Postby Trojan Horse Gopher » Tue Jan 26, 2010 12:46 pm
Hello everyone-
Dropping in to say Hello to all the vintage old school funny car people/followers.I consider the early to mid 70's to be the zenith of funny car racing.Ah,the good old days! Was involved with the great Trojan Horse funny car driven by the late Larry Fullerton(RIP).This was back in the day when you'd see Don Schumacher,Jungle Jim,Tom McEwen,Don Prudhomme,Bill leavitt and Quickie Too,Mickey Thompson,Custom Body,Pat Foster in the Barry Setzer Vega,Cha-Cha Muldowney,amongst other greats.
I remember the greatest time was going to the US Nationals in Indy during the Labor Day weekend.Though we didn't qualify,we had a fantastic time,staying up all night and building an engine at Larry's aunt's farm about 30 miles outside of Indy.I recall riding a Harley Super Glide XLCH on back roads with acres and acres of corn fields on cool Summer nights.On the final qualifying day,Keith Jackson of ABC's "Wide World of Sports" followed us on up to the starting line with his camera crew,to cover our last ditch qualifying effort,but it was not to be.Would've been great had we done it,but the Trojan Horse never hooked up,and went up in smoke for an 8th mile.
Typical conversation in the pits,Larry to me: "Do me a a favor,go see Jungle Jim(RIP) and ask him if he's got a spare Lenco he can lend me?" And the amazing thing is,never once did Jungle refuse to help out a fellow racer in whatever way he could,whether it be flogging or lending a part,the man is truly deserving of his legendary status!Just a fantastic camaraderie back then,when times were simpler,greed less rampant than it is today,and the major sponsors gave the racers a whole lot more latitude.