Legendary Street Race

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bongy337

Just a guy who loves old mopars.
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There was five. Today the last man standing is RONALD LYLES. Their names were Benny, Ronald, John, Jesse. And Eugene. Later known as the Mutt Brothers.

This story was publish in Cars Illustrated in the late 80’s written by Tony DeFeo. These are the two cars that was involve in the allegedly quarter mile quarter million race. Both cars was painted black

Urban Legend or Not ?

This story was published in Cars Illustrated in the late 80’s written by Tony DeFeo.



Quarter Million Quarter Mile

Hemi Dart.jpg


Chevy Camaro2.jpg
 
That story is on the internet somewhere. And the Dart did beat the Camaro. It was close.

Fred B
 
I just looked at this post again. Looks like rumblefish360 removed the article. Reason given: "We are not re-printing entire stories of yesteryear."
 
I can remember the big-dollar races happenin' by Kennedy Airport & even remember the Mudd Brothers & Brooklyn Heavy (BTW McCandless drove their cars a few times). Yeah, I SERIOUSLY doubt there was a police escort but have no doubt there was a race for that much dough.
Too bad all that stuff fizzled out. It was always fun to go to Connecting Hwy, watch the races, then learn about a big-dollar race & head over there. It is true, however-- many big-name guys now were the same ones that street-raced back then. I ownder what their comments would be now?:scratch:
 
Ronnie Lyles was a serious racer. He always had fast cars with the best parts. I met him once when I was with Ronnie Sox and he bought parts from him. I believe he bought one of the S&M cars or had one built there. Brooklyn Heavy was no slouch either! These guys were truly legendary in New York, racing for pride as well as money.
Pat
 
Cool story, bongy.

I would not doubt the cop story so fast, though; it was not unknown back in the day for the cops to take a few shekels and look the other way.
 
Cool story, bongy.

I would not doubt the cop story so fast, though; it was not unknown back in the day for the cops to take a few shekels and look the other way.

Now THAT I wouldn't doubt! Although I do remember being at a big street-race on the Cross Island and the cops DID run everybody off, caught one racer and impounded the car. It was all actually pretty funny seeing everyone trying to scramble away
 
Similar street action happened on the West Coast as well back then, but I don't recall anything with that high of a price tag.
There were two very well known cruise spots in the LA area, Whittier Blvd. in Whittier, CA, and Van Nuys Blvd. out in the Valley. Both centered around a Bob's Big Boy drive in. My spot was Whittier Blvd.
Friday and Saturday night cruising on Whittier Blvd. was legendary with traffic in both directions bumper-to-bumper for almost two miles. The Bob's Big Boy had several lanes of the parking lot leading into the car-hop section, and you had to wait in line in the lane next to the curb out on Whittier Blvd. just to get into those parking lot lanes.
Lots of really strong street runners back then. Your engine would load up just due to the heavy traffic and the sound of plugs being cleaned off at the stop lights was constant.
Whittier Blvd. was for cruising, the street racing action was centered around York Field in south Whittier. You'd usually find 'Big' Willie Robinson and 'The Brotherhood of Street Racers' hanging around setting up races. Actual races were run at various spots in industrial areas known as the 'Box Plant' or 'Nabisco', or relatively sparcely populated (then, not now) residential areas like Diamond Bar.
'Big' Willie was literally big and strong. A buddy of mine worked at a small speed shop at the time and 'Big' came in one day carrying a Mopar 4-speed under one arm. It took both of the guys in the speed shop to take it from him after they bought it. 'Big' Willie was always a Mopar guy - both he and his wife, Tomiko, later had matching his-n-hers Daytonas.
Wow. Memories. The good ol' days!
 
In the early 80's, Ohio State Troopers used to watch street races late at night in an industrial park in Columbus with us....on the west side somewhere... didn't even pay them off!
 
Yep we had a few troopers that would show up and check us out to make sure no drinking or drugs were going on then tell us to have at it and even had to race one before,when the flagger dropped the arms I musta waited a bout 3 or 4 seconds before I let the Lil' 340 loose on im, then it was time to go fishin and reel im in,no problem then got on the brakes so he could win lol
 
Yep we had a few troopers that would show up and check us out to make sure no drinking or drugs were going on then tell us to have at it and even had to race one before,when the flagger dropped the arms I musta waited a bout 3 or 4 seconds before I let the Lil' 340 loose on im, then it was time to go fishin and reel im in,no problem then got on the brakes so he could win lol



That is a cool story. Never would happen now a days though.
 
Yep we had a few troopers that would show up and check us out to make sure no drinking or drugs were going on then tell us to have at it and even had to race one before,when the flagger dropped the arms I musta waited a bout 3 or 4 seconds before I let the Lil' 340 loose on im, then it was time to go fishin and reel im in,no problem then got on the brakes so he could win lol

A story for ya Waggin... We were taking a motorhome down to Lakeland for the big airshow there (sun-n-fun) and the other guy overheated the engine cause the belt broke. Cracked the head but we didn't know. Were on the side of the road and a trooper comes up in his 5.0 rustand and offers me a ride to get the belt and some coolant. It was a real E ticket ride as he was balls out going there. 90 MPH on back 2 lane roads kinda stuff. Hell, I dropped a $20 on his console cause it was so fun. No way a trooper was gonna get a ticket and this guy liked to have fun.
 
Two of our local troopers where big time street racers back in the day.. Told me how his Dart would out run the Duster I own now. That was until the owner learned to drive the four speed..
 
I remember the races around philly in the late seventies and early eighties. Always a good time parking in the jfk stadium lot by the starting line on eleventh street. Kids got stupid and cops got real harsh by the late eighties. Not much more than ricers and the occasional real car the last time I saw any racing around here.
 
You guys don't know the half of it. I raced with and against Big Willie and friends. There were some high dollar races that I witnessed. One against one of BW's friends digger and a certain Barracuda I was connected with. LA river and I had never seen so much money change hands. Those were the days! Oh and a cop started the race in a black and white while monitoring the radio to make sure we weren't interupted. Saw it with my own eyes. Only time I saw the reds at a street race and no one scattered.
Dan
 
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