Event Coverage The Official 2014 Meltdown Drags #5 thread, vintage drag meet, July 18,19&20 Byron IL

It was good to see a couple of shots of my buddy Charlie Overfelt and his Blown Flathead Altered up there.....sure wish I could have made it, but that danged ol tractor knocked me out of the running this year for Meltdown.....planning on being up and going by DOTD in October....
Looks like it was the race of the year, and sounds like everyone had fun.....as it should be
Thanks to all who put it on and those posting pictures

 

First of all I want to say HATS OFF to the entire Meltdown crew!!!OUTSTANDING!!!!!! Also SAXXON...A better gentleman I have and will never meet!!! You and yer Canadians are top shelf!!!! We are Match Bashin Meltdown 2015!!! I have a few more rabbits to pull outta my hat...and ifn you n me are a gonna dangle the skinnies to gether...wait that dont sound right....if we are gonna do wheelies together....wait ....o...never mind...I gotta feelin Ima gonna hafta bring a bigger gun....o shit you know what I mean....RIC!!!! It was such a pleasure to meet you and the gang!!!! A finer bunch is NOT on the planet!!! I had a ball!!!!! I took alotta pics of yer car and hope ya dont mind if I borrow a bit of yer technology...I sure hope youse cats kin make it out here Meltdown next!!! We can also do the wheelie shuffle and bang some gears together!!!! "MY KINGDOM FOR SOME LIVE FOOTAGE OF "Ole Sinister" comin off the line!!!!!I hope ya know someone who took footage!!! Mickey69,Thankyou for your hospitalty and letting me tie up to yer canopy.Sorry I wasnt there when ya left I was prolly racin Ric.Mike Balina,Nice to see you again and I regret we didnt linem up this year but we will 2015 fer sher!!! The fire was great,the company outstanding, and only a slight"skull pain" when I woke up....John if you are here....thanks for the run for meds and the good time ridin in yer "EVIL A"!!! MAN 9.90s straight offa the streeet!!!CRAZY!!!! Jeff,Nice to meet you and thankyou for being such a good neighbor it was a pleasure! Did ya git the clutch sorted out?Gene Crommer,It was a pleasure chatting with you and WOW You have not lost yer touch (75%win rate!!!) LOOKING GREAT!!!! Quaine,it was a pleasure and an honor to meet you! I wish we would have spent some time bench racin!!!! Hopefully next year!!!Powershifter,55 cheiftan,Torque wrench,It was apleasure to meet you guys and I hope to see ya next year!!! Isky,Bones..I dunno ifn you will ever get this but twas my pleasure to meet ya,Ron Leek,an outstanding track as usual!!!! Oh...and when I stopped in Oregon for pizza(on the way home) who was sitting next to me but Ron Colson the former pilot of "The Chi-Town Hustler"!!! I was introduced to Ron several years ago at The World Series by mutual freind Dave Jamison.Anyhow Ron used to campaign a 41 Stude very similiar to my 42 and he told me he was lookin for the hood trim as he is restoring his Stude gasser so if any one has that trim, get ahold of me so I can tell Ron!!! AND THEN... when I left the restaraunt there was and elderly (evin olde than me!!) couple drivin a 1950 Lincoln with original (slight patina) paint! This thing was gorgeous!!!! We chatted a bit and then he said he had to get home so they could fight....hahaha... WHAT A WEEKEND!!!!!!! P.S. "Ole Sinister" set a new 60' record with a 1.441 and new low et and high mph with a [email protected]!!!

 

More picts. Thanks again MDA.

 

We also wanted to say a hats off to the Meltdown crew for putting on another great event!!! We had such a great time, we make this a family event each year. Got to meet a lot new faces and see some old ones. Even got to make a Arnie "The Farmer" Beswick backup move on the last run. What a weekend!!!

 

That's a good question... I did buy some parts last year and some this year but I don't think we've met but I can't keep it all straight in my head either!

That truck is awesome and can really haul!

Your Poncho moves out good... Great seeing it run!

I was really looking forward to seeing you and your rail... get better and we'll see you next year!

 

Can't wait to see you next year Brother!
Hope all is going well with your recovery!

Scott


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Thanks for including pics of our Potvin blower motor in your great bunch of photos..We had a blast at this event..Organisor deserve a lot of credit for keeping it "ole school"..

 

Simply the BEST MELTDOWN yet!...kept tellin people it was like you didn't die but went to heaven!
...this is the most organized event I've ever been to from event number one,
thanks to everyone who had a part in this event from all the organizers to the participants.
...on a side note, a friend of mine worked on this truck to get it to the Meltdown and wished he had somethin cool to haul on it, he got his wish...

 

Just walked in the door ... too tired to say much so all I'm gonna say is...
Wow !!!
Best Meltdown ever !!
Thanks to the MDA for organizing a world class event and keeping it pure
Thanks to BJ and Ron for the first class facilities and keeping things moving
Thanks to the Great Lakes Gassers for asking me to run with them.... Sorry I went 0-2

The highlight of my weekend was my Sunday morning match up against Tom Hanson / Redline. It was Scout vs. Sinister Stude - the rematch. Big burnouts, big wheelies and oh so close together at the top end. Tom took this one.

Next year it's...
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday ... see the Scout Master vs. the Sinister Stude in a best 2 outta 3 match race. It'll be balls to the wall and hanging the hoops high racing... Get your tickets early.... we'll sell you the whole seat but you'll only need the edge !!!

A special thanks to Mad Mark Kruppa and Mike Belina for simply being who they are.

Time for me to toddle off to bed.
Cheers all !!

 

Thanks to all of you for the pictures. Sam

 

MAN, what an event!! It had it all...people, hot rods, weather, hospitality! The MDA folks sure deserve a high five, pat on the back, and whatever else for a GREAT job. THANKS.
Here's a shot of just some of the crowd on saturday. (so many pics to look through...)

 

I just want to thank the Meltdown Drags Association for their hospitality and overwhelming kindness.
You guys made my Dad and I feel like we were family.He was grinning ear to ear all weekend!

This right here was the icing on the cake:


We can't begin to thank you guys enough!

Scott


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IMPORTANT!:

If ANYONE has pictures or footage of the Saturday night grudge race between the black Eastgate Ford "Lakeshore Shaker" and the black 56 Chevy PLEASE pm me,cause I am DYING to see that run.....I got called out,then threw down with my best pass all weekend and shut him down,but Dad had the camera set to take a photo when he thought he was getting video of the pass...DOH!

Thanks guys,

Scott


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WHAT A SHOW !!!!
Thanks to the MDA and Byron Dragway !!!
Great facility, friendly staff, good food, clean restrooms , good track prep !!!
Quain Stott- Gene Cromer and family , what a story and a bunch of fun people !!!
Same goes for the West Coast bunch !!!
Was on our bucket list , now its a must go !!
Missouri Boys

 

Thanks to the MDA bunch for letting me be part of the show only a couple let downs but you will have to try harder to keep me away.
Wish I could have met all of you guys.
Had a hoot and got a career best out of my old turd.
I will have to look up my sleeve or under my hat to what I can bring next year. Cant wait.

 

So when is registration open for Meltdown 6 ??

 

Agreed, When is reg. for next year!?!?!?! I know my club The Scavengers are very excited and looking forward to next year already! We had the best time we've ever had with our car at The Meltdown. The Rude Stewed was running mid 10s on the new motor. Last year we were in the low to mid 12s. Couldnt be more happy with the performance! As most have said, hats off to the meltdown crew, the track, and the particiapants for making this the most enjoyable experience for me and my few club members! Lots of good memories made, and lots of new friendships too! Bring on 2015!!

Jason

 

Ya....what Saxxon sed.... Sign me up now...Why dont we try to get Jungle Pam and Linda Vaughn next year!!!!I wanna kissem bofe!!!!

 

WOW what a weekend. I just got home it is 5:16 pm here in Wisconsin. I blew a trailer tire on the way home and thanks to Tricky Steve and his apple pie I am still a bit groggy from last night. It was a late one. Wife said I was pretty giggly at 3 when I fell into bed. We all had a blast and thank you all for coming out to play. Welcome to the Meltdown family! Now to take a nap.

 

Alumslot thanks for posting a pic of my Willys pickup it looks good on the line too bad it's the worlds slowest supercharged Willys damn thing wouldn't run to save my soul then I found out why on that pass when it was hammering the rods out of it on the way back to the pits fortunately it was still running and not ventilated like the 57 wagon that grenaded later in the day next year it will be all new and ready to rumble sad part is I don't know whether I'm from the north or south because I'm pretty much smack dab in the middle lol


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I've talked tanker loads of smack on this thread since last February..,and this event left me speechless, I don't even know where to begin. We arrived 7.5 hrs later than planned, and when we turned into the Byron entrance, we were welcomed with a standing ovation, & hand shakes by the majority of the Meltdown Crew, and received one of the coveted goodie bags. We got a pit spot right on "Hollywood Blvd." with the rest of the South East Gassers and more hugs and hand shakes from other friends and fans, new and old than we could possibly count. Our old heap showed up not quite ready for the dance, but we kept working on the tune up, and ignition problem all weekend, and went from shooting Mallards out of the sky to a best 10.85 @ 119+. Though I was dissappointed we didn't run better, we did manage to score two round wins out of three for the Victorious South. One of those wins was a gimmie as Kips crazy bitchen injected rat sedan was also suffering new parts blues, as we were, but had we both had our mojo on kill, I'd of had my hands full. Our best past of the weekend, came with my younger "big" brother Marc at the yoke. This was his first full quarter mile pass in "The Child", and he did everything right, and made his person fastest pass ever in a drag car! This brings us to a 2 out of three shootout with Redline and the "Sinister Stude". Redline backed up his challenge, and got us two out of three, so we give credit where credit is due.
This was an event well worth our 4000 mile, 80 hour round trip, including the $72,000 spent on gas for our trusty "Fleet Wanda" RV to get there. In case you were wondering, the RV sounds just like Wanda Sykes when she's bitching about towing that Yesterdays Child, with her nasty ass skin, toothy smile, and non matching shoes "all da way cross dat Neva endn Hwy 80. Eric Jeff, Paul, Joel, 30Dodge, Grape Ape.., all the Meltdown Maniacs, you guys are ACES! Byron Dragway, WOW! What, a bad ass, beautiful, ole timey can't wait to come again facility! "Moon Rocket", I still think you got a #10 wire loose, you got your ass handed to you by a scrappy Mustang from Canada with "Scotty!..,I need more powa" on the wheel, and I still feel sorry for your '56 walking around Byron with snow shoes for front tires. It was great meeting Gentleman Gene Cromer, and I sincerely hope he is here many more "moon lit" nights, to show us what a class act Jesus loving drag racer and family man looks like. I, like Scotty McPowershifter, also received a trophy for non-conformity, and it will sit with the cherished trophies from the Panneton, Jones & Christensen 56 Chevy, as well as all the hardware Yesterdays Child collected in her younger years. Paul, thanks for pile driving your throttle foot deep space into the Panneton Bros. collective jewels, by announcing your recent arrival home.., ya , we've been driving since we left the track at 8am (that long horn blow on the way out was for your "apple pie laiden" brain cavity), and we only have 1450 silly fricken miles to go! So the rest of you "already home, mamby pampy sissy lalla's can do Ricky a little favor, and shut yet rib eat'n holes!
Fart
Infested
Ass
Tank!

 

I tell ya, I got to meet the Panneton brothers, Marc and Ric....super guys, class act. Thanks for makin' the haul fellas! Brought quite a nice date to the dance too, love that '56. Sure hope y'all can make the trip again next year. Tip o' the hat to the west coast boys!!

 

We had a great time - thanks to the Meltdown Gang and everyone else who participated. Great friends. If anyone has a photo of Jr. climbing the tree on Friday we'd like to see how bad it really was?
Thanks to all.
ET

 

Ric,
My Dad will be talking about this weekend right up until we roll in the gate for next years event (which I am already looking forward to!)

You should have heard him on the phone with my Mom: "You should have SEEN him beat that chevy's ass!!!"

Thanks so much to you,Marc,Jason,and your Son for being such an incredible bunch of guys.You guys and Redline really made my Dads day yesterday.

Scott


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We haven't really stopped talking, and we are already planning for next year to run the goat, don't know if you saw my post on your page but we, met in person with out realizing we are both on here lol, hope to see you and everyone I met this year, and thanks to the yesterday's child guys for letting me sit in it, it was rad


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Here's a few of mine.

 

Thanks Ric, I hope to see you back at the Meltdown with that car running strong. While I was loaded up on Tricky Steve Apple Pie I came up with one that I think fits really well.

Really
In
Consistant

 

More.

 

Excellent pics. Love it!