How did you get started in Drag Racing?

[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.

[DG]

How did you get started in Drag Racing?


I want to hear from the Emmmons Brothers, I am sure they have an interesting strory. I heard they got started around 14 years old.

Darin Grossi

[SGSST109E]

1970 Wednesday night at Englishtown in my father 1968 6 cyl. Chevelle. At a lighting speed of 85mph.

[Larry Hill]

I always liked the feeling of the seat pressing against my back in a car and I’ve never outgrown that feeling. First real track I went to was Lakeland just outside of Memphis. That nite in 1967, I think, was a Funny Car match race between “Brutus”, 65 GTO and “LimeFire” 67 Barracuda . Also there was a real clean 67 GTX with “Mr 4 Speed” on the doors, Herb McCandles.

Halls Tn was a great place to see class racing in 1966. 62 Bubble tops, 413’s, 406,427 Ford and Chevy, 59 Fi cars. It was a flag track at the start and the finish line. All handicap spots were a car length between classes. The A/S would have to spot the B/S one car length. The B/S would have to spot the B/SA a half a car length. So racers being racers a couple of racers figured out a way to use the rules to their advantage. The two of them both local fellows bought Art Graham's 61 Dodge wagon. they ran it as a 6 passenger or 9 passenger 383 w/ two four barrels, or one four barrel. Could have run it as a 361. Because the car was slow and ran way down on the class scale it received a big spot every round. The spot was so big that they just geared the car for the 1/8 mile. One of the team was a transmission specialist, and was one of the few people to have a 2.77 low gear and a 069J converter the other guy was a well dressed car salesman. Y'all may have seen the car it was brown and double ugly, the trans guy was Ronnie Veatch RIP, a really good racing mind, and the other wrench and driver was Jerry Bennett

[Keith 944]

Originally Posted by DG

How did you get started in Drag Racing?


I want to hear from the Emmmons Brothers, I am sure they have an interesting strory. I heard they got started around 14 years old.

Darin Grossi

I would like to hear from everyone there are some good stories here. It looks as though family has a lot to do with how you got involved and for the older crowd when stock was the norm it seems that that’s what class you stuck with. Billy Nees, we are waiting for your story….

[Billy Nees]

Originally Posted by Keith 944

Billy Nees, we are waiting for your story….

Well Keith, I'll try and keep it short. In my mid teens, a friend and I went to Island Dragway in 1966 with the big kid in the neighborhood in his spanking new '66 Impala, big block 4 speed car. I would always watch any racing that I could find on TV and I would always get all of the magazines but that trip really did it.
My first run down the track? I went with another friend to watch and talked him into letting me race his '68 Volkswagen in A/S Volkswagen (yes, Island had two stock VW classes) and I won the trophy. Racing that VW might explain a few things!

[Chipper Chapman]

Second gen racer here. Mom's baby shower was held in the tower at our local track, so I geuss it was destiny lol. We raced a lot as I was a young kid and dad had a 67 Camaro E/SA at that time. He had gotten hurt and couldnt work, had to sell everything off and we stayed away a while. We were glued to any racing we could find on tv and the national dragster, car crafts etc during off time. Late 90's life was getting back to normal for us and as a pre-teen I questioned if we could start going back to the track. We went to to watch one weekend and dad asked if i would want a junior, or a big car project. The next week we had project in the yard. Later that summer we were at the track. Thing evolved some over the next few years, and in 2002 at age 15 I got to make my first passes in our 69 Camaro (dad was track announcer and pulled some strings!) going 12.0's with the secondaries blocked off. As time went on a I built and sold a few rides, always keeping an eye on class racing, knowing I'd be there someday. In 2012 got my current 69 Chevelle and cant wait for the winter to be over!

[JP1738]

3rd Generation racer here, and I took the natural route most might say. Started in Jrs at 8, raced them until I was 14, started driving a junkie backhalf car at 15 and bracket/index raced it until now. Now I'm building a stocker so I can have something that is completely my own. Brand new class, car, and friends

[Ellis V Buth]

My dad raced when I was little. Going to the track to watch him and/or my uncle race was how the hook was set. Going to the US Nationals to watch my uncle (and then later my dad as well) run stock was how I got hooked on stock eliminator.

We got my first junior when I was 9 years old and I raced those until I aged out, but started racing my street truck in sportsman class at the local track occasionally as well. Since then, I've been actively racing on some level in door cars every season.