[im4darush]

At 16 and having nothing else to do I drove my 64 GTO htp to Beeline Dragway east of Phoenix where I lived as they had open ET classes on some weekends. To my big surprise the place was slammed with race cars, the grand stands were totally full of people, it was Winter Nationals! I entered the class appropriate for a 14 second car as mine had a 70 YS 400 and a 400 turbo, only mods were headers and G 60s. Somehow that snot nosed kid with only one prior trip to the drags won his class. On to racing the other class winners and around race number 10 my 64 was up against a slower classed 69 Cougar, his green came in what seemed a long time before mine and he got off to a great start. I can remember thinking there is no way to make up that much ground. The intensity of that moment was huge but somehow I managed to also get a good start. It was clear, I was going to have to push her to the limit this time to have any chance. At half track the Cougar was no longer pulling away as I was now coming into the higher side of second gear where she would pull hard, the gap was now starting to close but it still didn't seem possible. Third hit and the Cougar was giving up ground. I was screaming inside as my GTO managed to pull a fender ahead right at the finish line. For an instant the insanity of winning what for me was a huge race and moving up in the classes again was truly unbelievable. That instant was as quickly crushed when the red light came on the track sign, I had beaten the Cougar and my best time but had also gone under my 14 second dial in which meant I had broken out and lost the race. As I slowed and rounded the corner where the time ticket shack was, it seemed not worth it to stop for the loosing ticket, as I passed, the ticket guy was waving at me to stop so I backed up to hear him say "you won kid"! Then explain the Cougar had also red lighted but by more than I had which meant back to the staging lanes again. On it went, the odds of a kid with nothing but some street races and a few passes as experience going on to win 13 races in a row against a bunch of guys, some serious is incalculable! I drove my beloved GTO home that night having won the ET classes but for me it's that race against the Cougar that will always be, my best race ever!



Blind crazy luck sometimes rules the day!