You're right, Tom is a good friend to have. He hand built me custom mufflers from scratch and he had only known me a week! I have known his father in law and his shop for 40 years, and you're right, his family is legendary in the area. Here is a video of his dad's 11 second Pontiac station wagon lifting the front wheel at the old KCIR drag strip.
http://youtu.be/8GHYxPqePv8