Congrats Terry Pearson

[Mike Pearson]

Great job in dallas. Congratulations on a big win!!!

Mike

[bill dedman]

Double post; sorry...

[bill dedman]

Thanks, Jerry; hell, that was only 35 or 36 years ago... the blink of an eye!!!

I just was pretty sure that it was the same "Terry Pearson" and that if it was, he'd been at this for a long, LONG time, and I was really happy to see him in the winner's circle.

Heck, Jerry; you might even remember the "Jolly Ollie Orange" GTO, and the "Baby Elephant" B altered run by Terry Nagel... no, "Larry" Nagel....

I remember, he had one of the first enclosed trailers I ever saw, and painted on the back of the trailer, it had a cute cartoon of a dancing, "Dumbo"-style elephant in a tutu, and above the picture, it said, "CAUTION: BABY ELEPHANT INSIDE!!!" Guess it was a destroked Hemi, or something like that...

I was coming from the strip in Marion one fine race day in about 1972, on my way to Earl Britt's Pizza Palace (probably closed on Sunday) for some grub, and up beside me at a traffic light, pulls a white '68 Firebird Stock Eliminator car, still with the slicks on it. Apparently, he lived in Sioux Falls and drove to the strip to race.

Any idea who that might have been???

Those were the days... DRIVING your race car to the track.... wow....

[Alan Nyhus]

Bill, I'm a Soux Falls 'local' and can answer some of these questions.

-Yes, that's the same Terry Pearson. He and his partner Ron Thorson (both from Rapid City, S.D.) were always a formidable pair and both won many times at Marion...the 'original' Thunder Vally Dragways, by the way. I went to Indy in 1975 or 1976 with Terry and helped him with his SS/JA '67 Camaro convertible. I believe Terry was runner up in class that year. Terry's car was a 'flood car' from the Rapid City flood of 1972.

- The 'Jolly Ollie Orange' GTO was owned by Denny Kadinger. Larry Nagle did the motor work for that car and a lot of other Stock and Super Stock cars in the area, including Arnie Tofteland's very fast Pontiacs.

-Larry Nagel's 'Baby Elephant' A/A was one of the nicest cars around at that time. Larry did it all..chassis, motor..you name it, Larry could do it. The "Caution, baby elephant inside" phase was thought up by Bill 'Willie' Hofstad, another Sioux Falls guy that many will remember.

-The white '68 Firebird Stocker that pulled up beside you on the street was Jack Wright. Jack did a lot of winning with that car in the early days of Stock...back when you had to have the street tires, etc. after NHRA axed Jr. Stock.

I was fortunate to have been assocated with a lot of the really good racers of this area...the Koppien family, Ron Roddel, Bob Sherwood, Larry Nagel and Don Breen, just to name a few. I started going to Marion when I was 14 years old, changing spark plugs on my cousin Don Breen's '65 327-350hp 300 Deluxe 2 dr. sedan Chevelle which ran in SS/C.

Hope this jogs the memory. Congrats to Terry! -Al Nyhus

[JRyan]

Thanks Al for filling in the gaps. Bill, Larry Nagel did lots of work for the Pontiac guys including Arnie Tofteland's cars. If you'll look in the (I believe) 1971 Hot Rod or Car Craft coverage of Stock at Indy, you'll read that the writer thought that the most impressive car there was Arnie Tofteland's unlettered Pontiac Tempest. Just the window sticker and a Performance Engineering decal (Larry's business) in the window, but the car was extremely fast. Just as today, the East & West Coast cars get all the ink, but there were and are some REALLY FAST cars out here in the outback. Terry Pearson was one of the original FAST GUYS from around here, and now he finally got a Wally. Congrats again Terry.

Jerry

[hadtobethere]

I also say a ' Big Congrats' to Terry on his win.......my God all of you old farts from South Dakota, I remember most of the names, good times, ..............gotta go got a doctors appointment, the wheel chair service just showed up....oh **** forgot to put on pants, oh well.......

[bill dedman]

Jerry,
I'm sorry I never got to see your Olds run, as I was a big fan of those cars, having had a '49 '88', a '51 '88-A' (looked like a '50) and a '54 Super '88'. None were anything other than street cars, though; couldn't afford to blueprint them. Low 17's were par for the course for all of 'em.... about 80-mph...

As you know, Ft. Hood was roughly halfway between Dallas and Houston; Tyler was even closer, with Caddo Mills about as far as Green Valley. There was a guy in my outfit who had a '57 Plymouth with a 354 '56 Hemi "300-B" motor under the hood, hooked to a Cad-LaSalle 3-speed stick, with a 3.08 gear in the back; GREAT hi-way car!!!. Every weekend, four of us would pile into that Mopar and head for ONE of those drag strips... they were all in easy driving distance; who cared how much gas those dual quads under the hood drank; it was 31 cents a gallon for the "good stuff" ('Esso Golden Extra'... 101 octane!)

Saw a LOT of TEXAS drag racing while I was in the army... LOL!

Bill

[OLD INJUN]

Hey Al were they AC or Champion plugs ?

[Alan Nyhus]

Originally Posted by OLD INJUN

Hey Al were they AC or Champion plugs ?

OLD INJUN: Can't remember the brand of plugs, but definitely remember how hot the headers were (grin). Say "Hi" to the family. -Al

P.S. Maybe you could help hadtobethere out and pick him up for his Drs. appointment? A ride in a nice Olds convertible might be just what he needs, 'ya know? If you're concerned that his wheelchair might ding up the paint or upholstery, just get him one of those walkers with the little tennis balls on the front legs.

Laffin' in The Forbidden Zone.

[Red LeBlanc]

Congrats Terry .. I see that a few Old Frats can still Win One LOL LOL Red Le Blanc