Home from Ocala

[joes mack]

have you ever tried a pic studio they can prob do it ive seen some dvds that have been done but they dont have sound. if you were to get the chance to go next year i think you would love it with the skyboxes above the stands its like sitting in a barrel. when the top fuel/funnycars leave the line it shakes your whole body..

[41chevy]

have you ever tried a pic studio they can prob do it ive seen some dvds that have been done but they dont have sound. if you were to get the chance to go next year i think you would love it with the skyboxes above the stands its like sitting in a barrel. when the top fuel/funnycars leave the line it shakes your whole body..

I'll have to give a studio a shot. I know how it was in the pits and on the track, course that was in '72.

[Mike]

I probably should take a photo of the old Riverside Raceway west of Nashville about 12 miles. It was visible from interstate I- 40 West. I recall the telephone poles were very close to the track. It was a narrow two lane Dragstrip with single line down the middle of it. My friend from Morristown, TN and I were at this track in the summer of 1971 and watched 2 Funny Cars go side by side and almost losing it. There were trees at the end of the track and river after that. Today the grass has almost taken over the whole track, but the telephone poles are still there and small control tower is a junk den. I also recall the Tennessee Highway Patrol would keep a close watch out for people stopping on the side of the interstate to watch the races. Yea, seemed to me we had some cop traps way back then to.

mike

[maxidyne237]

I'll have to give a studio a shot. I know how it was in the pits and on the track, course that was in '72.

Costco will transfer them to DVD.

[41chevy]

Costco will transfer them to DVD.

THanks i'll give them a try when we go there , didnt even know Costco did that!

Mike, we ran Funnies 4 abreast at National Speedway in 1973 at night. It was Mr.Norms Charger,Barry Setzer's Vega,Jungle Jims Nova and a blank on the 4th car. Insurance company would never allow that now! National was a 300 M.P.H. track,Hamptons Drag A Way was 200/250 depending what lane you were in. The right lane had a dip about half way down.

[vision386]

Heres a neat video i found,has a lot of the names and cars mentioned in this thread.............................Mark

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKs2oVZw9KA

[leversole]

Costco will transfer them to DVD.

Wallgreens drugstore will do it too...

[other dog]

Nice pictures Paul! thanks for sharing! dig the old funny cars for sure! i'm a bit of a gasser fan myself,buddy of mine owns a 41 willys coupe,owned by none othe than Stone,Woods& Cook,it was destined to become another "Swindler" in the sixties,but they decided to change classes and body styles so it never happened. Doug "cookie" Cook autographed the firewall at englishtown back in the late seventies,its never been anything but a street car,but looks like it walked right out of the sixties! straight front axle,pearl white tuck and roll uphostery,etc. only picture i have of it is a crappy polaroid! one person i'd add to that list is of course "Miss Hurst" Linda Vaughan,always gracious about signing pictures and talking with people,and (still) not too hard on the eyes! LOL!....................................Mark

The things you threw away years ago that you wish you had saved now! I had a Hot Rod magazine that had an article about Doug Cook shortly after he'd passed away. Or was it somebody else? ..I'm not sure now. That's why I wish I still had it. Pretty sure it was the Stone,Woods,and Cook Willys gasser...but maybe not.

Anyway, the article was about how fast and how fearless he was. I remember it saying the chassis was little more than exhaust tubing, when he'd leave the line it would jump straight up in the air and when it came down, sometimes straight, usually sideways, he'd slam another gear and was gone.

He was bald on top, and known for driving it all out, "balls to the wall".

Maybe some of you will know more about who i'm talking about than I do.

[David]

Tom, Were you thinking of Bob Chipper? He was from NY where I grew up. I remember him working on family cars and tucks. Just found this.........

http://www.hefuneralhome.com/obits/obituary.php?id=97065

[vision386]

Tom, i think you may be thinking about "Wild Willie Borsch" he drove the famous (notorious) Winged express fuel altered,and was noted for his wild, one handed driving style,and was quite the showman! one of the most famous pictures in drag racing is willie "gettin' sideways at the starting line. And he was a balding,heavyset-set middle aged guy with a beard/moustache...............is this the car?.....................Mark

[vision386]

Forgot to add this to the last post....................Stone,Woods & Cook Willys. Its an old picture,but thats "cookie" in the middle of the second picture...........Mark

[other dog]

Tom, i think you may be thinking about "Wild Willie Borsch" he drove the famous (notorious) Winged express fuel altered,and was noted for his wild, one handed driving style,and was quite the showman! one of the most famous pictures in drag racing is willie "gettin' sideways at the starting line. And he was a balding,heavyset-set middle aged guy with a beard/moustache...............is this the car?.....................Mark

That is the car. That's him! My memory ain't what it used to be. Neither is anything else for that matter.

[41chevy]

Forgot to add this to the last post....................Stone,Woods & Cook Willys. Its an old picture,but thats "cookie" in the middle of the second picture...........Mark

The second Swindler was just restored, the Black Swindler B car.

[Rob]

A customer of mine here in good ole Farmington, IL has a Willys gasser he ran in the 1960's tucked in the back of his garage. His name is John Dare. I don't know if he made any news of any kind at the time but I know the car is still in the garage; same place it has been for over 20 years I know of.

I'll see if he'll let me snap a photo.

Rob

[other dog]

A customer of mine here in good ole Farmington, IL has a Willys gasser he ran in the 1960's tucked in the back of his garage. His name is John Dare. I don't know if he made any news of any kind at the time but I know the car is still in the garage; same place it has been for over 20 years I know of.

I'll see if he'll let me snap a photo.

Rob

I thought he made tractors and farm equipment- no, wait, that was John Deere...never mind, it's that memory thing again.

[41chevy]

When you get to my favorite gassers (next to mine!) there are still owned by Mr Koch and his wife a 1960 Studebaker Larl and a 1949 Packard Paul