Old Mason Dixon or 75 80 pics

Great stuff guys. Love the old photos and stories.

 

I know this is not from the very old days, but it was about 24 years ago. One of the best races ever held at Mason-Dixon (in my opinion) was a match race between Charlie Carpenter and his world's fastest '55 Chevy and Norm Wisner and his "Jukebox Ford". Wisner beat Carpenter with a 206 mph pass and Carpenter was over 200 mph too! As far as I know it was the fastest run for door cars at that track.

 

Here's a couple more. I found a '62 BelAir hardtop (327, glide) in a barn. Actually it was in a metal building on a farm (kinda close to a barn), but all four wheels were frozen (you can see the tow strap, as I had to drag the car out of the barn. fun getting it on the trailer too)
Well I painted and fixed it up and ran it a Mason-Dixon and 75-80. Eventually, I found a '62 QB engine and a 4 speed and put those in the BelAir. Loved that car. That's Jake Leonard (blue shorts) who worked for decades as the 75-80 starter in the Monrovia picture.

 

Here's a picture Of my 41 Chevy from 1974 when I raced it at 75-80 Dragaway. 283 4 speed 3:55 open 57 rear. Had fenderwell headers and a single 4 barrel. Turned a 15 something. I've had the car 43 years. Sure wish 75-80 was still open!

 

Great pics and stories guys. Thank you very much for sharing your experiences !

 

There has to be a mistake in this photo. Here we have a real running "B" gasser and not a straight axle in sight.
Not all "real gassers" had staight axles. Just look at all the '55 and '57 Chevy gassers.

 

OK, I have a question. As a 16 year old, almost 50 years ago, I used to go to a drag strip in Md. that ran parellel to an interstate. As I envision it the track was on the north side of the hiway, maybe a hill behind the track. I remember talking to a guy with a Chevy six in a dragster, it ran pretty good. My sister lived around DC. and when we visited I would take my parents car and go watch. This would have been in about '67 or '68. What track was it? It's bugged me for years not knowing.

 

75-80 Dragway does run parallel to I 70 (Old US 40 before that), but it is several miles away. Also, it is on the north side of Maryland route 80, and there is a hill after the finish line (some newcomers thought the shut down area was too short, but after making a run they found out that at the top of the hill the shut down area continued on level ground). That is probably the track you're thinking of.