standing a few feet away in the pits when they start them is something

They start them on alcohol.... nitro comes later.

 

Along with the smell, watering eyes and OH THAT SOUND!!!

 

good stories for sure, but today pro racing is all about the $$$$ you got, not seat of the pants tuning like when Garlits ran. a local racer Nash + Kolody used to work on their cars in a small 1 car garage behind Nash's Bakery + test at the Bloomsburg airport. i see Nick Nash once in awhile, a great guy for sure as he let me as a kid hang around while they worked on their cars. their coupe comes up in a search but the B street roadster they latter had running a destroked 283 chevy small block 267 cu in i believe was a class winner at Indy back in the day of a thousand cars + individual classes, they had the big trophy in the Bakery for years before Nick retired + sold it. today he fishes + hunts at his cabin with his wife, fond memmories for sure

Any relation to DOUG NASH...had his trans in my Camaro :icon_thumleft:

 

no relation to doug that i am aware of. nick + dan were very savy for their time having cams ground to their liking, remember nick said that the cam grinder said a certain grind would not work, but it did!!! really enjoyed his true encounters. another time at maple grove raceway nick needed some lubricant, don garlits near so he told his buddy to go to see don, his friend said thats DON GARLITS!!! he found out he was a friendly regular guy willing to help others!! on the nitro you gotta love the change of the engines TONE when the "POP" is turned on!!! one wonders how long these very costly cars will run??? often there are are less than 16 cars for qualiying which qualifies anyone there that makes a run!!

 

thats DON GARLITS!!! he found out he was a friendly regular guy willing to help others!!

Then later on in life he changed a bit.
He has a museum south of Ocala FL & would come up to the NAPA store I worked in & he was a PITA.
Always had his "crew" with him & expected to be waited on before everyone else.
Lost a lot of respect for him.

 

A while back we were at "Night Under Fire", a 24 hour drag race in Norwalk, Ohio. We were walking around at about 2am and happened to run into John and Ashley Force. Even though it was 2am they both were kind enough to talk to us for a few minutes and sign our shirts. Great people, very nice. I was amazed that at 2 in the morning they actually took the time to talk to us. It was a very cool experience!

 

When I was racing the BIG BOYS liked our program, became pretty good friends....WHEW could I tell you some after races stories....drinking involved

 

force did a lot for drag racing but being boss he picks who takes a "dive" when team members race!!!!

 

Can't believe the et's they are getting now days with some very small turbo'd engines. And the v8 factory cars are so quick as well. Kinda makes ya wonder if building up your old small block will ever be worth the expense and time again as your not going to compete with readily available cheaper performance. Then there's that kid on you tube running in the 10's with a stock TESLA that makes no noise blowing away all that hard work and loud commotion in the next lane. Laying waste to his internal combustion competition with a silent stab of the accelerator in an environment about as wild as the average dental office waiting room. All victories achieved without the help of a fuel system, radiator, exhaust system, valve train, water pump, fan belt, engine oil, high volume oil pump,transmission, shift kit, clutch,line lock,tack,rev limiter,racing fuel,air induction filters,timing wheels , supercharger or turbo etc. Not to mention o2 sensors, catalytic converters and other wallet robbing pollution controls. Hope the future brings some jobs to replace the ones lost making all those parts.

 

KEYWORD: NOISE....anything but a V-8 sounds like ......best described: fingernails across a chalkboard