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dino.dinoNot Just Daily Chat -This Is A Great Topic !
by Babycakes » Sun Jan 15, 2012 12:30 pm
Hey Dino,here’s one for the Daily Chat for the ODF members.What was your ‘impression’,of ‘Dover Dragstrip’,the first time you went there (including running the 1/4 there,the 1st time) ? 1) Great! 2) O.K.I guess? 3) Disappointed in some ways ? Like to hear your comments,what da ya think?
Babycakes
by HVY70SS » Sun Jan 15, 2012 3:21 pm
OK..I’ll start it off, Babycakes.
1. First time:12 years old, felt like a kid in a candy store LOVED IT.
2. First time racing: 16 years old, SCARED SHITLESS to run 17’s!!
Smitty
TomBlake » Sun Jan 15, 2012 3:33 pm
1st time – Opening day with my first new car, 59 Ford Custom with a stock 292 stick shift converted to a floor shift, nervous but had the time of my life.
Built the 55 Chevy gasser and was back every weekend I could make it.
2nd time – With the 55 Chevy, won a trophy and was sucked in forever. Still love the sport to this day. And now trying to build that 55 as a look a like car for the next Dover race
dino1964 ,I was 14 ,on the spectator side with my High School best friend…..lots of Primed coupes and Sedans. Parents drove us up. Dad thought it was too load….Mom was clueless.So impressed with Comp roadster and sedan bodies on rail chassis,I took a model 32 roadster body(amt) chopped new wheel well in it and built toothpick supports for it on a Revell dragmaster chassis. First time I raced was in 66 with my 58 Olds . Never got out the 18’s. It was a load….But I was hooked & there every week to watch. Opening day in ’67,Gary the announcer didn’t show….I volunteered And was in the tower (not able to race) for 5 1/2 years .
babycakesComing from “Jersey’ at the time,it was a nice ride up Rte 9W,across the Poughkeepsie Bridge,ect. It was in ’61’ we usually ran Island,and Atco at the time.Anyway,I was impressed with the way you looked down on the strip (either pit or spectator side),with a clear view,all the way! Good competition in just about every class,with ‘head to head’ racing alot of the times.The onlt thing a ‘bit’ scarey,was the ‘shut-down’ area,which as you know,sloped ‘down’.Having ‘drum’ brakes all around,I learned running there,to back off the ‘go’ pedal,right after the finish line,and start pumping on the ‘stop’ pedal! I often wondered alot,how those real low e.t.and high m.p.h. drag cars,thought about it,the !st. time they went through the lights,and at the end with that slope ‘down’,and no sand trap at the end to help slow you! Had to be an ‘eye’opener I’m sure(thank goodness for ‘chutes’ on most).Overall,I personally think ‘Dover’ was GREAT,and I’m glad it still lives on!!!!
fourbyfourAfter racing a bunch of so-so cars as a kid in Sept. of 1972 I bought a new 1973 Vega GT.Some 2 or 3 weeks later I went to Dover and said “What the hell , lets see what this thing will do”.After winning class and a trophy I was hooked again. The next day I turned in the plates and cancelled the insurance and went to see Rich at M&M.He sponsored the car and the rest is history.In 1975 & 1976 I won class at the SummerNationals at Englishtown both years.The car was a 4cylinder/4 speed thus the name FourByFour.
lee-valentine
went for the first time with my cousin in 1962,thought I died and was in heven. Got my license in 63 and started racing at dover and ran until the last day. Lee
mikey
My first trip to DDS, was in May of 1964. My dad took me to watch a friend of the family race his 63 Chev Impala SS. Had a lot of fun, and was hooked 😮 . I already was a circle track fan since the age of 6, but I really liked this drag racing stuff. In 1965, I bought Pat Hennebery’s old ’53 Chevy Stocker, “The Tall Man”. I was 15 years old, no license, so my dad welded up a tow bar from an old bed frame, and we went racing! 😯 Ran the car one whole summer, 2 trophies, and I was soooo happy, hell, I can’t even describe it. 😆 Over the winter, I swapped the car over to open drive, and a bigger six, and ran the car in 3 different Gas classes with some success. I had a lot of fun with that car, and learned a hole lot about several different things, and people. I also worked there part time, as did my first wife. Her in the tower, and me in the time slip booth. When I wasn’t working, I raced my 1972 Datsun pick-up truck. I ran it 19 times, won 18 trophies! 😀 Only loss was due to me breaking off the shifter! 👿 I had several /MP and /Gas cars through the years, but always had fun, and met some really good people, like all you guys. 😀 Now I’ve got “Papa’s Toy”, and I’m still having fun. I get a little down sometimes, but I’m not a quitter. Just takes a little longer to come up with the funds. Oh, I should have the little motor done by mid February, 355 cube Chev. That will get me going until I can get the rest of the parts for the 383. God, I love this shit!! …………………….Mikey 😆
rcgarrenIN 1960 MY BROTHER AND HIS FRIEND WOULD PUT THERE DRAG SLICKS IN THE TRUNK ( IF THATS WHAT YOU WANT TO CALL IT ) OF HIS 1960 CORVETTE AND OFF TO MONTGOMERY THEY WOULD GO, I WOULD WAIT FOR THEM TO COME BACK JUST TO HEAR THE STORIES. THEN IN THE WINTER OF 1961 WE HEARD THAT THEY WERE BUILDING A DRAG STRIP IN WINGDALE AND I SAID I DON’T CARE IF I HAVE TO WALK TO DOVER I AM GOING. AT 13 YEARS OLD THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A LONG WALK FROM WHITE PLAINS. BROTHER TRADED HIS CORVETTE FOR A 1961 IMPALA SUPER SPORT SO THERE WAS ROOM FOR ME AND AFTER OPENING DAY SUNDAY AND DOVER WAS THE PLACE TO BE!!!!!!. I REMEMBER OPENING DAY HAD A LOT OF TIMMING LIGHT PROBLEMS, BUT THE CARS, PEOPLE AND DUST WERE PART OF MY LIFE FOR THE NEXT 15 YEARS.
dinoHeres A twist…Brian’s First Impression of Dover was through his fathers stories and photos. Then he was hooked..He was never there ,but went on to Clone his Dads old GTO and be one of the most enthusiastic ,compulsive fans, tracking down racers-cars-relics whenever he can.
340swingerIt was 1968, I was 13, my sister who was 16 and, had just gotten her license, drove my mothers 64 Dart 225 slant six ( my father always got the BIG six! ) We were coming from Thornwood and had stopped off in Hawthorne to pick up Lee Valentine’s girlfriend, a redheaded girl named Rita. What a ride that was, almost died at the Hawthorne Circle that day. We had packed a lunch ( tuna fish I think ) and were heading to Dover to meet up with my sisters boyfriend Bobby J. who had a 68 Roadrunner 383 4 speed and had left much earlier that day with the Valentines to race. We met up with everyone in the pits, I think Lee’s Nova was still gold at the time and I think he broke that day , Mr. Valentine seemed a little annoyed. Rita asked him if he was going to give Lee another engine and he replied ” if he’s good “. I have never forgotten that day , it infected me. I returned many times and eventually raced my MG midget, no license just a learners permit , still have my two trophys. Finally got my Mopar in 74, a 70 340 Dart Swinger 4 speed ( no big six for me ) still have the car! Moved to Southern California in the late 70’s built a 70 440 challenger bracket car ( says Vanishing Point on the doors ) and still race at Bakersfield, the only 1/4 mile track left out here !Dover definitely ” altered ” my life. thanks for all the memories.
vbobHEY
Holy Hockey Pucks!!!! Thanks for the great story!!!
Now thats a story, with tuna sands and all!!! What happened at the traffic circle??
Any pics of DDS????Post pics of todays ride!!!!
What memory!!!! Even remembers what color hair a girl had!!!I dont remember what I had for lunch today or the girls name that made lunch !!!!
‘V’
340swingerBakersfield, 2012.
Thanks Video Bob for the kind comments, here’s some of the cars from my story , will post more soon !
Attachments:
vbobHEY
Get that bad boy on a trailer and get to the DDSRace!!!
Looks like you own the track!!!!
Been to Pomona but that was it!!!!
Gotta get on your good side and make a trip to the left coast!!!!
For starters ,LOVE THEM MOPARS!!!
Thanks for the pics!!!
‘V’
dinoLets get some input here…1483 guys and no one remembers ?
