CLASS RACER FORUM - View Single Post - Official: Firebird International Raceway closing april 2013

Jeff Lee · 10-09-2012, 02:09 AM

I started when Mike had control. I can't think of his name right now...dangit! It was In 1978 or 1979. Mike Donnelley! Bob Curly followed Mike.
He had a great bracket program that encouraged new racers by giving a trophy to everybody that won 1st round. He did that because by and large, that was the hardest thing for most newbies to accomplish. Of course if you won the finals, you got a much bigger trophy. I've got a lot of those first round trophies in Dad's attic (I hope).
I used to tack pictures there. I had a 35mm with various lenses and Mike never said nothing if I stood just past the 60' mark and stretched a leg onto the track as far as I could reach to get a front end shot as the car was launching. I need to scan those prints someday and get them on here. A few were pretty good. Now all I can operate is my iPhone camera.
And of course we could do burnouts while holding the car in the water box at the quarter panel or even worse, maybe a finger or two along the lip of the rear quarter wheel opening. Yikes!

But one of my best experiences was he let me and Brian Griffey borrow the track for the day FREE and we had the use of the timers. We did everything we could think of to make better ET's. Today, that's a $1500 minimum, if not $5,000 fee!
I know those were the good old days but I surely don't want to see that track go.

And another...I remember the Freeman's but it was when they had that Camaro. Wasn't it a Modified? I ended up working at Lou Grubb Chevrolet as a line mechanic and one of the guys bought that car as a roller. I remember him putting a tired 307 in the car just to move it around and he reved it to the moon and dumped the clutch. It actually pulled the wheels off the ground!
Remember the Knoblock / Yancer / ? (can't remember the third guys name) white mid-year Modified 'Vette? That car got me wanting to build a class car more than anything else in my life. And about 25 years latter Bud Yancer is my engine builder. I think he's one of the smartest engine builders there is. Just slower than molasses on a cold morning.

10-09-2012, 02:09 AM	#24
Jeff Lee VIP Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Anthem, Arizona Posts: 2,766 Likes: 0 Liked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Re: Official: Firebird International Raceway closing april 2 I started when Mike had control. I can't think of his name right now...dangit! It was In 1978 or 1979. Mike Donnelley! Bob Curly followed Mike. He had a great bracket program that encouraged new racers by giving a trophy to everybody that won 1st round. He did that because by and large, that was the hardest thing for most newbies to accomplish. Of course if you won the finals, you got a much bigger trophy. I've got a lot of those first round trophies in Dad's attic (I hope). I used to tack pictures there. I had a 35mm with various lenses and Mike never said nothing if I stood just past the 60' mark and stretched a leg onto the track as far as I could reach to get a front end shot as the car was launching. I need to scan those prints someday and get them on here. A few were pretty good. Now all I can operate is my iPhone camera. And of course we could do burnouts while holding the car in the water box at the quarter panel or even worse, maybe a finger or two along the lip of the rear quarter wheel opening. Yikes! But one of my best experiences was he let me and Brian Griffey borrow the track for the day FREE and we had the use of the timers. We did everything we could think of to make better ET's. Today, that's a $1500 minimum, if not $5,000 fee! I know those were the good old days but I surely don't want to see that track go. And another...I remember the Freeman's but it was when they had that Camaro. Wasn't it a Modified? I ended up working at Lou Grubb Chevrolet as a line mechanic and one of the guys bought that car as a roller. I remember him putting a tired 307 in the car just to move it around and he reved it to the moon and dumped the clutch. It actually pulled the wheels off the ground! Remember the Knoblock / Yancer / ? (can't remember the third guys name) white mid-year Modified 'Vette? That car got me wanting to build a class car more than anything else in my life. And about 25 years latter Bud Yancer is my engine builder. I think he's one of the smartest engine builders there is. Just slower than molasses on a cold morning. __________________ Jeff Lee 7494 D/S '70 AMX Last edited by Jeff Lee; 10-09-2012 at 02:16 AM.