Funny Car vs. Powder Puff Eliminator

By Pat Foster

I ran at Thompson, Ohio... once!

It was in '69 with M/T's red Mach 1.

Pretty fuzzy on details but who ever we were to run either was a no show or broke or whatever. We made a single run first round and at the finish line it got REAL quiet and smooth as glass. We had run about 210 mph and upon talking to some locals I learned the track fell off quickly at the finish line and the car was airborne for a moment. OK, I can live with that, grab the brakes hard, then pull the chute, not a problem!<G>

As we prepared for second round the promoter said he had a slick idea for the next round, as his crowd had come to see us RACE. Here's the deal, you'll race the powder puff winner on a handicap tree. I forget the numbers but we were running about 7.20's to 7.30's and she had run in the 14-15 second area at about 85-90 mph. I thought about it and said OK but does she realize the danger? Funny the things you'll do when your kids are home in Cal. and would like to eat now and then! They said, no problem, we do this all the time.

Well let me tell ya, I had never done it and it was as scary a time in a race car as I had ever experienced. Night time in a flop, coming up on a sedan going 110 mph slower than me, right in the lights is no fun deal. She said it was not too bad, as she never saw me coming, just felt the wind and heard the chute hit as I passed her. Wow, she should've been in my seat, not bad indeed! Needless to say, they called that the final and we packed our little circus act and got the hell out of Thompson, Ohio.

Patty