Welcome back to the conclusion of my two-parter "Need For Speed."
As you recall, in Pt. 1 you had a front row seat to watch a demolition
derby, a spectacle I gleefully witnessed a dozen times or more as a boy.
And then I took you on a tour of Central PA stock car racetracks
and introduced some of the most popular local race drivers
that entertained me, my family and thousands
of others throughout the 1950s and 60s.
It didn't take long for me to learn the names of the drivers that
raced every week at Susquehanna Valley tracks I attended.
I also became familiar with the corresponding numbers
and, in some cases, letters of their cars.
At the same time, I was adding auto racing jargon to my vocabulary:
"on the pole"
"pace car"
"straightaway"
"qualifying heat"
"firewall"
"feature"
"powder puff derby" (all female drivers)
"consolation race"
"scratch"
"figure 8"
"spin-out"
"caution flag"
"roll cage"
"under the yellow"
"the pit"
"pit crew"
"victory lap"
"banked turn"
"semi late"
"late model stock"
"sportsman"
"modified"
"sprint"
"midget"
"go-kart"
Over the years, I have searched for and watched
quite a few movies about hot-rodding and auto racing.
The following are my three favorites...
all highly recommended for any racing enthusiast.
SNAKE & MONGOOSE
(2013)
THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY
(2006)
And, by far, my favorite racing movie is...
(SCROLL DOWN)
JUST KIDDING.
KEEP SCROLLING.
Howard Hawks’ 1965 cult classic
RED LINE 7000.
The movie stars James Caan as stock car racer Mike Marsh...
and co-stars Laura Devon, one of the most
alluring beauties of the 20th century....
in what has to be her greatest career performance
as the soulful, sultry and seductive Julie Kazarian.
Watch these two scenes and “meet the speed breed!”
If I wasn’t watching a "racy" movie...
or catching the action at one of the area's oval racetracks...
chances are I was making the scene at York U.S. 30 Drag-O-Way,
(aka U.S. 30 Dragway) home of the Super Stock Nationals...
a drag racing event so important nationally that
it was nicknamed The 4-Wheeled Woodstock.
Opened in 1960 when the sport of drag racing was
becoming a phenomenon on the West Coast...
U.S. 30 Drag-O-Way was located at the York airport
in the community of Thomasville west of York.
York US 30 was the first NHRA-sanctioned track in the region.
Photo provided by Jim Sieling
Known as "Super Track of the East" and "Pride of the East..."
York US 30 Drag-O-Way remained in operation until 1979.
As I soon found out, the sport of drag racing
had its own roster of driver legends, including
“Big Daddy” Don Garlits
“Jungle Jim” Liberman
Don "the Snake" Prudhomme
Tom "the Mongoose" McEwen
Larry Lombardo
Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins
Dave Strickler
Shirley "Cha Cha" Muldowney
Sox & Martin
"Dyno Don” Nicholson
Bruce Larson
Dandy Dick Landy
Ed Miller
George Cureton
Charlie Garrett
Bill Stiles & Jere Stahl
"The drags," as they were called, also had
a whole new set of terms for me to absorb.
"NHRA"
"burnout"
"quarter mile"
"trophy run"
"staging"
"Christmas tree"
"slicks"
"smoke the tires"
"e.t." (not the lil "phone home" dude)
"speed trap"
"super charged"
"turbo charged"
"nitro burning"
"fuel injected"
"shutdown"
"shut 'em down"
"wheel stand"
"wheelie"
"holeshot"
"eliminations"
"hemi"
"super stock"
"pro stock"
"top fuel"
"funny car"
"gasser"
"rail dragster"
"alcohol dragster"
"drag chute"
"chute"
York's WSBA radio ran those power-packed promos:
“Saturdaaaaay! Saturday night and all day Sunday, it’s the biggest
drag racing showdown of the year at York U.S. 30 Drag-O-Way!
See a star-studded lineup of drivers go head-to-head
in flat-out competition at the Super Stock Nationals!
When the dust settles and the smoke clears...
who will wear the crown of Mr. Top Stock Eliminator?
It's all happening this weekend at the Super Stock Nationals.
The action starts Saturday night at U.S. 30 Drag-O-Way,
Route 30, six miles west of York!
BE THERRRRRE!!!
TICKLE ME PINK
AND COLOR ME GONE!
