Participant and Attendee's Stories ( in particular Billy/Cat

[WildcatOne]

Just got back, y'all. Nice to be home again, but it was truly a great day for Draglist.com. What has really stayed with me from this incredible adventure is that for me, personally, it was a great day in my life that I'll never forget. And to have met so many people...not just my buddies from the message board, which was in itself enough to fill a book, but folks I hadn't met or talked to before that were there. MCas7 and Margie Casella...Laura Baker...Larry, Brandon and Trish from the Kansas Twister team. Norb and Bonnie Locke with Grandpa's Toy, the cackle car. Al Booton's going to have some great photos to show, too. Great guy. Denise, Emily and Jason Pratt who were there with BP, the man about whom this event revolved and who was the most renowned and respected celebrity at the track, which bent over backwards for us to feel at home there. Thanks to BP for having Draglist, and Rapid for spearheading this event. I'd bet it was Pro70's shop that made those t-shirts...those were a surprize,too...Cheryl Spear, Pro70's wife. BARB! Scott Gaulter. Great guy. The Nitro Madness Crew. They all came over and hung out after they got the car done. I should mention here, that Rapid Randy Baker more than lived up not only to his name but his reputation as a show-stopper as well. His softspoken and polite personality belies his on-track insanity. That team had that car as red-hot and ready to rock as anything you'll ever see. It is definitely no Chinese Fire Drill going on over at the Nitro Madness pit, folks. Those guys are totally organized and in synch with the program. Rapid ran a personal best ET there, even though he pedaled it about a half-second before he went through the traps. I was on the starting line with Billy for that run and he got close to the wall on the high end...but he didn't pull out of it, he just gave it a blip and he went through the traps straight and under full power...("Braap/Braap"...over and out...) I think it was a 4.80, but the 600-foot scorcher of a burnout he did set everybody back on their heels. That is one fantastic machine and Rapid is da man to drive it. They put on a fantastic show. Let's see...I was there 3 days total, from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. Me and NovelT shared a room at the Comfort Inn. I'll probably describe the whole weekend in order before I'm through, but this weekend had special moments of greatness that cannot be orchestrated; they just happened. Here's one of them...we were hanging out around Mike's car, I was telling Bandito that the mass of tubes, wires and pipes all over the top of his engine looked like a refinery...heck, I suppose in a sense, it is a refinery...anyway, this guy pulls up in a yellow golf cart, checking out the Pro60Chevy, which is a marvelously beautiful hot rod. We get to talking to him, and he points over at the yellow Corvette hot rod about a hundred yards up the pit road, and says, "That's mine. My name is Mike..." We all cracked up...it was perfect... that night, we slipped off into pockets of bench-racing circles. Billy's talking (I was surprized!) and he came up to a point where he didn't remember the name of a guy who drove a Top Fueler he saw run at Fremont. He goes "Hey, Norb! Who was the driver of the Praying Mantis Top Fueler?" Nobody said anything, and BP casually turns around and says "Jeb Allen." Hey, who else would know that? There are dozens of these moments. I took every opportunity I could find to run errands with folks, hang out, check out their hot rods...(from hanging out at the Kansas Twister pit about half the time I was there, I could write a book on everything those guys are doing) I rode into town with Lippy Saturday morning to get some silicone sealer to reattach one of Barb's headlight covers with. We went to Arnold Auto Parts. While we were there (we got to talking to the counter guy and ended up staying a while), Lippy bought a hemi...a model of one, that is...it "works", too...so when we get back, he whips it out and shows the team and they were saying, heck, let's hook that thing up and race! put it on top of the injector or something? My face hurt from laughing so much, with Larry, Leon and Lippy going at it all day. Those guys are awesome. And the car...my God...it is larger than life in person. Just absolutely gorgeous. The engine is a combination of engines and parts and homemade stuff that roars...I'll let Lippy and Leon talk about the technical aspects of the motor...they are still working out some formulas on it and I ain't about to start telling y'all what it is...but Leon is amazing to be around. His knowledge is indescribable. It's experience and learning and his own creativity. Lippy has "race car driver" written all over him, but his down-to-earth manners would make a lot of those big-time guys step back and learn something that might help 'em...Bandito crewed for them on Saturday, and he was in heaven...although the heat was more like that other place...anyway, right now I gotta run. Gotta do some catching up on stuff. Back later. Draglist rules, y'all! Life is good! WC1

[jim sanders]

lookin' foward to it JER!!! WOW iAM OVERWHELMED TODAY ALLREADY

[Rapid Randy Baker]

WC, You are fantastic!!! Thanks for coming and hanging out with us!

[Maritime Drag Racing]

Now I remember why I joined this group - mostly for great stories like that. Thanks WC1 - you are a true wordsmith.

[WildcatOne]

Thanks...I'm telling it like I seen it...somehow, somebody got the idea to have a match race between the Kansas Twister and the Casella Pro60 Chevy...it was a great race and a great matchup...not without controversy, but in my opinion, that only added to an already fantastic day...when they lined up to do their burnouts, Lippy and Mike got into a classic starting line smack-off that had us all rolling...with BP on the PA playing it up and the two of them going at it over who had lane choice...they ended up flipping a coin, and even THAT was disputed! It was a hilarious scene...but the track gave 'em all the time they wanted and they put on a show for everybody. Jason had just finished cackling the 1960 dragster and Norb ran it for 5 minutes and gave us all chills. That SOUND...you ain't gonna hear that sound nowhere but there...I was given the honor of sitting in it and steering it up to the starting line area with BP towing us in the Draglist golf cart with Norb riding with him and I had Billy hanging on the back of the dragster behind me telling me what's going on out front...you can't see over or even barely around one of those engines when you're sitting in the cockpit. It has the right-hand brake lever thing and the steering butterfly came straight out and hit my inner thighs on both sides when I turned it...a mighty cozy situation you're in...it made me think...men climbed into these things and raced them full-out and it's all I can do to get it safely to the checkered-flag winner's circle to do a cackle...anyway, Mike and Lippy switched lanes. Billy worked to back Mike up after his 350-foot smoker. Lippy hadn't started yet...I should backtrack a little to Lippy's first run. He did his burnout and pulled up and staged, and waited. And waited. And waited. I was right behind him and after he'd been staged for about 5 sedonds, with the engine revved up, I started to stroll over to the starter and say "Uh, 'scuse me...Howdy. I'm WildcatOne. I'm here with Draglist.com for the Draglist Nationals. This dragster sitting next to you here with the engine at 5800 RPM in the heat of the day, which is at this time radiating heat out of it like a barbecue pit, is the Kansas Twister. It's on nitro. He's staged, you see. I just thought I'd let you know he's ready to make the run whenever you're ready to flip the switch...thanks!" I was just starting to take the first step towards him to say that when he hit the switch and off Lippy went. So now we're in eliminations, so to speak, and it's Mike in the right lane with a 707-inch nitrous Pat Musi engine in the 60 Chevy and Lippy in the left lane in the nitro-injected FED powered by Ford (and Leon)...the burnouts were magnificent. The track is so sticky, I can't believe the cars can roll on it, let alone race...they creep up slowly. The sound of the two powerful, high-idling engines is spine-tingling. Mike purges a few times...Everything's ready. Everybody's standing up. They get pre-staged. Then staged. The starter hits the switch, and down comes a .500ths sequential tree...still set on the group of previous bracket cars...I swear, all at once, everybody in that place went "What the...DOH!" Lippy red-lighted. Mike took off. They ran neck-and-neck the full length of the track, past the lights. Mike ran a 5.53 and Lippy ran 5.64...unofficially...they'll have to back that up...but Billy clearly told the guy, it's gonna be a 4/10ths Pro Tree. I was standing right there when he told him. That's what everybody, not the least of whom the drivers, expected...The guy goes, yeah. Sure. You got it. Then he must have forgot to reset the system for that...That 5/10ths sequential thing just totally took EVERYBODY by complete surprize...so the race was and is still being talked about...I couldn't say that the starter has a fan club in Kansas, but it was a decade of thrills, compacted into a few minutes for Draglist! It was not just fun, it was intense! More later. Cheers, WC1

[jim sanders]

again a great post WC !! I CAN ALLMOST FEEL BEING THERE!!

[pro70z28]

Great story WC. I can't take credit for the T's, but they were cool. We looked very official on the starting line for the group photo. Thanks to BP for the Shirts.

[Gator]

Great story WC. I can't take credit for the T's, but they were cool. We looked very official on the starting line for the group photo. Thanks to BP for the Shirts.

[jim sanders]

[Novel-T]

WC has a great way to tell a story,and I'll agree with all he said.My face was sore from grinning and laughing too.What I'll add is.When I arrived at the restaurant Friday night I was nervous about walking into room of strangers,but everyone was happy to see me.I realized we weren't strangers at all,we just didn't know what each other looked like.Thanks for your friendship.