Parallelisms, Synchronicities, and
Other Unlikely Occurrences

Part IV - Saturday

©2003 Bill Ott

Oct. 2 thru 5, 2003
Famoso Raceway
Bakersfield, CA

* Now, up until now my plan went all right
'til we tried to put it all together one night
and that's when we noticed that something was definitely wrong.
The transmission was a '53 and the motor turned out to be a '73
so when we tried to put in the bolts, all the holes were gone.

Ah, 6 AM already? Must be time for breakfast at Milt’s. Arrived just about the time a still half asleep waitress unlocked the front door and greeted a small crowd of voracious (there it is kids, got it out of the way already) early risers. Spotting a few familiar faces in the gathered masses, I got to share a table with Dan and Brian Kaplan and Gary Fetters. These guys make the trip down from Oregon every year. They say it’s for the Reunion… but I suspect it’s really for ‘Breakfast at Milt’s‘. Now just about everyone I know complains about the food at Milt’s. But speaking for myself… I have no idea why. Then again, about half of my meals are taken at truck stops.

Hey, wonder why so many of my stories can’t seem to get off the ground without talking about food? Maybe I’ll change my name to “The Wandering Gourmet Sleuth.” Think about it… Airline food… breakfast at Milt’s… In-N-Out burgers (and fries)… assorted goodies brought (and prepared) right here at the track… Famoso Raceway corn dogs… and the legendary 300 MPH Chili. Next stop? Guest appearances on The Food Channel? Naaaa.

About two hours (and four or five Tums) later I’m once again at Famoso Raceway and find myself visiting with none other than C.J. “Pappy” Hart. (Again… what a place!). Now Pappy “didn’t invent Drag Racing” (1), but he did rent part of the Santa Ana (CA) Airport and stage organized races there. “The first day for the Santa Ana Drags was Sunday, June 19, 1950” (1). Now, that’s about as close to inventing this deal as you can get.

After Coffee and donuts from the Krispie Kreme booth (What? More food stuff!!!) It’s time to check in with the crowd over in “The Grove”… and maybe scrounge around for more edibles? The Standard 1320 Group has set up camp directly behind the main grandstand… thanks in no small part to Steve Gibbs, Greg Sharp, and Sam Jackson… and a few members have brought along some ‘Cacklers’.

Let’s start with San Diego firefighter Bill Pitts (hey, you’re a good man Bill Pitts) who brought the gold Kent Fuller built “Magicar.” The Anderson’s have the beautiful metal flake red and black “Vagabond” here. AND… Dennis Prater has the almost finished, but as of yet unpainted “S & H Red Stamp Special” parked with the others. Dennis and friends are moving right along with the restoration/repop of this Fuller built beauty. Found out this year that it’s one of those ‘legs under’ designed front engined dragsters… where the driver’s legs actually go under the rear axle instead of over top of it. That’s part of the reason it looks so long, low, and swoopy, but, sounds scary, no? The S & H (Stellings and Hampshire) digger gets my vote as the most beautiful dragster every built… although Tom Hanna’s unnamed blue beauty could easily vie for the same title.

And speaking of beauties, parked right next to this line up is Dave Sammons recently completed black beauty “Chubasco” (Spanish for fast moving storm… thanks Bill Pitts). This is the former Ewell - Stecker - Kamboor dragster. Another Fuller car? You betcha‘. Matter of fact The Vagabond is too. So that makes it a clean sweep. All of the diggers parked here were originally built by Kent Fuller. Chubasco’s swoopy bodywork is from a Steve Swaja design. Chubasco was the first car to cackle here this morning, at precisely 9:50.

Among those gathered here this morning is Cumberland, Rhode Island’s Jack Brady (along with son Pat). Jack campaigns a Fiat Topolino Altered back home at some of the New England tracks. The coupe’s been giving him some handling problems lately, so here he sits, scrap book in hand, showing Fuller photos of the chassis, and explaining (in minute detail) how it’s behaving.

Fuller studies the photos, strokes his beard a few times, and proceeds to tell Jack what he thinks will correct the problem. I overheard this entire conversation but had to take a vow of secrecy on what was said. At any rate… nothing like going straight to the source for advice, is there? Jack was overheard mumbling, “I can’t wait to get home and try this out, I can‘t wait to get home and try this out” over and over all weekend. Bet you it works! Kent was accompanied as usual by his lovely wife Evelyn, and daughter in law Linda as well as the three grandkids. Later today, Linda will be sitting in the S&H car while it cackles. After all, this IS a family gathering.

Time to jump back in the golf cart and make the rounds. First stop… the BankAmericar and crew, John Ewald, Ronnie Rapp, Alex Mikkelsen, and… oh yeah, Don Ewald. Looks like the Donovan is finally all together and back between the frame rails. While chatting with Don he commented that yesterday someone loaned them some portable lighting so their work could continue into the night.

I asked who and he replied “One of the A/Fuel teams.”

“Which team?” I asked.

“Oh I don’t know… and they came back and got them this morning before we got a chance to find out.”

This is all starting to sound real familiar, ain’t it?

While we’re at it, special note of thanks has to go out to Darrell Tedford (Tedford/McGee “Razmataz” Top Fuel Team) for making a special trip home to retrieve an oil pan that would work on this combination without dragging on the ground. Racers are something else, no?

Don also told me that in just a short while the digger would be firing up. No way I’m gonna miss this. While hanging around I got a chance to meet former Funny Car shoe Don McManus who made the trek out west all the way from Georgia. Don was instrumental in the Ewald boys finding the BankAmericar after about a thirty year separation. Lil' John Buttera built ‘em to last, didn’t he?

So, somewhere around lunch time Saturday, the BankAmericar made its first official ‘cackle’ here at Famoso Raceway. Was it pretty? Hell no! It coughed, sputtered, sprayed everyone in the vicinity with raw methanol, and generally acted real ugly. But damn it, it’s running! The boys decided to skip the NITRO on this warm up until they had a handle on things. Everyone on the crew looked real relieved… and John and Ronnie both agreed that this ‘fat’ problem would be real easy to overcome. Oh, and the chances that Don E. would have a ride in tonight’s Cackle Fest just increased tenfold. While climbing out of the cockpit, Don was overheard to say he’d love to help with the teardown… but those damn stomach pains are back. Hey, maybe I’LL stick around and help too. Naa… I’m all thumbs, and besides, they’ve got plenty of help. Instead, think I’ll head trackside and check out some racing. I guess these guys will get along without me here for a while. Come to think of it… I haven’t seen any racing yet! Usually I wait until Sunday’s Eliminations before I take a seat in the stands… too much cool stuff going on here in the pits and too many friends to get caught up with.

Hey, speaking of friends… the first people I see when I turn the corner in front of the stands? Patty Hutson, husband Charlie, and daughter Sarah. Taking a seat with these guys and digging on the qualifying out on the track, I take time during a lull in the racing action to stand up and introduce Patty to everyone seated around us. Now Patty drove a Fuel Dragster back in the Midwest in 1963. That makes her possibly the first woman ever to drive a Fueler. And hey, if there’s ever any question about what her best elapsed time or speed was in that Olds powered digger… they’re tattooed on her right calf! Check out www.draglist.com/stories/SOD-Feb-2003/SOD-020403.htm for more details on Patty’s exploits.

This is fun, but, I’m starting to get a little antsy just sitting here. Time to wander around some more. So I bid adieu to the Hutsons and all my new found friends and head back to the golf cart, when whom do I spot hanging over the fence, screaming at the race cars as they speed by? None other than Pat “Ma” Green** and her entire female entourage. These guys (hey wait a minute… I mean girls) know how to have FUN at the races! Spent a little time with them watching some “unlikely” looking race cars go by, but this bunch is wa-a-a-y too crazy for me… I’m outta here!

Seeking shelter back at “The Grove,” I help myself to more salsa, chips, beef jerky, smoked salmon, and… oh yeah, another brew. And once again, just as I get myself situated and comfortable, the Frantic Four crew next door fire up that little Hemi. The weed burner headers fill the area with the exotic aroma of NITRO. Man… how good CAN it get?

Hey, speaking of NITRO… the Ewalds were promising another fire up at about 3:00 PM on the hard stuff and it’s damn near 2:30. Once again I find myself hammer down, horn blasting, charging through the gathered masses, shouting the immortal words of Admiral Farragut (or was it Tom Petty?) at the G-Man, “Damn the torpedoes…full speed ahead, man!”

Arrived just in time to watch to watch the crew dump a blend of 88% in the tank. So at precisely 2:55 PM the starter is spinning, we have good oil pressure, and now we have… ignition! Yes sir! The ol' Donovan is singing this time, no misfires, no raw fuel out the pipes, nothing but sweet music. Looks (and sounds) like the boys got it running on all eight now. It WILL be cackling’ later tonight! A collective sigh of relief can almost be heard above the beautiful thunder emitting from the header pipes. Now the crew just needs to polish up their push starting technique, but that’s gonna be easy after all that has taken place up until now.

Hey, did I mention that Sy Sidebotham brought his beautiful King & Marshall digger again this year? Now that I’ve got the Ewalds squared away, think I’ll go check up on the boys from Rhode Island (man, talk about a long tow). Tom and Tim Steed and have the ‘69 Don Long built Hanna bodied beauty shining… thanks in part to the polishing and buffing skills of Corey Conyers from Tom Hannah’s crew (Corey also applied the stunning metalflake blue paint to Tom’s digger).

I arrived just in time to catch the crew towing the dragster towards the staging lanes. Yes sir… looks like the crew from New England is fixing to show the California folks how it’s done back East! While hanging with these guys near the starting line I hear the sound of a NITRO engine coming to life from the return road in front of the grandstands.

It’s the Kuhl and Olsen “Woody” car that was just push started in front of the crowd. Driver Carl Olsen makes the wide sweeping turn towards the starting line. Carl stops, waits for the green, then drops the hammer.

Wow… talk about a retrospective show! The digger leaves the line with smoke boiling off the tires… and… carrying the front wheels high in the air! The further it goes down track, the higher it hikes the front wheels. Carl expertly eases off the throttle and brings it down from what has now become a giant wheelstand with no visible signs of damage to the car. Was this cool or what? Everyone was expecting just a short “squirt” from the car. This action caught everyone off guard, and to the best of my knowledge, none of the trackside shooters got a photo of the wheelie. If anyone did, no photos have materialized yet. I’d love to see them if they do.

About the time everyone had regained their composure, another 392 barks to life. This time it’s the Pat Foster built Beebe and Mulligan beauty with owner Dave West at the helm rolling along the return road. Dave makes the “squirt” everyone was expecting from the Kuhl and Olsen digger, but by now everyone is anticipating some tire smoke and a wheelie, and all of the photogs are primed and ready. Nope! Not this time… but, if you knew what was gonna happen next, this stuff would get boring pretty quick, no?

Now it’s the King and Marshall crew’s turn. Sy squeezes the trigger on the starter and brings the Chrysler to life. Driver Tom Steed executes a flawless burnout and son Tim guides him back in the fresh tire tracks. While Sy performs his magic on the NITRO burning 392, Tom and Tim exchange a quick handshake. A few seconds later the white, blue, and gold beauty… with a caster mounted on top of the roll cage… makes an absolutely perfect, straight as a string 1/8th mile pass. Actually, from my vantage point behind the starting line, it appeared to be quite a bit longer than a 660’ pass (maybe more like 1000’?), but then again, my depth perception never was that sharp. But, I was so impressed with the pass that I forgot to jot down the times. It WAS an early shutoff run, so they ain’t that important (to me) anyway. I figured this would be a good time to head back to their pit area and find out from them what it did turn.

Arriving back at the team’s huge (man, it’s BIG) transporter, I find everyone grinning from ear to ear and exchanging high fives. I approach Tom to ask what it ran, but before I get a chance, he turns around and hugs the stuffing out of me! Musta been a real damned impressive run, huh? I got swept up in the jovial atmosphere of the moment and never did remember to ask exactly what it did run. I’m sure THEY know. But I wouldn’t look for the times to wind up tattooed on anyone’s leg… then again, who knows?
 
Once again, the sound of another NITRO engine coming to life diverts everyone’s attention. This time it’s the Denver Schutz Top Fueler parked immediately behind the K & M area. A nod and a wink from crewman/advisor Vance Hunt as the Hemi was shutting down left me with the feeling that the upcoming night session was gonna be a memorable one. The Top Fuelers are starting to fire up all around us one by one. That can only mean one thing… the night session is getting close. So is ’Cackle Fest’. More old B.S. later.

Badco
Badco@comcast.net

* © 1976 Lyrics by W. Kemp
“One Piece At A Time”
Performed by Johnny Cash (1932-2003) and the Tennessee Three
From the Columbia Records single of the same title
#1 Country Charts 5/76

Thank you “Man In Black.” Interesting guy, performed in venues ranging from The Royal Albert Hall to Folsom Prison. One of only a handful of artists who could record stuff penned by the likes of Dylan, Shel Silverstein (Playboy cartoonist), Nine Inch Nails, to June Carter Cash (his deeply religious wife) and get away with it. No matter what (or who) he was singing about… you always got the feeling he really meant it.

1. Robert C. (Bob) Post, “High Performance (Revised Edition)”
Johns Hopkins University press 2001, pp 4 - 7.

THANKS BUD

Read Part One HERE

Read Part Two HERE

Read Part Three HERE