Glad you got some free time back then to play at the dragstrip. Let see, 1964-65. Well Ohio Valley Raceway first opened in the Spring of ’65. The town of Lebanon Junction you mentioned meant you also raced at Bullitt Dragway aka Cedar Creek. That track was known locally by either name because the dragstrip was in Bullitt County and located on Cedar Creek Road. There were many good running ’55 Chevys from around this area. A few ran in Stock but many more ran in Modified. The two racers you refered to were very competitive racers in the modified ranks. Buddy Criscoe was the high performance mechanic at Burns Ford and then opened his own speed shop, Criscoe’s Automotive. Buddy passed away a while back. The other racer Sherrill Huff bought Ohio Valley a few years ago but has since retired to Florida. His son Billy runs the track now. Some may remember Billy Huff as a former IHRA Pro Stock standout. Maybe this photo will help you remember your days in Kentucky. Bullitt Dragway mid 60's
GREAT stuff TM !!!...do you recall if the Nova had a Stahl Bar on it ???...don't see any leaf-spring traction device from that angle...CB
And for something different here are a couple Ramblers! Note the first picture was taken at Beeline Dragway in Scottsdale, Az where they sometimes ran 4 at a time. Beeline was an AHRA track.
Judges were available in any GTO color (as well as two-tone and vinyl tops) in 1969, though Carousel Red (orange) was the "signature" color for it. Carousel Red was actually a Firebird color and not available on the GTO until the Judge option was introduced.
Look at all those old "Olds" in the staging lane pix?? I also see Grumps SS/C 68 Camaro in there - eh? Who can name the others? Lotsa "name" cars in there!!
Ah yes!!! Bullitt County was what we Gi's called it. I recall vividly always driving down old 31W toward FT Knox and passing the Sign point the "turn right" to go to Ohio Valley. My car always wanted to make that turn but i had to fight it to keep going straight south!! LOL . Always thought it was cool that Crisco had chevy power in that Mustang --- guess now i know the reason he ran a Mustang -- The people at Burns Ford probably didnt know it had chevy power!! LOL. Discharged from Army there in summer of 65 and returned home to resume racing my 64 Chevelle SS. Lets see some more pix from up on that Hill top!!
KY-ian -- Told ya i'd remember some of those 55 chevs at Ohio Valley -- How bout Bruce Wilkerson? (Wilkenson?) He was always very competitive nationally? And of course we would see Dickie Ogles (Stagecoach)and Jimmie Bridges down at Bowling Green. Know there were others - but thats a long time to remember -- 45 years??
Thanks alot Ky-ian. When I was in high school, I would hang out at Jessie's garage. Frank Spencer was always running around without shoes. Punky was building Jessie's Vega at the time. I bought some wheels off of Jessie; he took me down to his basement where he had the wheels and he still had the hood off of his old "Rated-X" Camaro complete with the topless girl on the hood scoop. Jessie told me he had to keep it in the basement because Jenny (his wife) didn't like to see it. Thanks for the pics, I would love to see some more if you have any.
I just spoke to Donna Olster. Al had a defibulator-pacemaker implant on Tues. Last night he had a set back. He's in the coronary ICU in St. Joseph's Hospital, Paterson. I told her we were all praying for him.
Hi CB RAM AIR V's were only built with 780 cfm holleys. I was lucky enought to find a correct p/n carb prior to starting my resto. chuck
WANTED: Junior Stock Speed Secrets. If some of the veterans here are willing to talk, what were some of the tricks of the trade to make these cars GO FAST? Chassis, Engine, Body.........Please tell all
I am just going to hang on to it. I have had some huge offers but my wife says it is not for sale. If I sell it she says I will only get half the money minus her atty. fees. I rec'd a copy of a drag world mag from dec of 70 where it held the end of season AHRA record for time 11.97 in f/s automatic class. If any one has that mag I would love to buy that page to have. Some tricks of the trade on my car from the day were alum. rear control arm bushings, and upper front control arm nuts were loosened and cotter pinned, all done to increase weight transfer time. chuck
Got a note from George yesterday saying that Bobby had installed the bar and that it worked great. Seems to me that George told me a year or so ago that Jack Arnew had installed Chrysler springs on the car as well. When I saw the car for the first time, George told several of us that he found a few things that concerned him in the engine. The crank had pits in the rod journals (rust) and Bobby told him not to worry about them, they were good for oil retention. We also learned that Bobby would strip the paint off of fenders and hood, paint them with a salt solution and leave them outside for the winter. Someone coined the phrase "North Carolina Acid Dipping". I guess a book could be written about all the tricks Bobby come up with over the years.
That would be a book I would love to read! Those tricks like the "North Carolina Acid Dipping", no matter how well they worked, is my kinda thinking! Thats one of the main gripes I have with Bracket racing these days is that nobody is experimenting and looking for that next 1/10th.
forgot all about that SS&DI article WC...THANKS for posting !!!...that bar looks like it's off a SHERMAN TANK...lol...CB
Formula what? AHRA had 8 Forumua classes, depending on carbs and lifters injectors and supercharges ect. What was the cubic inch of the motor you were running?
Herman Chapman's Chevelle at the 1971 Nationals. We faced each other in the K/SA class final. He asked me three times, wanting to be clear I guess, if Bobby Warren was out of the competition and that I was the one who beat him. Probably would've been a great race because we were running similar times, but my car broke coming off the line.
More photos taken at the 1971 Nationals. These two faced each other in the Stock Eliminator final. Al Corda took the win.
THANK YOU for sharing these gems Bob....always loved your wagon, saw it 1st year I went to INDY in '70...it is unreal to be in touch with all the racers here that I followed back then....you guys molded the racing career I started around this time...too cool...CB
The Jalopy Journal
