that Johnny passed the guy in that last straightaway in 2nd gear (TH350), and said that when he pushed it up into 3rd the tach was over 6500 from his view in the rear seat. He said that Johnny let off of it approaching the curve. Jeff said that he looked around and saw the lights of the T/A approaching. As he turned back around and they entered the curve, he felt a bump and the Camaro turned sideways. He saw Johnny try and save it but there was a second bump, and Jeff said that the T/A's lights were pointing in the passenger side window. The Camaro left the road, hit a small pine tree on the passenger side, cut another decent pine in the center of the car and another raked the drivers' side door, pushing it into the back seat where it took off the arm of a guy, can't remember his name. The Camaro rolled several times and ended upside down. Johnny was killed instantly. I drove by, couldn't see what had happened, or what cars were involved due to all the fire trucks and police cars. I went on home. That was just one of 3 guys that I know who died in that manner. I never saw the guy in the Mustang again. I don't know why I let this response get to this. Sorry for raining on somebody elses post. Seth
did a lot of street racing when I was in school. I had a 70 Nova, 350/350. spanked a lot of booties with that car. Bracket racing. 1) My cousin comes up to me in the staging lanes and says I have to race this 67 tube chassis Camaro. He mentioned that the guy is leading the points at another track. Well, at the time I am hammering some good lights, it was one of the few times that old combo I had was running consistant....me not scared! I got the left lane....not my favorite lane. I dialed a 7.71, he dialed a 5.90 something. Tree comes down and I go, knew I cut a good light. get 1/3 down the track, hit 2nd dead-on, and I hear him coming....pooring the coals to it, shift light flickers, nailed the final shift, all I could do now was keep it as straight as possible(closest distance from A to B) I had that little 302 Maverick gas pedal as far down as I could get it. 2/3 track and I feel him. Come-on baby, come-on. Get to the traps and WHAM! he goes flying by. Let off the gas, look up... to see who got the win light.....left lane....thats ME! Wooo woooo. I was inside the car screamin' and yellin', smacking the steering wheel, full of addrinellin...I mean PUMPED UP! not a greater feeling in the world! Rode by tech, got my slip. Headed back to the pits, rode by the camaro, the driver already out of his car, gives me the thumbs-up when I go by....man I am on top! What a great feeling. Pull into the pit and friends and family are there, some clapping, all smiling. My cousin already has the generator going and the battery charger ready to hook-up. Got out of the car and reviewed my timeslip...... .003 reaction time. ran a 7.712.....thats a .005 package Last one. Raced the already crowned track champ: he was dialed 7.70, I was on a 7.75......those that race know that these type of dial-ins are tough.....could help, could cause I bottom bulb. Anyways, lights drop we go, side-by-side all the way down the track....ole maverick giving the malibu all it wants. Cross the traps, looks for the win light....Malibu with the win. Get my slip.....I had a .009 to his .019....I had him! but ran a 7.749. Broke out by a mere .001......thats racing!
I built a 66 F-100 with a 396 FE Big Block, C6, and 3.70 mini spool rearend. Built it strictly for the racetrack. It wasnt the fastest thing ever, but i had built it for the track only. My GMC gave up on me one day so I was forced to drive the F-100 on a daily basis. At the time it had steel wheels from a 97 F-150 on it and mud tires in the read and almost bald ones in the front. The usual chevy guys always wanted to race me, but I never would until I got the truck complete and "safe to race" I lined up with a guy in a 87 chevy truck, 350 w/ a big cam, flowmasters all the typical "hot rod teenage crap" He wanted to race for 50 bucks. Well the light turns green, my truck coughs very very bad and almost dies. I STILL catch him and beat him by about 3 1/2 truck lengths. I never seen that 50 bucks, or that truck after I turned off the main road. Another time, i raced a guy with an almost identical truck w/ a small cam etc in a 4x4 Z-71 truck... and beat him by about a 1/2 truck length. Embarrassed him pretty bad. no money won there however. I never won any money bracket racing, but I have one a bit on the street. Good stories guys, keep them coming
Not me, but, still good... I'm 22 and own a '70 Maverick, for the record. I love it. Saw a Toyota Supra (full tube chassis, twin intercooled turbo, giggle juice, carbon fiber/aluminum interior, drag chutes... the works) run a 9.84 and driven by a punk Asian (used for descriptive purposes only) kid who's dad runs a huge corporation. Of course, dad had the car built for the kid. Know a guy named Mike (about 45). Real quiet guy; dead serious racer. Mike has a black '74 Maverick (393, probably around 13:1, happy spray, roll cage, 6-inch cowl, no drag chute, stock chassis with frame connectors, ladder bars, more goodies that he probably wouldn't want people to know about) that runs 8.96. Supra guy started talking trash about everybody's car cause he thought his was the fastest (hadn't seen Mike run yet). Pointed to Mike's car and said "... and look at this piece of ****; bet it couldn't get out of it's own way! You don't need that kind of hood with a tiny motor... you know that, right?" Like I said, Mike's a quiet guy... until just then. Mike told him to shut the f*** up and mind his own damn business (exchange of words for about 5 minutes). Kid called Mike out for $5,000. Mike accepted. They raced. Heard Mike was just about ready to install his custom turbo setup soon. Eric (silver70) P.S.- I hope everyone enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed seeing it.
I get those guys all the time. Maverick? What the *&$#? Had one today talking down on the little old Kawasaki 250 Mojave I need to sell...guy bought a '05 Yamaha 4 wheeler and wants me to drag race him. I usually just stay quiet. Told him meet me first race day and we'll settle it...also told him I'm not afraid to lose. It's all fun to me! I doubt he shows up.
I have never lost in a street race so far. I have only been to an official track maybe 5 times. The best race for cash was only 250.00 it was with a kid in a Torino with a 429. We lined up in Kentucky double A highway. The starter was a mutual friend. He slammed his hands down and away we went. I pulled him 5 car lengths or so. I gained respect for them old big blocks though. He had the motor rebuilt more compression a fair size cam but nothing major. My car will run 12.40s all day and to see a big ole running piece of flying iron like that keeping pace was well kinda of scary I spent the money on Girlfriend. Never seen the guy but once since and hew just gave me a thumbs up.
No $ but braggin' rights My 351 Grabber vs. Buick Grand National. Guy in a GN at the local cruisin strip was talkin trash on the street about how no way my Maverick could touch his 12 second Buick. That very next weekend at the strip, guess who pulls up in the lane next to him at the starting tree? Thats right, my lil' old Grabber. Lets just say that guy with the mid 14 second GN that bragged about his "12 second" car got beat by 2 full seconds. He was cool afterwards and he always gave me a big whenever I saw him on the street.
I am supposed to have a race with a 97 cobra with a shot of sauce this weekend so maybe I will have a new story. I might lose this one Motor only I know i will win. I do not typically race cars that have a power adder to keep it fair. I did finally get another posi but only 3.40s gears instead of 3.80s so I will lose 2 to 4 tenths(guess) So I am looking at high 12s. Still enough to beat a cobra in a heads up race. I guess it is time to ante up and get me a 125 shot of that funny juice as well Best 2 out of 3 and 100.00 bux on the line and oh yea braggin rights......... Disclaimer STEET RACING IS VERY STUPID SO DON'T BE STUPID LIKE ME. WE HAVE A VERY sucluded area in which to do this and the cops seem to over look it. :16suspect
Well never did race that cobra. However tonight I did race a zr6 vette. The mav pulled him till about 110 mph. I tried racing a new 05 GT mustang but its just didn't feel right and I will leave it at that.
I had my ass handed to me by a Vette once (like you, on the top end only). T'was a sight to behold. re: 05 Mustang I never heard you mention it.
