Event Coverage Tucson Dragway Reunion 2017 May 5&6

And I think maybe your insight in this matter is somewhat myopic. Steve Gibbs has done all the heavy lifting for the cackle car program at the NHRA Reunions since day one up until last year, and for most of the larger events in SoCal.
FYI, Gibbs doesn't work for the Museum or NHRA any longer. Their loss.

Thank you for your eloquence, Pete, well stated. IMO there's still more to be said regarding amateur hour at the cackle events and some changes made before someone gets seriously hurt.

 

Cool hood ornament

 

It seemed that a lot of the car owners were not young by any means. I appreciated that they let my son (he's 7) sit in their cars. I had several of the owners comment that they felt they needed to get younger people like him interested in the old stuff.

I could see myself owning a cackle car at some point. I'm a pretty young guy too (33) - How might one learn about these things without creating bombs in their front yard as you mention?

 

GREAT PIC. thank you. I have never seen it lit up like that outside. GOOD JOB. If any more pics out there, please post them. Hey mopacltd, did you get pics of my corvette? Your car is amazing.

 

Pete Eastwood. thanks for the heads up. I get it. the statement made about STEVE is that, he was mad and he should be. We try to make it safe for all that watch and do this sport. nobody like to break there stuff. my brothers, and myself have been doing this for years, we helped my father do this in the 70s. this kind of thing can happen to anybody. even when you purchase %$@#$# parts that don't do what they claim. Steve Gibbs is a gentleman to me and my family. No it is not funny to have dangerous things happen. We know the sport quite well. I cant swim so I don't do water sports. And yes you are correct there were 12 guys working on the dragster. Yes probably half of them did not know what to do. But let me ask you this. when Roland Leong came to help, and the car blew up again, not his fault what can you do. you still have to have good parts. I will not ever get into a big dick contest with anybody, I may lose that one, but $#@%# happens. and when it does everybody flips out. as far as JUNK goes, the car and everything on it is brand new. Good post Pete. thank you for getting involved. all feedback is good feedback. Also the fuel pump failed and it was brand new. bought it for the cackle fest on Wednesday, and it was no good. $#@$# happens.

 

Els. Your dragster is absolutely Beautiful.

 

Event tee shirt made by the Goosic family

 

"els" , Thanks for the follow up.
I've been "cackling" for quite a few years, Before that, I had never messed with Nitro.
I did have experience with blown gas & blown alcohol.
The Nitro guys told me Nitro was it's own animal & that I was in for a whole new experience.
I'd like to point out a few things, if I may.
Any pump you get, before you bolt it on, you should have it checked so you know what it "flows".
Knowing what the pump flows helps steer you toward your "tune up.
The pump, barrel valve, main bypass, idle bypass, & nozzles are all equally important to the "tune up".
Before I go to any cackle event, I always start my cars up before I ever put them on the trailer.
I want to be confident that I still have a "hot" mag, a pump with good seals, no leaky / cracked fittings, & no plugged nozzles. I am fanatical about servicing the car after every event, and even with that, you can still have something go sour while it's sitting.
Better to safe than sorry.

Happy cackling, Pete

 

Pete, thank you for response. We had the car at the GOODGUYS SHOW in Scottsdale in March. car ran great. Than we change a few things, the pump and barrel valve. For some reason the pump would not pump enough fuel. We opened the lines and ran it in a bucket and flow was perfect. hooked it up and under pressure, the pump failed. Like I said before, sometimes you can get bad parts. Safer standards could be done at some of these cackle shows. When you have spectators standing 5 feet away from car running, there are concerns. At the GOODGUYS show, they had fire dept. there. Ropes 20 feet away from cars for spectators, and a set time was scheduled to run the cars. All cars could not be started until all of these safety precautions were in place. Maybe these are concerns that you and I can resolve by discussing on blogs and posts on the H.A.M.B. I got on the H.A.M.B to show off my toys and see cool stuff. But now I am excited to discus and debate car stuff. This has been great to talk with you. I hope we have become buds and can catch each other on other posts. I may see you a show or race sometime. thank you.

 

thanks for all the pics. I know you have friends that took pics. get them on the H.A.M.B. This is a cool thread to watch, fallow and like. The dragster, corvette and BEELINE sign are great parts of my family and history of growing up in the sport of drag racing. Sharing it with everybody and you guys sharing your COOL cars make what we do great.

 

"els" Have your pump checked & flowed, so you know what the numbers are.
Each individual pump will have it's own flow numbers.
On my cars, one has a Hilborn 175-4 pump that flows 17 gals. per minute, the other a Enderle 110 pump that flows 13.5 gals. per minute. That 13.5 number is a little weak & I'm planning on a changing to a 110 with better flow numbers.
We cackle my cars on 90 percent, and we are using everything that 110 pump @ 13.5 gals. per minute can give us.
Even with a good pump, all the other factors: barrel valve, main bypass, idle bypass & nozzles will still effect volume & pressure.
Both volume & pressure are important.
The amount the pump flows impacts how you tune the rest of the system.

 

Thank you. we are going to Hilborne. YOU ARE A GREAT HELP.

 

I am glad you like the dragster, the 1962 corvette was not able to run down the track, I will have it at the next reunion,. The black Anglia is my twin brothers. I love that old Anglia.

 

Thank you for posting the BEELINE DRAGWAY sign. I think its the only picture with it lit up. I am glad we got to get it out to the reunion. It will be at the drag reunion in phoenix in November. Thanx again,.

 

I'm trying to find more info about a Tucson drag strip that opened in 1959 called Avra Valley Drag Strip. I have only found one newspaper article about it. This is for my Drag Strip List website.

 

before my time hopefully someone knows about it? might want to start a new thread asking about it?

also some time in the mid-late 80s there were a few drag races run at the Bisbee-Douglas airport, does that count?