A friend started the same discussion on his fb page. I thought it would get some good stories here. I have a few, but most memorable is probably the semi finals of the 2003 div 2 et finals when the win light came on and I realized I was in the final round. I ended up winning on my opponents red light in the final. What’s yours?

quote:

Originally posted by Wooley:
A friend started the same discussion on his fb page. I thought it would get some good stories here. I have a few, but most memorable is probably the semi finals of the 2003 div 2 et finals when the win light came on and I realized I was in the final round. I ended up winning on my opponents red light in the final. What’s yours?

2003 Div 2 IHRA or NHRA? Footbrake or Super Pro?

2003 IHRA was held at Carolina Dragway, at 16 cars Super Pro, all 16 cars left in the race, were from Sunshine or Bradenton.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mike Rietow,

Nhra division two super pro.

quote:

Originally posted by Wooley:
Nhra division two super pro.

It was held in Commerce Ga 2003, wasn't it 2003 NHRA?


I'm trying to remember.

BTW congrats, Killer deal.

Commerce was 2004

quote:

Originally posted by Wooley:
Commerce was 2004

Sunshine & Bradenton was IHRA 2003 - 2004. Went back NHRA in 2005, Sunshine won it at SGMP 2005. So Sunshine won Div II two out of three years NHRA & IHRA.

Whoever the starter was in 2005 NHRA, was giving racers a hard time on the starting line. Racers toilet papered his car. They might have spray painted it too, or shoe polished it. I remember waking up and he was pissed. He didn't give anyone else a hard time though, the rest of the weekend.

The IHRA officials at Carolina dragway were cool as fuk 2003, we had a great time with those guys. That race ran smoother than any bracket finals I ever attended, and there was 280 cars in Super Pro first round.

Nhra 03 was Gainesville,04 Atlanta,05 sgmp. I got to 8 cars in 05 at sgmp. Mike Welles was the nhra starter back then. He still does the chassis certain for nhra in this area and lives about 15 minutes away from me. Got to be more people with stories so please post them up.

quote:

Originally posted by Wooley:
Nhra 03 was Gainesville,04 Atlanta,05 sgmp. I got to 8 cars in 05 at sgmp. Mike Welles was the nhra starter back then. He still does the chassis certain for nhra in this area and lives about 15 minutes away from me. Got to be more people with stories so please post them up.

Yep, that's him. He had the footbrake racers ticked off over courtesy staging.

Fall 2000, first $5K I ever entered. Was still in college. Won it off the bottom in a combo final. It was my first time racing at Great Lakes or within 4 hours of there, so nobody knew who I was. I didn’t know it at the time, but there were a bunch of locals standing behind my car in the final watching me let go of the button.

All the fence line bettors were waving their money and giving high fives as I came by. It was awesome.

Probably this race, not because of the money though, but because I was 15 total or better 8 rounds in a row. Out of it at the stripe every round. I got some luck too though, getting by both Thompson Bros by less than thousandth combined. Whoever owned DRR at the time came up to me after the final and said, I haven't seen that in a long time, someone dial'd that slow, out of the gas every round at the stripe.

I drove down there last minute decision, after work on a Saturday in my old Sanford & Son Ramp truck, barely in time for a time run.

Sunshine must've won IHRA Div 2 in 2002 as well come to think of it. Because when I got to Carolina Dragway in 2003 we had primo parking on the starting line at the head of the staging lanes. Sunshine had the stands closest to the starting line.

How we had a blast with the IHRA track officials was, they were in on a con we ran on our track owner. Immokolee had a blow up alligator taped to the top of their stands.

So IHRA officials approach our track owner real serious like, and inform him Immokalee's alligator was stolen by someone from Sunshine, and he'd better find out who, or there was gonna be a riot LoL!!!

There was 22 tracks, supposedly each track throws down a grand, whichever track wins, its track owner gets the money. Our track owner was flipping out, there was gonna be a riot the night before the race for $22k! LoL!!

IHRA track officials were behind it all, It went on for hours. We were Laughing our azz's off!!

In one of my very last races with my Camaro and going 7 or 8 rounds and Winning the 2013 D4 Bracket finals gamblers race was pretty cool,


First win in TD was pretty cool too

Mike your Nova looks like a car model in that picture.. thats so cool. How long have you owned it? I have owned mine 35 years. Still all steel and glass. Weighs about 3600 lbs. no driver. My most memorable win light was probably winning top dog with a foot brake car.

Alabama 1994. Our first national event win. We started out weekend with magneto issues and once we found out problem we had good runs. Low et of eliminations. One of those weekends where track was hard to figure and after single in second round with terrible tire shake. I had cpl other racers tell me com it down and you will win this deal. I added more clutch and made smooth runs in semis and in finals against Corky East. Was almost a great year. We won Indiana two races later and due to some screw ups by crew chief and cpl by crew we ended up 1 rd short of championship. Still short.

Only thing that compares to thrill of winning is lousy feeling of loosing after having won.


I heard a black dude suspected of killing his ex wife and her boyfriend. Had a high spd 35 mph car chase same weekend.

2014 southern nationals at atlanta. lucky enough to beat Brad Plourd in the final of super street. turn lose 00 and rolled him through 00. me and my son was there and they finished on Monday due to weather. it was one month after my Dad past away.

ep-wish Pops could have been there

IHRA
1996
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
CAROLINA DRAGWAY

WINNER SPORTSMAN E.T.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Grandma / Gpa,

Fun topic for bench racing.
I guess I am lucky, or blessed, or just old. Lot of memorable win lights, but some of my favorite memories are of particular race days, not necessarily a round win. I've been fortunate, 18 race wins, (a lot less than some I know, and a few more than others), each one was sweet in it's own way. I'll go with the 2002 season bracket finale at long-gone Kansas City International Raceway. It was late October, cold weather, KCIR usually raced at night, but this was run daytime due to temps. Track faced East, sun was low behind drivers, and right on the tree. Made it hard to see. The Win Light wasn't working that day, and every single round was so close at the stripe I couldn't tell who won. My son was a little boy then, around 8 Y.O. He and his mother and my nephew were there, (they never come to see me race anymore, not for many years). I had the points lead going in, but really wanted to finish strong, not back into a title, or drop out early and hope for some help, possibly even lose it. Each time on the return road, I approached the timeslip shack not knowing if I would get a white ticket, or the dreaded yellow slip. The final round I felt like I hit the tree hard, but the Chevelle in the right lane was tied to me the whole way. It honestly looked like he inched ahead by maybe a foot at the stripe, I was sure I had lost. I followed him back up, thinking at least I was pretty sure I earned the points championship. When that setting sun hit the ticket my opponent was handed, it looked pretty darned yellow to me.
That kid in the shack reached out the window with an empty hand, and pointed to me, at first I was puzzled, then he gave me the thumbs up. Man, I couldn't hardly keep from jumping out of the car right then. We had a dream season that year, won 6 of the 10 races, plus a runner-up and 2 Semis. But I had bought back in a couple races, and you got no points if you lost 1st Rd, so it was still up for grabs to the end. It was an awesome way to cap a great year, win the final race and clinch the title that day.

Wow! there have been so many memorable wins for me. My very first win was really emotional for me because I had lost my Dad the year before.

One of most memorable losses for me was at San Antonio against one of my good friends. He had lost his Son a few years earlier and this guy works really hard on his racing program and had spent a lot of money on it. He had been racing for a few years but never Won. We lined up in the Final and both had really good lights. I gave it everything and actually thought I had won until I saw the win light come on in his lane. I have to admit I was cheering for him even though I hate losing. Then when I got up there to Congratulate him on the return road he was crying and said it was for his Son. There must have been something in the air because everyone had this water stuff running from their eyes. Crazy as it may sound I would not trade that loss for a Win.

After chasing the Quick 16 points series at Moroso Motorsports park for dam near a decade, with a slim budget and finishing 2nd or 3rd so many times, in 2008 I got to ring the bell on the last race and last round.
It was the first year after the track was rebuilt. The Citrus Nationals was still a solid NHRA ran event. The Div 2 director really didn’t want to fit the last quick in, but ultimately did. It was a slug fest to qualify (for me) but did and Made it to the finals with the guy that was it first all year and ahead of me at race start by 2 points. It was a great race but I came out on top and finial won the championship.

It really wasn't my win light, it was some one else's. This past Sunday, my friend William "Jaws" Alston, claimed the title of "King of Nahunta". A pretty big buck gambler's race, in my opinion. $100 entry fee times the number of entries equals the total purse. And not only that, but you had to have won or runner upped in the previous season to enter. Not even a blimp on the national scene, but a pretty big deal to me. Take care. Tom Worthington