jacksonville n.c. 1970 era drag racers?

anybody here that used to dragrace at highway 258dragstrip in the early 70s. i know the dragstrip is called something else now and i believe its 1/8 also. i remember bobby goodson 57 ford ranch wagon 312 supercharged. bobby warren- hayward register 68 chevelle. another guy was a 62 409 chevy. smith i think from clinton n.c. is bobby yopp still around he had a speedshop near camp geiger.thanks mike budniewski

 

Mike, I hope someone who raced in that era chimes in because I'd like to hear more about that time too. That Hwy258 strip is called Coastal Plains Dragway . They have also added a 4/10th mile oval track next to it called Coastal Plains Raceway . I didn't move here until summer of 1981 but I've had the fortune to chew the fat with a few graybeards that laid rubber at CP as well as in the back roads of Maple Hill, NC. The Model A coupe that I built back in '92 use to be raced at CP in the '70s. Bobby Yopps is still around and he owns Bob's Auto Salvage here in Jacksonville. I remember a Crest Auto Parts on Hwy 17 across from Camp Gieger that sold some speed parts and I believe some speed work too, but i don't no if bobby owned it. That place has been long gone. There was also Raceway Auto Parts on Blue Creek Elementary School Road which was about a mile from Gieger and I don't recall who owned it. There has been a couple reunions held for racers who've raced at CP during the 60's & 70's. Check out this site for a list of some who raced back then: Annual Coastal Plains Reunion (The place of the reunion is a few blocks from my house). Perhaps someone from that site can get you in touch with some of your old racing friends. Good Luck!

See my HAMB post on the reunion spot, A.C.E. : http://66.154.44.164/forum/showthread.php?p=3658794

 

I was there in 1967 watching Warren and Register and all the others, Tiger Tuff the yellow 63 Dodge ragtop max wedge, My buddys purple '57 hdtp "TENSION" in or C/mp depening on motor. I had a '58 ragtop and later a 55 210 hdtp with a 301. Remember a little guy named Clyde that had a shop on Marine way, ran MP and stockers, mostly tri-five Chevies...

 

I was still living in New England, then, but after I had moved here and was selling engine parts and engine rebuilding equipment to shops in Eastern NC, I met Bobby Warren in the early 80’s. I sold parts and some equipment to him and the sons in the early to mid eighties; first out at Bobby’s home, where the shop was in the back, later in their new shop in Clinton. I wish I knew as much about how to wake up a SBC as Bobby Warren has forgotten.

Also, Lynwood Horne is still around. While I wasn’t there at the time, he terrorized lots of folks at that track with his SBC ’48 Chevy coupe. I bought a 265” from him a couple years ago. Now in his eighties, he still goes into his shop, Horne’s Speedway Garage, every day. He’s out in Richlands on Catherine Lake Road (?) His son, Kendal, has a small engine rebuilding shop there, too. He went through the mouse, freshened it a bit, and was very reasonably priced. Thing ran killer.

Butch Cottel, here in Wilmington, runs Carolina Carburetor. He tells of how he used to go up to J’ville as a kid to race. He has some good stories of times when he’d be there in his teenaged, meager attempt at a racecar, and some of those legends would be around. . . . good times.

 

Keep the good stuff coming,guys! I'd like hear more of Butch Cottel's experiences. The Hornes are a talented group. I'm friends with Lynwood's sons, Malcom & Dalton. I've heard stories of Lynwood running against Dyno Don and the like at other tracks.