How did you get started in Drag Racing?

[Ken Kopecky]

My older brother took me to the Super Stock Nationals at NY National Speedway when I was 15. I thought it was awesome and loved it. Made my first 1/4 mile pass at Island dragway when I was 17 in my 66 small block Chevelle. The rest as they say is history. LOL!

Ken Kopecky

[L.Fite]

Stock/SuperStock shows at Eastex (AKA "Porter")...

Saturday!Saturday!Saturday!... Houston International Speedway!...
(As told by the guy that gargled with Comet)

When I turned 16, first car I bought was a 69 Chevy with a 396...
(There's a song in there somewhere)

Hanging out at the Jack In The Box...
Racing in the streets...
(There's that song again)

[jimmyparker]

Attended the '57 US Nationals at Okla City as a 14 year old paper boy, been hooked every since. Won my first trophy there in '61. I see other racers adding a bit more info so i will do the same.
The race I won my class at in '61was a NHRA Regional, the precurser to divisionals. I won J/SA, still have the trophy, clipping out of the local paper with results and some pages of the ND that covered the race. NHRA added quite a few stock classes in '61 with "L" being the lowest, my Oldsmobile ran "E" in '60.
I remember Dale Ham being at least one OCTA meeting in that era explaining the next years rule changes.
Okla City only lasted a couple or three more years after that with the closest track 70 or 80 miles away.
When I was drafted in Dec, '65 i was sent to Fort Benning, Ga. I asked a local about drag strips and he named off about three that was in the immediate area with 3-4 more in withine 100 miles. That was music to my ears so I, with a little luck spent my whole tour at FB and been here since.

[Alan Roehrich]

First race I went to was a points race in Bowling Green, about 1976. The hook was set.



I was still in high school when I sort of "walked on" to a team that was a bunch of guys running Super Pro, Super Gas (might have been called something else then) and "Jr. Pro Stock" at Riverside in Nashville. I moved up to building engines, transmissions, and rear ends, as well as being crew chief. I was fortunate to be in Nashville and at "the Hill", where I learned from guys like Jimmy Bridges, Mike Lynch, Ronnie Duke, Harry Vineyard, Sonny Elliot, and others. Even though I wasn't directly involved with Stock and Super Stock, those were the guys I really looked up to.They were on the same side of the track as Super Gas, the "hot car" side.

[Ralph A Powell]

I went out to I75 with Cletus Hood in September of 1958. 75 stop at West Road it done but not opened it was done to Sibley. There were around 100 cars.there this went on for about a month till the State Cops shut it done

I took my Dads 57 Ford to Detroit Dragway Opening Night on a night in middle of August 1959. 4 wide and hoked.

[John W. 1711]

I watched the 1964 US Nationals on TV, saw the Hawaiian dragster in the April 1965 issue of Hot Rod magazine at the library. My brother took me to Capitol Raceway in March of 1968. My favorite cars, back then, were Larry Kopp's 57 Chevy wagon and George Taylor's Alco Hauler 39 Chevy coupe.

[Terry Cain]

Originally Posted by jimmyparker

Attended the '57 US Nationals at Okla City as a 14 year old paper boy, been hooked every since. Won my first trophy there in '61. I see other racers adding a bit more info so i will do the same.
The race I won my class at in '61was a NHRA Regional, the precurser to divisionals. I won J/SA, still have the trophy, clipping out of the local paper with results and some pages of the ND that covered the race. NHRA added quite a few stock classes in '61 with "L" being the lowest, my Oldsmobile ran "E" in '60.
I remember Dale Ham being at least one OCTA meeting in that era explaining the next years rule changes.
Okla City only lasted a couple or three more years after that with the closest track 70 or 80 miles away.
When I was drafted in Dec, '65 i was sent to Fort Benning, Ga. I asked a local about drag strips and he named off about three that was in the immediate area with 3-4 more in withine 100 miles. That was music to my ears so I, with a little luck spent my whole tour at FB and been here since.

Your tour reminds me of a racing guy I meet at my local track. I was running a M/SA 69 Impala. While under the hood working on it this guy walks up with a uniform on (stationed at Ft. Knox) and a hell of a southern draw. Starts talking about his car he has "back home" . Well, page forward to Indy US Nationals and I see this guy again. We get to talking again and I finally catch his name. Don Wolfe. lol

[Mark Ugrich]

The first job I had at 16, was a lot attendant at a local Chevy dealer. I bought a tired 65 Mustang 289 4speed that was a trade in and headed to the crusher for $190.00. I’d race the car every Saturday night, then monday at work i’d search through the used tire pile for a set of rear tires that didn’t have the cords showing One of the techs taught me how to use the tire machine after the third set of tires.

[Pete Lanciers]

Gus Puskas brought me to Englishtown in the late 60's, I was immediately hooked and spent the next 2 years before going off to college, crewing with him and his 67 HEMILANE B-body in Stock and later Modified Production. This story captured elsewhere on this site, entitled "the Gift". Later that year I made my first 1/4 mile pass in a Henry J Gasser 300CI Ford inline 6, 3 on the column, lol!!!

[Tim Barrett]

When I was 15 a friend and I hitch hiked over to our local Dragstrip,,South Glens Falls Dragway. That was back in 1969,,we peeked through a fence and that's when I fell in love with the 69 Camaro Z/28. In 1972 I purchased my brothers 1969 Z/28 and that's when I first started Dragracing. The same Camaro I'm Dragracing today,,but not with the 302 and 4 speed. They are in my basement waiting for me to retire so they can go back on the street.