First Car to the Strip

Doug Hoven · 01-03-2021, 08:20 PM

First 1/8 mile pass in Jr. Street in 2018 with my dad's 2011 Crown Vic commuter car. First 1/4 Mile pass ever was August 2020 with an 83 Mustang GT 5sp my dad and I work on together. With the help of Billy Nees I got it to go 13.29 @ 105 in November.

Phil Veldheer Racing · 01-03-2021, 08:54 PM

First pass was in 1967 in a car that a friend and I built together, a 1956 Chevy station wagon with a 265 cubic inch 2-4 barrel-225 hp engine. Raced it at US 131 MSP--then it was called Martin Dragway, Class was H/SA. took it to the US Nationals that year and ran the 1966 class winner in H/SA in the first round and got spanked...all at the age of 18. Sold the car a year later to run a 1965 327-250 hp Impala in L-M / Stock for a few years,,,the wagon was sold to a person in Viginia, then it went back to West Michigan again and then to Ohio. I am still racing today. This photo is right before we flat towed to the US Nationals in 1967, I met my future wife one week before this photo and we have been married for 50 years this past March.

Shadylane · 01-03-2021, 10:02 PM

First pass was 1967 at BeeLine in Scottsdale Az. I had an all stock 1963 Falcon 2 dr sedan, 144 6 cyl and 3 on the tree, ran mid 18’s.
BeeLine ran AHRA and they had a jillion classes in stock. I was the only one in my class and won a trophy. They ran all the slow single class cars 4 wide in 2 lanes, a little intimidating for a beginner.
Later I did all the normal hop up stuff and a 4 speed. Won a bunch of races with the car over the next two years, eventually ran 15.90’s with the 144.

Paul Precht · 01-03-2021, 10:42 PM

Sorry for the long post but I think we're all bored right now. In mid May 1971 shortly after getting my license I decided to make a trip out to Montauk Pt with my 63 4 dr 318 Polara. Since I was only 16, I couldn't drive out of Suffolk Co, Nassau Co was 7 miles west and Montauk was 75 miles east it would be a fun drive. 3 of my buddies came along on this nice Saturday morn and one of them had a Yamaha 100 motocycle, we removed the front wheel and it fit in the trunk. We took Sunrise Hwy as far as it went then there was a small road heading down to Old Country Rd so we continued east, a few miles ahead we saw a sign that said Suffolk County Raceway which I had heard of but never seen. It looked abandoned so we drove over the dirt road with tall grass and looked over the wire fence that was not quite upright. With my buddies pulling the fence down and standing on it, I drove over it and we were in. We then put the Yamaha together and raced the bike and car down the track at least 20 times, my buddie had a stopwatch and stood at the end of the quarter and clocked me waving his arms to start, most of the car times were 16.80 to 17.0. We got bored with that and went further back and saw there was a banked go kart track so we raced the bike and car around the track for a couple of hours and finally decided to leave for Montauk. When we got there my older buddy bought a case of Colt 45 and we drank and slept in the car right on the beach. The next morning after some breakfast to help the hangover and lack of sleep we decided to head back to the track for some more fun. When we got there the track was open and there was probably 200 cars, wow. We paid 5 bucks a piece and watched the races before heading home.
A little later in 71 I got my current 63 Sport Fury for 25 dollars with a running but sick 318. A neighbor traded me a banged up 62 Polara 500 for my 4dr 63 and I put the 361/305 in the SF and headed out to Suffolk again on a Sunday. The car ran 15.20s-15.40s at 90-91 mph spinning with vapor lock, I still have the timeslips, it was all stock right back to the tailpipes the way it came out of the 62. I'm hoping to get the Sport Fury out to the track this year for it's 50th anniversary with me.

01-03-2021, 08:20 PM	#1
Doug Hoven Member Join Date: Feb 2018 Location: Jersey Posts: 213 Likes: 195 Liked 869 Times in 165 Posts	Re: First Car to the Strip First 1/8 mile pass in Jr. Street in 2018 with my dad's 2011 Crown Vic commuter car. First 1/4 Mile pass ever was August 2020 with an 83 Mustang GT 5sp my dad and I work on together. With the help of Billy Nees I got it to go 13.29 @ 105 in November.

01-03-2021, 08:54 PM	#2
Phil Veldheer Racing Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Holland, MICHIGAN Posts: 155 Likes: 43 Liked 26 Times in 8 Posts	Re: First Car to the Strip First pass was in 1967 in a car that a friend and I built together, a 1956 Chevy station wagon with a 265 cubic inch 2-4 barrel-225 hp engine. Raced it at US 131 MSP--then it was called Martin Dragway, Class was H/SA. took it to the US Nationals that year and ran the 1966 class winner in H/SA in the first round and got spanked...all at the age of 18. Sold the car a year later to run a 1965 327-250 hp Impala in L-M / Stock for a few years,,,the wagon was sold to a person in Viginia, then it went back to West Michigan again and then to Ohio. I am still racing today. This photo is right before we flat towed to the US Nationals in 1967, I met my future wife one week before this photo and we have been married for 50 years this past March. Attached Thumbnails

01-03-2021, 10:02 PM	#3
Shadylane Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Farmington, New Mexico Posts: 206 Likes: 281 Liked 173 Times in 52 Posts	Re: First Car to the Strip First pass was 1967 at BeeLine in Scottsdale Az. I had an all stock 1963 Falcon 2 dr sedan, 144 6 cyl and 3 on the tree, ran mid 18’s. BeeLine ran AHRA and they had a jillion classes in stock. I was the only one in my class and won a trophy. They ran all the slow single class cars 4 wide in 2 lanes, a little intimidating for a beginner. Later I did all the normal hop up stuff and a 4 speed. Won a bunch of races with the car over the next two years, eventually ran 15.90’s with the 144. __________________ Kelly Lane Stk4991

01-03-2021, 10:42 PM	#4
Paul Precht Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Elysburg, Pa Posts: 733 Likes: 364 Liked 327 Times in 121 Posts	Re: First Car to the Strip Sorry for the long post but I think we're all bored right now. In mid May 1971 shortly after getting my license I decided to make a trip out to Montauk Pt with my 63 4 dr 318 Polara. Since I was only 16, I couldn't drive out of Suffolk Co, Nassau Co was 7 miles west and Montauk was 75 miles east it would be a fun drive. 3 of my buddies came along on this nice Saturday morn and one of them had a Yamaha 100 motocycle, we removed the front wheel and it fit in the trunk. We took Sunrise Hwy as far as it went then there was a small road heading down to Old Country Rd so we continued east, a few miles ahead we saw a sign that said Suffolk County Raceway which I had heard of but never seen. It looked abandoned so we drove over the dirt road with tall grass and looked over the wire fence that was not quite upright. With my buddies pulling the fence down and standing on it, I drove over it and we were in. We then put the Yamaha together and raced the bike and car down the track at least 20 times, my buddie had a stopwatch and stood at the end of the quarter and clocked me waving his arms to start, most of the car times were 16.80 to 17.0. We got bored with that and went further back and saw there was a banked go kart track so we raced the bike and car around the track for a couple of hours and finally decided to leave for Montauk. When we got there my older buddy bought a case of Colt 45 and we drank and slept in the car right on the beach. The next morning after some breakfast to help the hangover and lack of sleep we decided to head back to the track for some more fun. When we got there the track was open and there was probably 200 cars, wow. We paid 5 bucks a piece and watched the races before heading home. A little later in 71 I got my current 63 Sport Fury for 25 dollars with a running but sick 318. A neighbor traded me a banged up 62 Polara 500 for my 4dr 63 and I put the 361/305 in the SF and headed out to Suffolk again on a Sunday. The car ran 15.20s-15.40s at 90-91 mph spinning with vapor lock, I still have the timeslips, it was all stock right back to the tailpipes the way it came out of the 62. I'm hoping to get the Sport Fury out to the track this year for it's 50th anniversary with me. Last edited by Paul Precht; 01-03-2021 at 11:41 PM.