One never knows when to expect the opportunity to view Stock Eliminator racing history. Any casual observer might overlook the significance of the unlabeled photo above of the El Camino J/S. Ask the question, "HowIf you would like to find the answer to the mystery, follow this link: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberta_Leighton>. Roberta Leighton was a familiar face around Division 7 for many years and could be found straightening out any miscreant racers as they sought favored pit spots at tracks such as Pomona or Sear's Point.
Good link. From it: She was the first woman licensed by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) to race competitively. She was also the first woman to win a national title, in the 1962 U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, in the J/S class.
I seems to recall that the El Camino was a 348-powered car with multiple carburation and she rowed the 4-speed without any hesitation. I know that I'm not the only person to use Wikipedia as a source of background information but it's appropriate to mention that Roberta's citation in that data base is strikingly unusual and worth your time to access. We called her "Red, White, and Roberta" for many years because she later owned and raced a big block, '65 Impala convertible in the local Super Stock ranks that was prominently painted and lettered in that patriotic theme. She worked as a pit parking guide at divisional and national events for several years before her untimely passing. She carried a bright orange, three-foot long, chunk of roll bar padding during her management of pit parking routines in Division Seven and you could count on being physically reminded of her authoritative status if you screwed up and parked outside the lines. She made it a point to have EVERY trailer's rear door precisely positioned within a very close proximity to the painted boundaries of pit spaces. I suspect that she spent the day (or several days) before we parked, measuring and marking the available space. There are days during which I fondly remember "Red, White, and Roberta." At the time, our appreciation of her guidance was sometimes less effusive.
Dean "Skeets" Russell Purchased the car brand New and still owns it today. Former C/SA National Record Holder for many years back in the 60's
What I would't give, to actually have been there, when this photo was taken. But, I had a Father who thought if it did't have anything to do with fishing, hunting, or camping, it was a waste of time. He tried to break me, in many ways, but my "hot rod" instinct won out. To this day, I don't know if I won out, or if he did; we both lost out on a lot of Father/Son-Son/Father experiences. Seems pretty simple to me, you support your children, and the direction in life they take; you don't try to mold them into something they're not. You just DON'T!!! Pretty simple. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
Don't hold your breath, Jimbo. While attending the Jalopy Showdown at Lincoln Speedway in Hanover, PA this w/e, I stopped to get gas before heading home. I paid $2.85 nine for regular. The U.S. is the #1 energy producer in the world right now. How come we don't have $1.00/gal gas like some other top energy producing countries??? We didn't know how good we had it when gas was $.27.
Think yourself lucky that you aren't in California where regular averages just over $4 and can get as high as $5 (and change) in some areas. The average for your home state is currently listed as $2.76 so you did not get hit too hard in PA. Roo
I paid $2.49.9 today in Palm Harbor. I did not realize how high a gallon on regular was in CA. Maybe I am better off staying in Florida Jimbo
I, on the other hand, am satisfied that this climate (in all aspects) is exactly what I prefer! (And, I have met Terry and consider him to be a friend.) c
While the current MD gas avg is $2.76, I'm paying $2.69 currently in my local area. Strictly number wise there isn't much difference. But, I feel $2.69 is outrageous given my previous statement about being #1 in the world for energy production. And, when you factor in that I am, as well as many others, living on a fixed income, even the small numerical difference between $2.76 and $2.69 adds up. Yes, the people in CA are living under difficult conditions and I have great sympathy for them. However, to some degree, they only have themselves to blame as they are the ones who put their leaders in place. Also, I think it's fair to say that very few people are moving there and many are departing. MD is trying hard to be CA East in many ways. Yet, they will never be able to duplicate the wonderful climate that CA has and I prefer. I found out about 20 years ago that I cudn't afford to live in CA, much to my chagrin. After all, in addition to the climate that I prefer, it is the mecca of hot rodding (my passion), it has the beaches with associated water sports, and it has the Dodgers (also my passion) who I've been rooting for since they were in Brooklyn.
The top five energy producing countries are the US, Saudi Arabia, Russia China and Canada and the top five consumers are the US, China, India, Japan and Russia. Per gallon prices (in US $) for the last quarter of 2018 were 2.60 for the US, 2.48 for Russia, 2.05 for Saudi Arabia. 3.95 for China and 4.85 for Japan. Europe is a whole 'nother story with Norway at the top of the list a 6.89 followed by Italy at 6.60, the Netherlands at 6.48, Sweden at 6.12 and France at 6.09. You can get really cheap gas in Venezuela but I don't think that you would want to live there. In Australia which probably has the most similar lifestyle to the US (especially for us car type guys) gas is currently right around 4$ (US) per gallon. Having totally derailed the thread you can now return to your normal programming. Roo
But you can get 100 octane at the pump in Germany, as you could here when pump gas was required for Stockers and other classes.
The Jalopy Journal
