part 82 funny car heaven
T.J. just found a whole gro sack full of pics. when she gets'em on her digital camera i'll share some with ya'll. some of the pics in that bag triggered this post. when i get'em posted you'll see a shot of the starting line at amarillo,Tx. it was called the world finals--1974. you'll see a crosswalk over the track, just behind the burnout area. they'd let folks stand up there & watch the cars take off. i had gone to the race in '73 & i remember standin on that crosswalk & watchin, as close to 40 funny cars did burnouts, then blasted off. before this i had never seen a nitro car of any kind, live. so i was not prepared for what i would witness. it was the most awsome display of noise & speed i've witnessed either before or since. i stood on that crosswalk as it vibrated from the power of these machines. my eyes began to water & my ears began to ring as the guys did their thang. but i was not about to move. i stood there til every funny car had run. now i'd seen pics, but they don't give a clue of the show these cars put on. they don't hint of the nitro "cackle" you hear at a live show. even when you watch'em on t.v., they have the sound so filtered & toned down, if thats all you,ve ever seen, you'd be shocked to hear 1 live. maybe everybody on this site has already experienced it. if you have'nt, i urge you to plan to attend a big race somewhere. you'll never forget it. due to economic conditions, & just how much it costs to run a nitro car, there are'nt that many cars running like there used to be. sometimes they don't have enuff to fill a 16 car field. but, there'll be enuff there to put on a good show. i talked T.J. & a couple of the boys into going back with me in '74. thats when T.J. took all the pics we'll share. also at the '74 race we got a surprise. my old harley sportster showed up. a boy from our neighborhood who'd wound up with it, rode it to amarillo, about a 12 hour drive. he made it a little quicker than that, but he got stopped twice. he brought his sleepin bag with him & camped out, enjoyed the races, then jumped back on & rode back home. he was a better man than me. i'd never attempt a trip like that on a sportster.
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