They started racing after I had quit. I found it interesting to see Jungle Pam get an interview. Men, this was when women were appreciated. And women appreciated being appreciated. She was one hot girl and for the money, she seems hot right now. She has an enjoyable way of discussing her era. Do we have any drag racers on the forum?
I was a friend of a kid whose mother was Paula Murphy "Miss STP" from Andy Granitelli's team in the '60s who raced funny cars against Don Garlitts, Shirley Muldowney, Connie Kalitta and Don (The Snake) Prudhomme. Paula was in her 40s and was really a hot babe too.
While our meeting does not qualify me as knowing Shirley Muldowney, I met her and found her to be a very very nice woman. And oh so fast. I met her at the Fremont, CA drag strip and i think it was either 1964 or 1965. Sundays I would be woken up by the dragsters at Fremont. Earlier prior to my going into the Army, I met Don Garlitts when he came to race at Lodi at the dragstrip known as the Kingdon drag strip. What it was was a small airport runway. I never saw Paula but have seen Kalitta and Prudhomme race a few times. Have you heard of my friend Dale Emery? Dale drove his own dragster for a short time then drove Pure Hell. Then he moved to TX and I have not seen him since. https://www.kingdondrags.com/ Pure Hell Roadster Rich Guasco owned it and him I only saw. Dale Emery Dale and I used to room together when we were on the same construction jobs. Dale's brother was a job superintendent. Dale at the wheel of Pure Hell, out of Livermore, CA Apparently Dale raced in Europe as well We both worked for Raymond Concrete Pile company when I ran into him at Kingdon Dragstrip at Lodi where he then races his coal black C-gas Chevrolet coupe which was very fast. I had worked for his brother on a few jobs so asked Dale if he heard of Ray Emery. Dale says, he is my brother and with that, it a friendship was born. Last time I saw Dale he showed up at my machine shop and we went to a meeting and he wanted me to buy into some soap selling quick buck scheme. Dale was in, I never bought in.
Where I live, it's a rare treat to see a car run the 1/4 Most events have moved to the 1/8th mile so it's more about reaction time and the 60'. I'm not a fan of nitro and never have been. It looks like in the NHRA that pro mods may soon overtake pro stock. I love pro mods especially outlaw where you'll see nitrous, turbo and supercharger. It's not cookie-cutter
How about those street racers featured in the program Street Outlaws. They seldom mention they also race on the drag strip. I have only seen the 1/4 mile races but realize the 1/8 mile is apparently now the standard. https://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/street-outlaws/
they run an 1/8th as well. The drama, given that it's male-drama, is hysterical on the program. I'm in FL and I have to go to Gainesville to see 1/4 mile. Think about it, I had to put work into making my small block Mopar hit 11's and it couldn't be driven on the street. Now, grab a 2018 Mustang GT, slap on some drag radials, a few gallons of race fuel, modify the tune and you're hitting 11's with the stereo cranked as you make your way down the strip. Modern technology of variable cam timing (thanks Honda), direct injection, better trannies, better lubricants and computers/sensors, and an every day guy can hit the trap at high-teens mph or more. What's even better is the Coyote can handle some boost or nitrous without needing to beef up the lower end. Of course if you're going to want consistent times, then you'd need some aftermarket suspension pieces in the rear to stop the wheel hop. Drive around all day with the A/C running, pull up to the strip, put on the drag radials, fill your bottle and if you can launch, hit high 10's from a freakin daily driver without a radical cam or drivability issues.
