BREAKING NEWS!!!!! DON'T FORGET......... Larry Luna and Steve Gonzales will have a live simulcast on the QuarterMile Productions website for our friends who can't make! Check it out..............http://www.quartermileproductions.com/
First and foremost I would like to thank Rocky Phillips for all of his hard work putting an event on like Eagle Field for us to participate at. Most people don’t realize just how much work go’s onto putting this event together. Lee Phillips, RJ, all of the great volunteers that help keep it all going and Joe Davis who owns Eagle Field. Joe takes a big chance putting on event like this with the liability , being the race is held on his property as we know everyone is sue happy these days, so Thank you Joe Davis for having faith in us and we in turn can help you restore Eagle Field to it’s proper place in history. That being said leads me to this discussion on Eagle Field. The following is MY OPPINION & MINE ALONE: The Eagle Field race was put on to RELIVE old time Drag Racing…Period The original race was run on the old runway paved decades ago. I have been there since the start & raced on the old surface. In fact I raced Randy Winkle on the original 30’ wide runway each in our own 15’ lanes. Blown modified Roadster & Coupe going 130-140 out the back door. We now have a 60’ wide surface and some people are having trouble ??? I looked Saturday at the surface and they had sprayed VHT from 20’ out and down the track. Personally I was disappointed as we come just to smoke the tires, so I just put the car to the outside of the lane and smoked em. At the drivers meeting there were some who asked if Rocky would spray the first 20 feet of the track. Rocky asked me what I thought , and here is what I told him. “ Rocky, this race was put on as OLD SCHOOL DRAG RACING. People are aware of this. If I am going 130-140mph out the back door & not having issues with the losing control how is it that a 3500 lb. street car going 85 mph is losing it ?. It’s a driver problem, not the track. I have been a licensed NHRA driver for 30 years, I aint John Force but I know when to lift. There are more positions on the gas pedal than just on the floor. If these guys are having a hard time leaving the starting line without VHT , how is it I get from point A to B with 1000 HP without issues? Once you start prepping the track with VHT it becomes a competition track and if these guys don’t have enough sense to get off the gas & race another day, they shouldn’t be out there.DO NOT PUT DOWN ANYMORE VHT” This is what I told Rocky. Tell me how is it that the multi million dollar F1 cars run at the Long Beach Grand Prix on city streets ? The whole Idea behind Eagle Field Drags was old school racing. Some people want a Christmas tree , lights , timers MPH & ET clocks. This will turn Eagle Field into a “Competition Track” not what the original concept was. FLAG START- NO PREP – Just for fun Racing. If these guys want VHT, clocks etc, then race at Sacramento, Bakersfield, etc . That’s where I go when I get serious and need 60’ clocks, mph clocks etc. Leave Eagle Field ALONE. The concept was to have fun . We all race on the same surface, so if I can get my 1000hp Roadster down Eagle Field at 140mph and not have issues and the guy in the street car looses control, what it it ? the track or the driver ? . A lot of these guys have never got serious racing their cars and get in over their head. So now we have to prep the track to let them go faster ? The fact is if your in trouble LIFT !!!!!!, I have been booked in to match race and lost control, I simply lift off the gas & I race another day. There isn’t a race worth killing myself or crashing the car. Some people have said go to a ¼ mile at Eagle Field. First there isn’t enough shut down & if some of these guys cant control it at 85, what are they going to do at 115mph ? If you want to get serious GO TO BAKERSFIELD RACEWAY where they spray the track and hand out time slips with RT, 60’ times etc. The same thing is being done at the Destruction Derby track at Eagle Field, they water the dirt, creating mud & therefore reducing speeds and lessoning the chances of really hard impact…..FUN…remember ? Once Eagle Field starts getting serious, someone is going to get hurt and it will cease to exists, Joe Davis does not need this. We are his guest on his land. He is taking a risk with us and we need to stick with the original concept. Old fashion , drag racing like it started out with. THERE WAS NO TRACK PREP and everyone races on the same surface. I raced on the original runway and didn’t have handling issues smoking the tires the whole track. I of all people should have had problems since my tires never hooked, so is it the track or the driver ? It’s simple DON’T DRIVE OVER YOUR HEAD & DON’T BE A HERO. If I get out of shape I lift ! The Eagle Field Drags is a trip back in time to where there was no track prep. When we start getting too serious about beating the other guy in the other lane , then the fun stops. Eagle Field is an experiment in the works, going back in time. There are things that will get tweaked as time go’s on, It’s a leaning curve. I am there to have fun. If Eagle Field dosent fit what you want to do then you have other choices. This is Rocky’s race, we are guest of Joe Davis. Some people don’t like the canopies there, some the dust, others feel the need for a NHRA prepped track surface. This is the venue , enjoy it or stay home. I know this sounds harsh , but these are the facts. I have a car that’s worth $60,000 so if I can make it down the track knowing I can lift if I get in trouble, then the guy with the hopped up street car should do the same. 99% of the people / cars at Eagle Field have a good time & understand the concept of old school racing. So being a democratic country and all, I have to conclude that the “one presenters” who have issues about the place should perhaps go to Bakersfield where the track is prepped, there’s no dust issues and they can get a time slip that shows they beat the guy in the other lane. Eagle Field is a step back in time. A time when racers, raced on old air bases & adjusted their driving skills to compensate for the track conditions. I suggest that the racers think about why we are stepping back in time. If you don’t like the past , your welcome to race in the present at your local NHRA track. Stormy
Stormy, will said. People need to understand that eagle field is a event not a race. Rocky and his crew do a great job and it takes a lot of time and energy to put it on. Congrats to Rocky and crew. I am out of here again Butch
I'm one that prefers a little VHT, but I am ok with out it. In the 3 passes I made, I had to lift 60' out on two of them once I was able to go WOT. Once it was back in the grove and straight, I rolled back in it. I agree that if you are crossed up lift, no sense in hurting you, others, or the car. Even with the VHT, my data logger showed I was at best cutting 2.0x 60's. Now with that said, it's not ALL in the driver as far as a car getting crossed up. Set up is also a key element. If you have a short wheel base and a history of it going sideways, take a little more caution, that is where the driver comes in, knowing how to peddle a car. I was also adjusting my set up there, lossening up the front after the first pass trying to xfer more weight with the track conditions. But that just makes me a better driver/tuner than anything. It should be about fun, I agree completely, don't loose sight of that. I do also understand some of the thoughts about the tents, in the sense that it restricts some peoples views resulting in less fun for them. But it bothers less of the majority, and that is why the bleachers are there. I know I would still have fun even if there were more tents and no VHT, I just need to figure out how to make the FarmTruck hook in the dirt
OK kiddies, I'm gonna toss in a couple points of my own as well. Bear in mind that these are nothing more than the perspective, ex cathedra, from my own navel. My first point runs thus ..... Even running bias ply street hides as our HA/GRs do, the VHT still makes a noticable difference. It takes away from the pleasure of having to manage traction by pedal & feel alone. Given our class overview and intentions it'll come as no surprise that I don't care for it. We're very much about getting the driver back into it, very much about a specific era of drag racing that even the oldest of us HAMBster builders remember only as children watching, and others of us only as their father's stories. For us that's the clarion call of Rocky's Eagle Field, a place to realize that even more so. VHT isn't part of that. Nor are modern slush pumps, trans brakes, line locks, blowers, fuel, electronics, fuel injection, slicks, air shifters, ad nauseum ....... but those things we can simply decline putting on our cars, with no animosity toward those who prefer'em. The VHT on the other hand, we have no way of avoiding once it's down. My other point is twofold ...... The longevity of this meet is balanced directly on remaining as accident free as possible. Every extra mph we facilitate by artificial means goes a little more against the odds of keeping it alive, for the very obvious reasons already noted. Gentlemen, true nostalgia venues are rare these days, and should be nourished, not undercut for selfish reasons. And, the whole point of Eagle Field itself, irrespective of the racing, is an homage to an era and it's meanings. Do you think for one second it would breath right if the runway were 150' wide and concrete? That'd certainly be better for the pilots using it today, but it may as well be renamed Dos Palos Internat' and sold to the highest bidder, the meaning would've been lost. This meet was inaugurated in the spirit of that meaning, and it'd be a shame for it to morph into something too far removed from that spirit, for any reason, us included. So, if Rocky's meet grows on to a destined glory? I'll come as long as I can beg, borrow, or steal the means, and race in the moment it celebrates. And, if it proves to be ephemeral in the end? Well, I'll be glad for having been here to taste it first hand while it lived, and I'll tell the tales as long as I can talk.
At Farm Truck: First of all, I loved your truck & your aware of what it's doing and you get off the throttle. Data Recorder ? wow I'm impressed.... I dont even have a tach, I shift when my butt starts to pucker. That being said even with the 3.50 gear I have in my car off idle it normally runs a 1.10 60' -4.82 @ 146 at the 1/8 & 7.60 at 184 in the 1/4, at Eagle Field I'm guessing it was somewhere around 2+ seconds as I was smoking the tires. My car has a 135" wheel base , that and 1000 hp can bite you in a heart beat. My whole point to this was for everyone to have fun and relize it's almost like a street race, and we all know that when your street racing the first thing you ask is nothow many cars your going to give or get,you always ask if the street was preped ...right?......One problem I've seen at Eagle Field is that guys with hot cars all of a sudden are putting the hammer down to the floor for a full 1/8 mile when they are normally cruising and on occassion whacking the throttle doing street dry hops. Now there on a track and with the pedal to the metal they find themselfs in over their heads. Just because a guy owns a 65 AC Cobra, dosent mean he knows how to drive it.One thing anyone with a hot street car should do going to Eagle Field would be to lower the psi on the rear tires so the thing will hook better and not come around on him at half track. I watched from the top & saw guys that were clearly in over their heads and making violent over corrections instead of finessing the car.I've been driving my car for over a quarter century & I know what it'll do...BUT ! I never get relaxed as something weird can always happen , water, oil, wind, dust etc. and driving at LACR for 25+ years I dealt with it all, it made me a better driver and I've buffed the wax on the gaurdrail , but I'll always lift. I was booked in years ago to match race a famous old Funny car racer. He beat me because I got sideways & lifted. At the end of the track he said " What's up Stormy, no balls no glory" I told him that I would call the L.A. Times & let them know he beat me. Woop de F---ing doo. I'm not gonna crash the car just to prove I can beat you. At the first Eagle Field I lifted plenty of times , trust me. We just cant turn the place into a competition track, or Joe will get tired of the hassle and call it off.All it will take is one guy to get hurt because of getting in over their head and were done.I love seeing all the cool cars out there. I come just to put on a show for the people, not to be the badass out there. the proof of that is when I raced Elmer Snyder last year in his Flathead Dragster . The deal was I would give him 4 cars on the flag and chase his ass down. Elmer was like lightning on the flag & that old flathead hauls ass. He was out on me by 5 when I hit the gas & went up in smoke trying to catch him. I didnt lift to let him win, he got there first and It was the most fun race I can remember in my long career of racing. Top Eliminator at 84 years young, in his original built 1952 dragster that NHRA banned. How bitchin is that, he's my hero even though he handed me my ass. He won fair & square on our agreement. Were there to have fun and when the rules start coming in that's when it go's away,it's a loose deal to begin with, lets keep it that way. Race safe my friends Stormy
Stormy,Thanks for the kind reply. I didn't see much racing as I was in the line to the track or eating some of the BBQ tritip we brought with us. For that reason I didn't see what was going on trackside. You are very right in a sense that Eagle Field is like a legalized street race. That right there is what really makes it fun for me. Being that I am trying to get in to law enforcement, there are a lot of cars I can't race because people are unwilling to take them to the track, and you will not find me running on the street. In that sense I suppose I am a little bit competitive because let's face it, we all want to win. But again, winning is not worth hurting someone else, myself or the truck. I agree whole heartedly with you that if it's crossed up, lift. I would rather be in a race where we both make it work than not. If the person I am racing tells me they had an issue and had to lift, let's do it again, just the same I hope they would say the same thing. The simple reason, well you are saying it over and over, because IT IS FUN!!!Unfortunately we are never going to be able to get everyone to understand that concept. If anything it might be in Rocky's best interest to discuss this with the staff, in regards to peoples driving habitts on the track. If someone is seen doing something stupid, have a staff member go talk to them and give them a warning. If seen doing it again, well, 86 them from the race. Rocky needs to protect himself for sure, and as nice as he is, he still may have to have his staff lay down the law and be a bad guy once in a while. It sucks, but it is what it is.It is a blast, and we need to keep it that way..
Please forgive my ignorance, but, what are the "rules" of a HAMB?Wheel base?Cubic inches?Trans?When I get some free time and a little extra spending cash, I might consider putting one together.
Hey...love your truck and your attitude...at the end of the day it's all about having fun. The rules are posted in the thread at the top of this page "Sticky: HA/GR rules". They are really pretty basic, and the concept is home built, old technology cars and all the fun you can cram into that. Love to add one more build to the bunch.
I have to say I really enjoyed watching the HAMB cars. I loved the variety of builds, that green rear engine one was cool.
I love the HAMB cars, they are copies of early iron that people use to build. As far as the Eagle Field staff having a talk with racers who might be getting in over their head, that is an excellent idea. Getting my NHRA comp License eons ago one of the things they still do & I do when signing off on a "new drivers competition license" is to observe them . What they do, how they do it, listening to instructions & the biggest deal is watching them as they make the required 6 passes from launch only to full runs with parachute out, is to see if they will lift if the car gets in trouble. There are some believe it or not, that think they have to be a hero and play Fuel Altered. I know of one guy that took over 10 years to get his license and then it was pulled by NHRA after screwing up. Then he had to do it in front of NHRA officials. He no longer drives. Great guy, but he never should have been behind the wheel of a Blown Alky Funny. With all the staff out there they should be watching and have a talk if someone seems to be getting over his head. I know this sounds like a lot to do...But it only takes one guy to get hurt & it's over. Those people should not feel bad if they do get talked to because Kenny Bernstine hit almost every piece of gaurdrail at OCIR when he was getting his Funny Car license, and look how he turned out, world champion. The fact is many of the cars out Eagle Field would be required roll cages & competition license because they are really fast. It's nothing personal, I've seen veteran drivers in the guardrail with the throttle still wide open smoking the tires. Eagle Field is a step back in time, lets enjoy something thats an alternative to NHRA and there mess. Stormy
Here we go gang! The first batch of photos I've recieved are from Gena Mibelli, if'n anyone wants a photo contact me for Gena's prices. Rocky HAMB Dragster Event Champion, Joe Roseberry Runner-up, Les Gomes Jeana Wallace at the wheel of our car The Godfather of the West Coast HAMB Dragsters, Dick Sappington More to come!
Right on Stormy! I had fun my first year there with my '55... it didn't happen the 2nd year, and then I sold the car before this last event... BUT, that first year was FUN! I had enough oats to spin the tires pretty well... but rolled onto the throttle to keep the thing under control. Basically bring the RPM's up, dump the clutch, keep the RPM's hovering at 4,000 or so, and when it starts to bite, roll on a little more... Sounds simple... but then again, I have made more passes on the street in the last 25 years than John Force has made on an NHRA track in his career! Hahahaha!! Anyway... I say leave the VHT off... and get some guys who have "been there and done that" do talk to guys who are racing... Pre-burn out... on a guy's first pass... maybe have someone talk to the racers... "Hey, how's it going?" "have you ran this car before?" "Take it easy the first couple of passes" You know, a pep talk... As neat as it was to see that guy GET LUCKY and save that Chevelle a couple years ago... he was in over his head and stayed with it too long. My opinion, if he was a good driver, he wouldn't have looped it in the first place. Sam
Here is some photos by Neglected Steel (Kleet) here on the board, they have been reduced, contact Kleet if your interested in a full size shot!
BAD ASS. If you have anymore photos please send. Here is my email. Please send over. This is great. [email protected]
The Jalopy Journal
