Postby chuckb41 » Thu Dec 09, 2010 12:39 am
Hi Jim,
The first time that either Harley or I met Curtis was at Kahoka in the spring of '65. He rolled in to the pits in a new Riveria towing that awesome gold Vette and parked next to us. We went over to check out the car and we all introduced ourselves and bantered back and forth for a few minutes before we wll went back to working on our cars. Later in the day just before eliminations, Curtis came over and said that it looked like we might be in trouble. I asked why and he replied that since both of us were turning in the low 6's and we had to spot him 40 feet, there was no way we could catch him. Harley grinned and said that he had no idea what the traction was like 40 feet out, but that he didn't have to worry about it because we would be running off the starting line where we had been running all afternoon. Curtis' eyes kind of got big and he didn't say anything for about 30 seconds, then shook his head and said may the best man win. We all agreed and shook hands. We each went thru the eliminations with near identical e.t.'s and met in the final. I swear that Harley passed him before he turned a wheel. That was the start of a fierce rivalry, but we were friends and always had a good time together. We ran Kahoka a lot, but weren't there every weekend. I don't know if Curtis was or not, but I think he was there just about every time we were and I think that we each won our share. Maybe Jim Baker can tell us who won the most. Curtis was always gracious in defeat as I hope that we were.