First Drag strip visit
First drag strip I ever went to was somewhere in the Dayton, Ohio area in the mid-fifties. Went with my Dad. I don't actually remember going there, but I remember Dad's stories about the very few times he went there, and I have the trophy he won in 1957 with his 56 Dodge D500. Only reason he won his class is they put him in C stock, a 56 D500 should have been in A stock.
First I remember going to was in Pensacola, Florida summer of 62, not long after Dodge and Plymouth max wedges were introduced. They were running high 12s and basically cleaned up in the Super Stock classes. Slick, non-prepped starting line, they would leave at part throttle, then a second or two later you could hear them floor it. Gave me goose bumps.
First strip I ever ran at myself was Warner Robins, Georgia (now gone). 1968: drove Dad's 62 Polara 500 convertible, newly installed 440 from a 67 GTX, still had the 361 exhaust system (including manifolds), torque converter and 2.76 gears, ran mid-15s. Same year, my 65 Barracuda Commando 273 four speed, ran low 16s. Late seventies, drove Dad's 67 Hemi Charger (now mine), stock with 3.23 gears, best of 13.96.