http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=436448 This is great! When I saw that the promoter set up a class for AA/GS I said, “I’M ALL IN!” This June 12th race is being promoted as the “King of Kings AA/GS Shootout”. As it turns out, there are only two cars competing. Huh?… I contacted the promoter, and he said he’d love to have me there with the Red Baron II. And, hey! I love great competition! All the AA/GSers are getting paid the same, so let’s make it interesting and throw the money into one hat, WINNER TAKE ALL! And I’m sure that in the spirit of REAL racing and good competition, these other hard chargers…Fred Bear and Rocky Perone…will accept this challenge whole heartedly. I do, however, have to go through the formality of asking though. I wouldn’t want to show up just to run singles. So what do you say guys? Yes? No? Ken Kull Red Baron II AA/GS 8.23 @ 167.12
I'll race you on FOOT! That"s about as good an offer as you'll get Ken. Aint no real racers on here..none that want to run numbers..it might mess up the LOOK they're going for. However, if ya want to CACKLE..you might have some competition..or a DRY HOP contest with pre-wrinkled slicks! But I'm just a foot racer..I don't have a race car. Have fun!! Spike
hahahahaha..yeah..its coming!! Just trying to stir the pot a little...wake some people up..ya know? Drag racing might just be dead after all.. the lucky ones got to live through it back in the 60's during the gasser's heyday...now all that's left are a very few that try and keep the flame alive, but its dying and nobody cares to stop it. People would rather polish and bracket race, cackle and dry hop than run the numbers..to race... its a lost cause. They don't make drivers like that anymore. Spike
Here is one of the king of kings here.nobody up for the challenge at the the cecil county event june 12.i want to see more than 2 gassers .i want to see a real shoot-out with real numbers turning gassers.
Hey Hemi Man- The challenge has been laid out several times.. IN WRITING taped to the side of a race car, with a CASH purse as the bounty...NOTHING...nobody would sign up. Maybe he should have left crayons instead of a pen. All we have now is videos and pictures of the past, and a few old timers that we're losing every day... guess you can't go home again... Spike
Spike, I believe this is the challenge you speak of! Just in case anyone thought you were 'making it up'! LOL! Funny how it never got signed! 'Herc' Hosted on Fotki
Here you go guys and gals...! You got your wish...! Beaver Springs Dragway has announced a AA/GS SHOOTOUT ... at this years Gasser Reunion meet on June 11th and 12th... This is open to all Period correct AA/GS cars.... No more hiding behind made up letters or bs challenges... Show up or Shut up..! (Rules and payout info. can be found at.. http://gassermadness.com/Gas-FX/index.php?topic=65.0 )
Hi guys! Dad and I ran with Ken at Cecil County yesterday. Was a good time even though the track was slippery. Even with less than stellar tunes, there was still no numbers to be had with both cars doing the slip-n-slide from half-track out. Was a shame that there was only 2 cars running, but that's just more appearance money for us I guess, ha? I bet the fans sure would have liked to see more honest gassers making full 1/4mile passes; maybe next time?
My father in law was there in his sea-foam green Belvedere. Jonathan Harris, dunno if you know him. Said it was a good time. He is up at Englishtown today.
HA! I just realized that this thread was a year old when I posted! I searched for Cecil County and Red Baron. Figured that I might find pics of Dad and I running against the Red Baron II and found this thread; so I posted figuring it was current. Never bothered to check the dates. Aparrantly not much has changed in a year, ha? Dad and I are still the only guys willing to RUN NUMBERS with Ken (both of us are well into the 8s) and GET PAID for it... Gauranteed appearance $$$$ for ALL CARS in the show. Works pretty good when there is only 2 guys willing to show up! Others are booking "match races" at 1/8mile tracks with 3 cars all run by the same best-appearing crew and then some cannon-fodder fillers just to make an even number for the show. I wonder how THAT "payout" works?
LeftCoastErik, I did see your father-in-law's Plymouth out there, although I do not know him. There was a bunch of neat ol' MoPars running at Cecil County on Saturday, and plenty of Hemi cars. Sure was a good time. Even though the track surface sucked, everybody kept the cars shiny-side-up and we got in a full day of racing, despite the threatening weather after that lingered all day after it stopped raining at about 8AM.
Hey Vince, glad to hear you had a great time at Cecil, we were booked into go, but decided to race the "open" show at Beaver Springs instead. We had a dozen period correct AA/GS cars competing in the True Period Correct AA/GS class, the winner took home over $2000.00 in cash and prizes! It was a GREAT time! and even though the track wasn't the best, not one competitor cried about it..! lol As far as how the four car shows work, its pretty simple, when you race at tracks like Englishtown and do a good job, they ask you back...! and they pay you very nicely for putting on a great show! Good luck to you and your Dad, I love seeing your Willys run and a sincere congrats on getting her to run in the eights!
Hello Rocky! I appreciate your well-composed reply. Sure is a shame that we can't get all the current east-coast A/GS cars in 1 place at the same time to run heads-up 1/4mile passes with some real payouts, but oh well. Maybe another time? You have sent us invitations to run with your circuit, but the conditions are not right for us to accept. We run everywhere from Epping NH to (most recently) Cecil County, MD. We've never been to Beaver Springs, but I wouldn't rule it out in the future if there is a full 1/4mile, no index, heads-up A/GS race with a better purse for the winner and appearance money for all the cars/teams. A mere $2000 winners purse doesn't seem like much for a legit 12-car field.... There was 2 A/GS cars and a double-engine dragster at Cecil County this weekend, and each received $$$$ just to show up. Sounds better than $2000 for the winner of a 12-car field to me, any day of the week. Not all of us are independently wealthy. Racing COSTS US MONEY that we work hard for, so ya.... we're gonna go where we can atleast get appearance money to cover some of our expenses. Which cars were at Beaver Springs? Where can I see pics of the 12 period-correct AA/GS cars? Who won the $2000? We tried the E-Town thing a couple times (you know, you were there), and it never worked out. We were there and promised appearance money, but still left empty-handed. Not much of an incentive for us to go back.
Vince, The majority of the races we run are booked in shows like you did at Cecil and for similar money. These shows are at the request of the track owners, personally, I like the open show format better, but like you said the match race shows are guaranteed money and it cost all of us to get there and perform. As far as purse structures, the Beaver Springs deal was as follows, Winner $1,000.00 cash and over $1,000.00 in merchandise, runner up $700.00 and $300.00 in merchandise, Semi's $350.00, 1st round loser $250.00, even non-qualifier's got $100.00. No one got rich, but I thought the purse was fair. As far as 1/4 mile racing, I'll run Wal-Marts parking lot if they pay me...lol Length of the track to me doesn't matter, we run anywhere we can as long as the money is fair. There are some organizations out there that want to run 1/8 mile only and I understand that and have no problems with that. Ego doesn't put fuel in the tank, money does, we do what the promoter wants....pretty simple. For the record, I do not have or run a circuit, I support a couple of groups, but the vast majority of my races are booked in shows with tracks that I have a relationship with, and to clear up one more thing, when we do a four car show or bring in another racer to appear, they get paid the same amount as my cars. The Beaver Springs web-site has some cool shots of the action.. http://www.beaversprings.com/ The winner was Skip Cloverdale in his bad ass Anglia....! Rocky