How did you get started in Drag Racing?

[Kevin Panzino]

Im a first generation racer. My dad was a borderline 'car guy', did all his own maintenance on the cars, but never took it much further. My Mom and Dad bought a brand new 1967 Pontiac Catalina, convertible, 400, 4 speed, 4 years before I was born. After my arrival complicated their life, they sold it and bought an Olds Vista Cruiser Wagon... Growing up, my neighbors would tell stories on how my MOM, (yes) would back that car out of the driveway, turn up our street, wind it up, dump the clutch and grab rubber through the first 3 gears.

Fast forward to 1986 ish, and my dad and I went to Englishtown to the drags. This was my first time at a drag strip. It was there where I first saw Super Stock and was fascinated. Wally Clark, Joe Scott, Ciccarone, Armstrong, Tim Worner, Dick Butler, Ang Dicocco, tons of others and of course Jim Boburka. I was floored with the wheelstands... I particularly loved the 3rd gen Camaro's and their magnificent gradual rise, long carrying, and soft landing wheelstands. It was then my dream to have one.

In 1988 my best friend and I went 50/50 on a $500 1966 327 Chevelle, 4 speed. It was rough, really rough, had just hit a tree, and the the grille, hood and radiator were bent like a horseshoe,but the rad didn't leak. We drove it home. I fixed it up, but I was more interested in the performance, and he wanted it to be more show car like. After about 1 year, I bought his half out, and put together a pretty wicked little 350 for it. I proceeded to get myself into a bunch of trouble with it on the streets of NJ. The climax was when the cops showed up at dinner at my house, saying they had seen the car street racing several times, and the night before they know I turned off the lights and evaded them at high speed. They said they are watching, very closely. My dad flipped out and said that's it, I'm removing the license plate, throwing it into the dump in the meadows and its going onto the Want Add Press (The NJ Car trader rag of that era) to be sold in the morning...
I then said I want to drag race legit off the road, and wanted to keep the car, but I understand Im headed for trouble or worse on the street. To my amazement, he said ok, "I will buy a trailer for you". We found an "econotrailer" open trailer about 1/2 hour from the house. After several years of bracket racing that pig at Island and Englishtown, then moving to Pittsburgh, in 1993 and continuing the bracket bash still with the 4 speed at Keystone, and Quaker city, I sold it and bought my current car in 1999 (the infamous lime green "slimer" of Joe Scott) rolling, from the Matuska's in Bowling green who had taken it in on trade from Brian McCormick for his new S10 SS pickup. Once we agreed to everything on the phone, I drove to BG the day before our first born son's birthday, turning right around and then bringing her home. My wife was flipping out... "If you miss your sons first birthday to get a stupid car!!".... I pulled into the driveway at 1:30 am, went inside, poured a triple of Johnnie Walker Black, and just sat in the car on the trailer taking it all in.
I've always done all my own engine work, head work, trans, everything. And the highlight was my first Wally at Indy in 2021 when I won class. Im not going to lie, when I turned off onto the return road, I stopped and just about folded in the seat, crying like a 14 year old girl whose boyfriend dumped her. When they handed me that Wally, I was still a mess.



Kp

[Greg Reimer 7376]

I grew up down here in So Cal. In the '60's and through most of the '70's, we were the epicenter of the hot car culture. At about 14 or 15, my brother and a few buddies went to Irwindale one Saturday, they had brackets, and a Top Fuel/Funny Car show. I thought it was pretty interesting, to say the least. We lived in Temple City, this was within earshot of the track when they ran fuel cars on Saturday nights. They used to run fun and grudge racing on Wednesday nights, so it seemed a natural place to try this stuff out. I put together a '62 Impala SS with a dual carb 409, a 4 speed Muncie trans, Hurst shifter, an 1 inch three finger McLeod clutch, a 1 piece drive shaft, and a 12 bolt from a Chevelle with 4.56 gears. First times out were embarrassingly slow because the car wouldn't hook up. A pair of 8" slicks got the car into the mid 13's. As Irwindale went out in 1977, we flat towed the car to OCIR and got both some headers we found someplace, and some 10.5" slicks. It ran low 13's, then we tried some different driving tactics that resulted in short shifting the car from 6000 RPM shift points to 5500 then 5300 and got rewarded with 12.90's at the same MPH. By this time the addictive nature of this whole thing was apparent, and I attended the Winternationals for the first time in 1980 with my wife to watch. The Stock and Super Stock cars intrigued me because it was hard to believe how quick some of them were with an OEM intake and carb and very complete and original bodies and interiors. I drove a car one year that Tony Janes had, and decided that Stock looked like a good place to play. By then, all the local tracks were gone by about 1990 or so, except Palmdale, and it wasn't too easy to do this. My favorite race car has been my '68 Chevelles, got a couple wins at the current Irwindale, and have done this stuff as a fun sport some 40+ years and can't say I ever regretted giving it a try. I am a really bad spectator, any way. Gotta be out there doing it. The friends I've made in the mean time have been priceless.

[KRatcliff]

I got into it fairly late in life to spend more time with my dad. Super glad I did. I have met many wonderful people along the way that I may have never crossed paths with otherwise.

[doglover44]

Originally Posted by Kevin Panzino

Im a first generation racer. My dad was a borderline 'car guy', did all his own maintenance on the cars, but never took it much further. My Mom and Dad bought a brand new 1967 Pontiac Catalina, convertible, 400, 4 speed, 4 years before I was born. After my arrival complicated their life, they sold it and bought an Olds Vista Cruiser Wagon... Growing up, my neighbors would tell stories on how my MOM, (yes) would back that car out of the driveway, turn up our street, wind it up, dump the clutch and grab rubber through the first 3 gears.

Fast forward to 1986 ish, and my dad and I went to Englishtown to the drags. This was my first time at a drag strip. It was there where I first saw Super Stock and was fascinated. Wally Clark, Joe Scott, Ciccarone, Armstrong, Tim Worner, Dick Butler, Ang Dicocco, tons of others and of course Jim Boburka. I was floored with the wheelstands... I particularly loved the 3rd gen Camaro's and their magnificent gradual rise, long carrying, and soft landing wheelstands. It was then my dream to have one.

In 1988 my best friend and I went 50/50 on a $500 1966 327 Chevelle, 4 speed. It was rough, really rough, had just hit a tree, and the the grille, hood and radiator were bent like a horseshoe,but the rad didn't leak. We drove it home. I fixed it up, but I was more interested in the performance, and he wanted it to be more show car like. After about 1 year, I bought his half out, and put together a pretty wicked little 350 for it. I proceeded to get myself into a bunch of trouble with it on the streets of NJ. The climax was when the cops showed up at dinner at my house, saying they had seen the car street racing several times, and the night before they know I turned off the lights and evaded them at high speed. They said they are watching, very closely. My dad flipped out and said that's it, I'm removing the license plate, throwing it into the dump in the meadows and its going onto the Want Add Press (The NJ Car trader rag of that era) to be sold in the morning...
I then said I want to drag race legit off the road, and wanted to keep the car, but I understand Im headed for trouble or worse on the street. To my amazement, he said ok, "I will buy a trailer for you". We found an "econotrailer" open trailer about 1/2 hour from the house. After several years of bracket racing that pig at Island and Englishtown, then moving to Pittsburgh, in 1993 and continuing the bracket bash still with the 4 speed at Keystone, and Quaker city, I sold it and bought my current car in 1999 (the infamous lime green "slimer" of Joe Scott) rolling, from the Matuska's in Bowling green who had taken it in on trade from Brian McCormick for his new S10 SS pickup. Once we agreed to everything on the phone, I drove to BG the day before our first born son's birthday, turning right around and then bringing her home. My wife was flipping out... "If you miss your sons first birthday to get a stupid car!!".... I pulled into the driveway at 1:30 am, went inside, poured a triple of Johnnie Walker Black, and just sat in the car on the trailer taking it all in.
I've always done all my own engine work, head work, trans, everything. And the highlight was my first Wally at Indy in 2021 when I won class. Im not going to lie, when I turned off onto the return road, I stopped and just about folded in the seat, crying like a 14 year old girl whose boyfriend dumped her. When they handed me that Wally, I was still a mess.



Kp

Thats a awesome story !

[Todd Gross]

My Dad was a Car guy... Hot Rodder, that dialed it down when family came along (AKA, me and my brother). He never Drag Raced, but had a bunch of cool cars and projects in the garage as i was growing up. I couldn't get enough. If he was in the garage, so was I. Watching, cleaning parts, loosing tools... you know, learning. There was always Hot Rod Magazines next to the chair and I read every page... not just looking at the pictures. I knew what I wanted to do the day I turned 16.
To add to things, I grew up in NW Indiana late 60's early 70's, with nonstop radio commecials on WLS for "Smokin US 30 Drag Strip... were the Big ones Run". My older brother took me there when I was 13 for a Funny Car match race and wheel standers. What a day!
My first car was a 65 Chevelle SS with a 4 speed and yes, we made a few laps at US30 and street raced On Broadway in N Merrillville, IN.
Funny thing was if my Dad would have caught me, my *** would be grass. So, as so many of my freinds did, when entering you supplied an alias name and claimed your home address as the local Standard Oil Gas Station. Poor Adam's Standard recieved alot of US30 correspondense from people with strange names.