As you know I'm 71 and built a 62 Falcon dirt modified which wasn't easy at my age, bad back and all. I put together a 350 sbc 9.8 with roller cam and alum. heads. This was my 3rd. race the past Sun. I run in the B-feature with slower cars and came in 9th. out of 14 which should be better but i never drove stock cars ,was a lowly mechanic and distributor set up man. So i asked a friend of mine to drive it in the A-feature with the fast cars, he drove micro midjets 9 years ago. So he jumps out in first lap to lead race until a red flag accident and the #76 Chamberlin car jumps him out on restart and 2 laps later he takes my car into the lead again to win the race! My driver said the car handled great and had plenty of power. Now the fun starts I gotta step up in my division and run harder. Thanks for takin time to read this, Hank
awsome thread my dad raced on a 1/2 mile dirt and 3/8 mile dirt track in the 60's and early 70's in a 1937 chevy, called the jalopy class, and the pics here bring back some good memories. l am in the process of building a street legal dirt jalopy/vintage modified style 1940lSH mopar in dad's honor. keep up the good work and winning ways please post some more pics if ya have'em. Later
I also have a vintage dirt modified and can testify to what a difference a driver makes. I had never driven a race car before, so when I raced, I always ran middle of the pack. One time, just to see what would happen, I got a "real" driver in the car. Made all of the difference in the world. Where I could go all season on one set of front tires, he almost wore a set out in 20 laps. If you're still driving at 71, you're doing good. I'm 70, and, because of my arthritis, can't crawl through the window any more to get in. (Actually, I could probably get in, but worry about getting out fast if something happened.) It's probably just as well, though, because I don't have a fuel cell and places to run are getting scarcer and scarcer around here. My car is a well preserved original from 1965, and I'm just not up to tearing it all apart to put a fuel cell in it. Makes a fine conversation piece in the shop though. Congratulations on your car and your win.
Awesome car Hank, and congratulations on the win. How rewarding it is to see a car you lovingly built on the track and in Victory Lane. I help my son race non-wing sprint cars in Nor Cal. We are on our 7th car, lots of tore up equipment with one Semi-feature win. I had a grin on my face for a week. Keep us updated, thanks for sharing.
Nice machine now go hold the right pedal down longer this time LOL. I ll be right behind you one day.
Awesome! What an inspiration. People like this are what make the HAMB so great. Thanks for posting this.
The Jalopy Journal
