Page 32 - Issue 30

the day of the drags is a wet, wild and sticky mess. the good
kind though. the old dragstrip is lined with trees and stumps. the
guardrails are twisted and crinkled. the lanes are narrow and the
forest impending. the track is short and has a wicked curve at the
end too. the river is close and it’s humid as all get out. Hundreds of
people camp and rV in the vast pockmarked fields. the raceway was
established in 1957 and has its fair share of lumps.
the racing is open to hot rods, stock cars, gassers and dragsters
that are 1963 and older. the one firm rule is that it must be
american made. no Volkswagons, no imports, no late frames. (i
swear i saw an anglia) this is a ‘run what ya brung’ event with five
classes. the Leisure, 10 second and slower on up to super comp at 6.5
seconds and BeLow. the Vintage class is open to pre-1954 flatheads,
hemis, inlines and y block motors.
the race length has been shortened to 1/8 mile from 1/4 mile
th
for safety. the track ends with an abrupt turnabout, so speed is an
issue. dennis rylander’s Beast was back at the event with a two
day old 482 blown big block. He said that if it were still ¼, then his
team wouldn’t have run. “don’t want to see anyone get
hurt.” with driver Van watson at the wheel, the Beast
was pulling 5.50 @ 124 mph in the 1/8 even with a soft
th
blower and boost issues. there were some incredibly
fast cars, and lots of brag patches won.

60 ratrodmagazine.com Rat Rod Magazine 61
60 Rat Rod Magazine issue twenty-nine Rat Rod Magazine issue twenty-nine