First Divisional or National event stories

[Bill Ringer]

First time going to Indy where I was competing, 1991. Two hours before hitting the road something made me think to call the motel and reconfirm my reservation. Learned that the night manger had walked out and took all the reservations with her. This was back when it all was on paper and of course they re-booked everything and were full. Hit the road without a reservation and didn't end up sleeping in the 20 foot trailer. Asked around in the tech line and got something from another racer that had some crew cancel.
Tech was longer than usual because NHRA decided ALL SS cars would have their classifications verified. Tech was inside the 500 speedway back then (which was cool) and the verification for correct class was some guys in a van just outside the speedway with all the tech books (1991- all paper, no digital database back then). Waiting in line for classification it started to rain and I suggested they move the van a couple hundred feet under the grandstands out of the rain. All that suggestion got me was the stink eye.
Finally got to the track & pitted on a dusty road that was watered down regularly. Howard Barsky's fenderwell headers still stirred up plenty of dust so being from Division V, I felt right at home.
Five cars in my Class and one broke, then there was four. Poor guy had a piston turned sideways in his 396 Nova. Won Class, qualified well, I think 33rd. Then got sent to tear down at Paul Harvey Ford in town. Driving out the gate there were a couple of gate attendants loudly singing to everyone headed out "Paul Harvey Ford ... Paul Harvey Ford" just to mock everyone going to the tear down. Really neat to tear down at that old Ford dealership. That place had been there a really long time. Would be really good if they were still there today- I don't know. Got thru tear down without any problem and was really glad I was selected for the morning session since it got HOT and MUGGY by noon. Felt sorry for the guy next to me in tear down, he didn't make it through. In with all our paperwork was notification that they were cracking down on combustion chamber modifications. This guy's engine builder supposedly told him his motor was good and did not have chamber modifications, then he gets tossed for just that.
Made it into Monday eliminations where I was late, broke out & got to the stripe last. Still, felt really good, won class, qualified well and made it to Monday. On the way home the ground wire fell off my A/C compressor and I was without A/C for about 400 miles of I-80 in the late summer. Spotted the wire that was off when I stopped in Kearney Nebraska and had A/C the last couple hundred miles home to Colorado, boy that felt good.
All things considered this was a great and really memorable Indy trip that I'll not ever forget. Everyone should do Indy at least once. There's nothing like it.

[Ray Gottry]

My first division race was Gainesville,1996 in Super Street. I had gotten my small block, four speed Maverick to run 10.90s in late 1995. I was stationed at NAS Jacksonville, FL. on my twilight tour and wanted to get started racing on the NHRA tour before I retired from the Navy. I rolled into tech and Mike Wells came over to tech me in. He went over the car and then said "put it in gear and start it up". I thought, okay, but it will start in any gear (4 speed remember, LOL). Anyway I start the car and Mike turns off the battery switch to shut the car down. He walks up to the drivers door and says " you have to have a lock out switch on the shifter". With a scrunched up face I turn to him and say "it's a 4 speed". With a shocked look on his face he says "oh hell, I didn't even look at the shifter". He signed my tech card and sent me on my way. We had a big laugh over that one and became good friends after that. I wrecked the car in 2007 and haven't raced since, but you never forget your first time, LOL!

[Kirk Morgan]

I got hooked on drag racing in the early seventies when they built a drag strip near
my home town.I had street strip cars until the late 2000,s.Around 2005 i met RJ Sledge and talked him into letting me help him with his stocker. Needless to say i was very impressed with the performance and challenges to achieve that. So in 2008 i sold my street strip car and purchased a stocker that was a older build but had never been down the track. In April of 09 i went to my first divisional. I went to tech and got to meet Wesley for the first time. He looked over my car then told RJ to leave because he wanted to talk to me. He asked me about some casting numbers which i knew some but not all of them. We had a good conversation and he signed off on my tech card. Made my first time trial and things went well until fuel check. It would not check.The division director and Wesley said don't worry we will get this figured out. The foam in the fuel cell was contaminated so i took it out and eveything was good. We helped fix one of the new Cobra Jets and that was who i wound up with first round.Well i cut a decent light but broke out. I had a blast. I can't stand prosperity so i am building my first super stocker. .

[HR9121]

Originally Posted by Kirk Morgan

I got hooked on drag racing in the early seventies when they built a drag strip near
my home town.I had street strip cars until the late 2000,s.Around 2005 i met RJ Sledge and talked him into letting me help him with his stocker. Needless to say i was very impressed with the performance and challenges to achieve that. So in 2008 i sold my street strip car and purchased a stocker that was a older build but had never been down the track. In April of 09 i went to my first divisional. I went to tech and got to meet Wesley for the first time. He looked over my car then told RJ to leave because he wanted to talk to me. He asked me about some casting numbers which i knew some but not all of them. We had a good conversation and he signed off on my tech card. Made my first time trial and things went well until fuel check. It would not check.The division director and Wesley said don't worry we will get this figured out. The foam in the fuel cell was contaminated so i took it out and eveything was good. We helped fix one of the new Cobra Jets and that was who i wound up with first round.Well i cut a decent light but broke out. I had a blast. I can't stand prosperity so i am building my first super stocker. .

Love the comment about the Super Stocker, I guess that goes for all of us!