How old are you and how long have you raced

-
pittsburghracer

pittsburghracer

FABO Gold Member
FABO Gold Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2016
Messages
16,300
Reaction score
37,542
Location
Freeport, PA.
I was reading a post on Moparts about guys burning out on projects. Instead of asking this over there I’d rather ask it here as this is my number one Mopar website. I can’t really say I’m burned out on my blue duster because if I didn’t have my black
Duster and be able to race it would be running in less than a month. So how old are you and how long have your raced. Are you burned out or just work slower. I’m 68 now and my first trip to the drag strip with a street strip car was when I was 19 so 49 years ago. It’s harder for me to get motivated but man I love making passes and competition. You have to to do this much work and spend this much money. I Posted this in the race section as that’s the guys I’m curious about. Could you give it all up tomorrow??? I’m really curious about the age and years raced.
 
I'll be 60 next year. I raced for about five years from a high school junior forward. Got married and found it wasn't affordable on my income. I've been a LOT as a spectator, but not lately. I'd love to have a race only or street/strip car, but it's probably not in the cards at this point. You never know, though.
 
I'm 66 and had several race cars through the years, but haven't raced at a track since around 1995. Actually built a 69 Dart Swinger with a 383 in the early 90's and only raced it a couple of times at Union Grove and the Mopar Nats, then traded it on a 69 AMX, the only car my wife was pissed at me when I sold it...LOL..
 
68
Made my first pass in my first car in 1972( 69 340 GTS)
Had factory 3.55 gear, cheapy headers and thrush header muffs.
14.23@99 mph.
So have raced, with a few family driven gaps for 52 years

Edit..back then of course everybody drove the cars that are now very valuable 365 days a year.
When I got that Dart in 72, it had holes about the size of a golf ball on the leading edge of both quarters, and the driver bucket seat( those had the “ slats” in them) was busted out just from driving the car for three years when I got it for 1200 bucks.
Amazing what salt did to the metal back then in a short period of time
 
Last edited:
I’m 44 and my first pass was at Pomona when I was 17. In a chevelle a friend owned that I built the motor for in auto shop. Been in my blood since that day. I still remember what the car ran on its first pass. 12.08 at 112.
 
TT5.9mag said:
I’m 44 and my first pass was at Pomona when I was 17. In a chevelle a friend owned that I built the motor for in auto shop. Been in my blood since that day. I still remember what the car ran on its first pass. 12.08 at 112.
Click to expand...
Cool story!
 
55, and have been running the car for 16 years. Not burned out, but will probably branch out a bit. Drag and drive other stuff.
 
58 First pass official Drag strip 1983….On a motorcycle. A few passes in my swinger 340 1984. Full seasons bracket program 1988 to present day. All motorcycle. 1 track championship to date. Multiple second and third spots over the years. Full pro star programs through the 90s also. Super gas and pro E.T. Fastest pass for me 8.81 @ 152 (good friends bike) Not burnt out yet still love it..!! Honestly not sure what I will do when it’s over..!! Swingn’
 
I just turned 65.
Frankly, I’m not 100% certain where I made my first pass down the 1/4 mile.
But, I think it was at the already closed Glans Falls Dragway in upstate NY in 1978.
I was living in NJ at the time and used to spend time during the summer at Lake St. Catherine in Wells Vt.
I used to drive right by where the track was, but it wasn’t obvious from the road exactly where.
Somehow I had learned where it was, and one time driving by I looked to see if it could find it…….and I did.
The track itself was still there. Two separate lanes with a grass strip between them.
I rode down the length of one, then back up the other.
When I got back to the starting line I thought…..”why not”?
I lined up and made a full out run.
That was on a 1977 Yamaha RD400.

I don’t know if that counts or not.

I went in the Air Force in December that year, and in April of 1979 I was stationed in Sacramento Ca.
A friend on base had a 1977 Yamaha RD400 like mine(which at that point was still in NJ).
He let me take it to the track, and I’m fairly sure that was the first vehicle I made “official” passes with.

The Wednesday night fun drags back then were $3.
Yup…….$3.
The $3 got you in the gate, and if you wanted to race you went thru tech.
That was a (small) trophy class.

The money class was $2 more, which went into a pot.
Winner got 75%, runner up got 25%.

I spent a lot of Wednesday nights there.

Looks like it was known as
“South Glens Falls Dragway”

Those were different times for sure…..
 
Last edited:
Not a racer anymore for many years. Never burned out, just couldn't justify the money it took to be competitive, especially on the little bit of money I made back then, and with a young and growing family.
First ran when I was 16 with a '68 four speed GTS 340, later with a '66 Valiant (with more different engines than I can count), and lastly with a 340 Colt. Other than occasional grudge nights or T&Ts, that's been it. Diapers, braces and college & retirement funds took precedence. I'm 64 now and still consider myself a gearhead, but serious racing has taken a backseat to more leisurely cruising and teaching my granddaughter some of the basics (little does she know she's helping build her first car).
 
PRH said:
I just turned 65.
Frankly, I’m not 100% certain where I made my first pass down the 1/4 mile.
But, I think it was that the already closed Glans Falls Dragway in upstate NY in 1978.
I was living in NJ at the time and used to spend time during the summer at Lake St. Catherine in Wells Vt.
I used to drive right by where the track was, but it wasn’t obvious from the road exactly where.
Somehow I had learned where it was, and one time driving by I looked to see if it could find it…….and I did.
The track itself was still there. Two separate lanes with a grass strip between them.
I rode down the length of one, then back up the other.
When I got back to the starting line I thought…..”why not”?
Click to expand...

All the money you got Dwayne, you need to get that 68 squared away and back out.
You only live once, brother.
 
Professor Fate said:
Not a racer anymore for many years. Never burned out, just couldn't justify the money it took to be competitive, especially on the little bit of money I made back then, and with a young and growing family.
First ran when I was 16 with a '68 four speed GTS 340, later with a '66 Valiant (with more different engines than I can count), and lastly with a 340 Colt. Other than occasional grudge nights or T&Ts, that's been it. Diapers, braces and college & retirement funds took precedence. I'm 64 now and still consider myself a gearhead, but serious racing has taken a backseat to more leisurely cruising and teaching my granddaughter some of the basics (little does she know she's helping build her first car).
Click to expand...
Not to just be competitive now, but so much just to do it AT ALL.
 
I'm 69 and started racing in the mid 70's through the early 80's. I have had several cars since then, and I would always run them down the track a couple of times a year just for fun. I actually ran the Charger down the track on Saturday, but it was so slow I hesitate to call it racing.

IMG_20240616_084648295_HDR~2.jpg
 
76 now. Only time I ever raced was a few times on the country blacktop. Or see what the top end would be. I never could afford to be a "real" race guy. Never could spend the $ to rescue an old car and get it running, or nice or perfect and then tear it up and have to fix it again. Or I knew fast was never fast enough,,,,the racer always wants faster!? More $$$$$.

I still build projects as best my old bod will let me. I love seeing the results of my time and work. I try to forget the $.
 
67 years old and my first pass was in 1979 at Gainesville Raceway in my original 1968 AMX drag car. Raced that AMX all across the country while in the Navy until the spring of 1995 at which time I sold everything to raise my youngest daughter. After a 24 year break, I started racing again in 2019. After an unsuccessful bid to buy the AMX back bought a turnkey 72 Dart and ran the Dart until the spring of 2023 when I sold it to buy the 76 Arrow I'm running now. A long ways from burned out but definitely working slower and smarter.
 
I’ll be 59 next month and never been down the track! I’ve been to the track countless times as a spectator. Absolutely love the sport at every level. This is my first “hot rod” and hopefully will be making my first official runs before the end of the year.
 
MomsDuster said:
I’ll be 59 next month and never been down the track! I’ve been to the track countless times as a spectator. Absolutely love the sport at every level. This is my first “hot rod” and hopefully will be making my first official runs before the end of the year.
Click to expand...
Do it!!!
 
54- been on again off again as family, time and work allows. I’ve been hitting the strip since I was 18. Street racing before that. Now it is just a special weekend at the track that brings me like a Mopar weekend or sometimes test and tune durning the week. It was money (or lack of) back then. Now it is time and energy.
My kids grew up going to track with me but are living their own lives.
Sometimes they come, but driving min 2hrs to the closest track one way is tough. Not hard- just boring by yourself.
As mentioned above- all my cars now are street. No dedicated race cars anymore.
Syleng1
 
Probably around 1978 or so I built my first engine after waiting 13 months for a local Mopar expert to build me a 12 second engine. I promised myself that day I would never wait for another engine to be built. I broke mine in driving 45 miles to New Bethlehem Pa and beat the living piss out of it for two days. Then drove home.

26758078749_f5c7cddb8a_o.jpeg


24661500858_6333bed6ee_o.jpeg


38502239122_87ff318bd6_o.jpeg
 
The next year I bought my first 500.00 car trailer. I was running low 11.80’s with my 340 four speed by then.

40925848090_08d369f082_o.jpeg


37818132114_78c2ff95fc_o.jpeg


38502239122_87ff318bd6_o.jpeg


IMG_2821.jpeg
 
qkcuda said:
I'm 69 and started racing in the mid 70's through the early 80's. I have had several cars since then, and I would always run them down the track a couple of times a year just for fun. I actually ran the Charger down the track on Saturday, but it was so slow I hesitate to call it racing.

View attachment 1716263699
Click to expand...
When I was out in Sacramento I bought a 1969 with a “383 4bbl” in it.
I used quotes because that’s what I thought it had in it.
What I later discovered was really between the fenders was a 1966 361 2bbl engine that had the 69 383-4 carb and intake on it.
3.23’s and a 12” converter yielded 15.80’s(that’s what my memory says, but maybe it was 16.80’s?
Nah……..my stock 93 Dakota 3.9 ran 16.20’s, and I feel like the Charger was faster than the 180hp truck).

I remember being at the track on a Wednesday night shortly after I’d bought it, and tuned it up.
I suspected something was a fowl when I ran a time run against a guy with a stock looking 68 383 RR who absolutely crushed me.
I didn’t know anything about mopars, and that was probably the beginning of my quest for knowledge.
Then I found the “B361” stamping under the distributor…….and that put into motion my first 440 build.
 
Last edited:
I'm 37, but started racing in 1995 when I was 8 in Jr dragsters. From 1995-2017 I pretty much raced every weekend from March-Oct, never missed a points race etc. Wife and I decided to scale back in 2018 as we had some major home renovations we wanted to do ourselves to help with cost. Since then we race maybe 1-2 times a month and that's satisfy the "itch". I've been slowly loosing interest over the last 10 or so years though. Just how points programs were starting to be ran, lack of tech and enforcement of electronics, than trans-brakes were approved. 2 years ago I was at NHRA bracket finals with Super, Pro, Sportsman, Bike. One of the successful East coast racers had a box in his car 2nd round of eliminations. When it was brought up, all he was told to do is remove it. That was pretty my last straw. Track Owners and NHRA don't really give a crap about guys potentially cheating or who are cheating as long as they pay their entry $$. When I don't go I miss it, it's definitely an addition that doesn't go away.
 
I'm 63 and have been racing for 12 years. Used to race on the streets a lot when I was a teenager. My older brother and I raced his Javelin at a track just outside the Army post I was stationed at for about a year or so, then college, job, responsibility. I retired 12 years ago and went with some friends to a local track and it started up again. I realized I was very competitive and I needed something to satisfy the urge to compete.
 
67 years old and started drag racing at 15. Raced 8 years and then got married.
18 year hiatus and after divorce got right back at it. Raced till 2017 and health issued took me away from it till now.
Might get back at it when I'm in my mid 70's if still alive. Who knows ??
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top