Have any street racing stories ?

[graygun]

One night in mid 1971,on the road that runs from Sierra Vista to Tombstone in southern Arizona,some of us were gathered to do some racing.

Some of the cars:

70 SS 396 Chevelle
69 or 70 Boss 302 Mustang
68 Camaro 327 (210 hp) [What a sad way Chevrolet killed that engine...had to die to the 350]
66 or 67 Nova SS 327
57 Chevy with some iteration of SBC
71 Demon 340 (mine)

All these had 4 speeds. All belonged to GIs except the Mustang.

First pairing was the Camaro and the Nova. I was supposed to race the winner.

I knew I'd be racing the Nova because I'd won (by several lengths) against the Camaro on an earlier occasion.

These two took off and the Nova was ahead by a good margin when it suddenly went radically out of control. It made a hard move to the right (probably doing about 95 or more) and went airborne. It hit first on the rear of the roof and continued end over end,ending up on the roof.

Everyone scrambled into their cars and went down there. I truly expected to see a dead guy in the wreck. He had been ejected and was on the ground about 20 feet away from his car. He was actually in one piece and woozily saying something about "my car" . Not wearing a seat belt led to him exiting the car. Someone took him to the post hospital.

Everyone went home.

PS: Heard later that the u bolts holding his traction bars became loose and the rear shifted.

 

[Jeepnik]

Not as many cars. ‘68 Nova with a massaged 307 and a ‘68 Camero stock 327. Popular race spot was a 4 lane wide street that ran from a dead end to a major cross street.

Only bad part was a slight S curve about half way through. My buddy in the Camero never could beat me but one night he pushed too hard and lost it on the curve went tires up on an embankment covered in ice plant.

No injuries so I stopped he jumped in and took off. The car was reported stolen the next morning. The cops weren’t fooled but no ambiance was needed so they let it slide.

Oh, did I mention I lived one block off the four lane and my mom was always complaining about those darned kids racing.

It did scare all involved, probably 20 or so, enough we kept it at Brotherhood Raceway. Well at least for a while.

 

[gunzo]

I blew a clutch in in my 67 Camaro on the best 2 out of 3 against a 351 Mustang. On that same stretch of country road another night, I blew one end of a muffler off, that was dragging on the pavement at a 100 mph, what spark show. My bud lost a $20 bill to the SS Chevelle driver that night.
Another night my bud wanted to race the Chevelle with his GTO & I told him he couldn't beat that 375 horse big block. He ask; would ya help me put my slicks on? That was the ticket. My bud got his 20 back.

 

[Danjet500]

I was racing a 72 Camaro 350 with my Boss 351 Mustang. This would have been in the mid 70s. He had his wife in his car and I had two of my friends in mine. He got me on the start but that Boss motor really liked to wind. I caught him and pulled him the rest of the way to the finish just in time to pass a trooper going the other way. We both slowed but too late. He pulled us both over and gave the other guy a ticket but let me go. Just so happened the trooper knew the father of one of the guys in my car. That's one car I wish I still had.

 

[Fox Mike]

More stories than I care to talk about. Graygun; have you ever wondered how the white stripes appeared on Triton Beach road? They just happened to be 1/4 mile apart. Sergeant Dawson of the AA County Police told us that he knew we were going to be racing there. He also said that if ANY car was exceeding 30 MPH when it came around the bottom turn (Triton/Mayo Beach intersection at the bottom of the hill) they were in DEEP trouble.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

Back in the 70's Front Street in Phila was a racers paradise. 8 lanes wide about 1/2 mi long, it was a truck loading area in the day time. Literally hundreds of people would show up at night, folding chairs, coolers etc, as the racers would line up for the actions! It was truly something to see. Every now and the the cops would come by, everybody would pack up, drive around the block a few times, and go back to where they were before. It was well organized, and I never saw any trouble when i was there.

 

[Dave P.]

Way too many.
Not really a street racing story, keeping it short... Back story an older guy ( I was a teenager at the time ) used to always call the cops on us if we rode our dirt bikes down a couple hundred yards of subdivision street between two trails. We were pretty careful to just ease through, even then smart enough
to try not to aggravate people. He'd come out yelling and having a fit even if we just idled by...anyway.
I had a ( wish I still did ) a 64 GTO with a 1966 421 super duty in it, on slicks the best it ever ran uncorked was 11.98 at 116 mph at the old
Tri City Drag strip in Saginaw Mi. We were out riding around in it and drove by his house, garage door was open and his car parked to the side in the drive. Had two friends with me and the idea forms....killed the car a few houses away and the guys pushed me backwards into the garage...very quiet!
They slipped in and just held the car door shut, I set my line lock, fired the car and nailed it. Held it in the garage for about 8-10 seconds and let it roll out the driveway staying on it. Looked like the garage was burning down. Back to friends house borrowed his sisters VW Thing ( remember those )
and cruised back through the subdivision. Guy's house had all the lights on an a Michigan state police car in the driveway...we just cruised on by.
The burnout stayed on that driveway all summer, smiled every time I went by.

 

[contender]

I too grew up in an era of muscle cars & such. Yes,, lots of racing stories. But ours around here are a bit different.
We don't many places where it's flat & straight. We have curvy, mountain roads. As such,,, our racing was often over roads for several miles from point (a) to point (b.) And to avoid the potential for oncoming traffic,, we'd often have guys with CB radios on each end. And many times,, to avoid the potential of crashing due to trying to pass the other guy,, we'd just use a stop watch. One guy at the start & one guy at the finish, and both with stop watches. Kinda crude,, but it worked pretty well for us most of the time.
I was told that the idea to do it this way was because of the annual SCCA Chimney Rock HillClimb was run against the clock. It made it safer for us. Sorta.
There was a saying way back when; "The Chimney Rock HillClimb scares me & I'm fearless!"
So us locals had hot cars that would run fast AND handle the curves. (Remember, moonshine running & Nascar came out of our mountains.) We'd measure our abilities & cars by how fast we could get from point (a) to point (b).

I was always too scared to run against the others. But I'd do the occasional run unofficially to see how I would do. Our favorite stretch was from the Chimney Rock gate entrance, to the first intersection in Hendersonville. About 15 miles of mountain road, mostly uphill. And whenever the local law would be "around" we'd shorten things, and just go from the bridge where US 64 turned towards Hendersonville & go to the top of the mountain at the Continental Divide.

I once made the trip from the Lake Lure beach,, (where I lived,) to the first intersection in Hendersonville, in a 1970 SS Chevelle, 396 turbo hydramatic, with Cowl Induction. A bit over 16 miles, and I made it in 10 minutes, 20 seconds approx.
Broke the glass in all 4 PolyGlass tires that night. I had to buy new tires.


But to have some fun,, y'all look up the Chimney Rock Hill Climb. When I started going,, it was a 1.9 mile track, (the road) with 13 hairpin turns, 19 other major curves, and NOT built for speed. I was there the day John Finger set the track record of 1.51 seconds. They later shortened the track to 1.8 miles, and I saw Gary Davis set that track record of 1.48 seconds.
I was also at the very last CR HillClimb. I grew up with that as my most favorite local event.

 

[Johnnu2]

I shouldn't do this....but.... the ONE that sticks out in my mind was when someone (who will remain nameless) was challenged (very unexpectedly in a public gathering). The challenging vehicle was a black '62 "fuelie" Corvette that had been stripped of everything unnecessary (to reduce weight of course); no spare tire, no radio, no high beams, right seat.... well, you get it. The un-named person who was challenged had the exact same vehicle (of a different color). It should be mentioned that both had 4:11 gears and 4-speeds... the person challenged was smart enough to be running Pirelli radials in the early '60s. In the second of two runs (the challenged person won the first run) the challenger had picked up on the winner's shift points (which were significantly sooner than his). That last run (they were on a well lit major highway with three lanes in each direction); the two cars were totally even all the way thru the gears. Those FI 327 motors would turn 7000RPM out of the factory (solid lifters and two sets of distributor points... oh yeah, anti foam baffles in the oil pans.... all 'factory'). Anyway, as I was sayin' they were neck in neck all the way and were in 4th gear hitting (trust me) over 120mph and climbing. The challenged vehicle always took the middle lane "just in case". The instruments on the dash were 'fuzzy' from vibrations (always occurred over 120). The 'clam-shell' speedometer was somewhat readable. When all of a sudden, the challenged driver noticed only one car on that super highway, very late that night. It was a '58 Chevy convertible with two couples; snuggling as those cruised the open highway on a beautiful fall evening; top down. Meanwhile, two Corvettes (both had their hardtops on and windows up) were bearing down on these unsuspecting couples. The challenger was known to be crazy; so the challenged car decided to try to move over one lane (at well over 120) just to keep the challenger from crashing into the car ahead. The result was that two Corvettes (both had the optional GM 'off the road exhaust systems) passed them under an 'overpass' at... probably 130mph. Truly, the speedometers may have been off a mph or two. Always wondered if those two couples still remember that roar, that night. One of the racers sure does.
J.

 

[Dave P.]

 

[Dave P.]

The car I posted above went in the low minute and 40 second range. Don't know where it ended up after Jerry Kieft ?? sold it.
Left off the Chimney Rock hill climb part...duh.

 

[ronto]

I had a 68 Nova 307 4 on the floor. We raced on city streets late at night. One night I dropped the drive shaft (front universal). It was a real sleeper and looked like a senior citizens car. I fooled a lot of people when the light turned green.:)

 

[Moparfreak]

One of my experiences, I had a 68 Roadrunner, 383, 4spd, open 3:23 rearend. Stock except for headers. Raced a C2 Vette, 4 spd, that a local guy had. He had money, the car was nice and had at least a semi built motor. Either a 327 or 350. He had his girlfriend in the Vette and I had a buddy with me. We raced once and I beat him by a fender. We raced again and I beat him again by virtually the same amount. His first loss, he said he missed a gear. The second loss, he said he thought he rebroke his arm, which he apparently had broken sometime earlier. By all rights he should have beaten me. The RR ran good, but not that good... Side note, my oil light was coming on after the first race, but hey I was 17 and what the heck, stupid kid. So another Vette that was there (first Vettes buddy) wanted to race. This car was known to be fast. So with oil light on and a waste of gas, I went home... P.S. This would have been in 1975 or 76.

 

[buckeyeshooter]

We used to bring the cars to a Children's Palace toy store to mill around until 11:00 when the traffic was gone. Then we would head right out of the lot on to a state route that crossed a bridge. The other side of the bridge was out of the city and patrolled by the county sheriff. The city cops were out of the enforcement area. There was a 1/4 mile marked with paint across the road and wooden posts by the side of the road with glo paint on them so they were bright in the headlights.
I drove a 74 sd-455 trans am, with hooker headers and thrush mufflers, a B+M trans kit in the turbo 400 and a super holeshot converter and the 308 ring and pinion had been replaced with 372's. It ran 12.20's at National Trail Raceway in Hebron, Ohio on street nights every time they held one.

The big guns were "King Kong" a 69 Camaro Copo with an aluminum 427, a 70 hemi cuda and a 72 455 HO GTO that was class champion at National Trails for several years running.

We had lots of fun, no accidents and Sunoco 260 gas was .34 a gallon.

 

[noahmercy]

Only street raced once back in the late 80s. I had a...stupid fast car. 1976 Volare , but it was just the shell that covered the tube frame holding a 500 ci Keith Black aluminum hemi with dual plug heads, 8-71 Dyers, Hilborn injection, and twin Vertex magnetos. The engine apparently came out of one of Parnelli Jones' funny cars and was detuned so it could (allegedly) be streetable. Spoiler: it was NOT, in fact, streetable. Backed with a 4 speed Lenco. I could never get it to hook up on a prepared track on slicks, so despite having ginormous M/T Sportsmans on the back for street driving, I actually lost to a ZR-1 'vette. If I had about 300 fewer horsepower, I'd have got him!

 

[Snake Pleskin]

I used a Moroso deep sump, 8 qt, baffled pan, with a swinging z28 oil pump that followed the oil, never had an issue.

 

[turd]

'71 Demon 340 auto, stocker. Favorite prey was 350 Novas. Stoplight to stoplight racing for the most part, pretty tame. There was a '70 or '71 396 Camaro I'd run fairly often on a viaduct bridge that ran for a 1/4 mile or so. Never could stay with that one. I went thru two sets of polyglas rear tires in 18 months, my dad couldn't figure that out.

 

[Cholo]

Almost all my vehicle memories are on 2 wheels, not 4.

Mine wasn't as much the race as it was the chase, or lack thereof LOL

In '76 my friend Jerry had a 500 Triumph and I had a 650 Yamaha. He was always wanting to race even though my bike had a top end about 15 mph more than his. He topped out at 90 and my Yamaha about 105 or a tick more. We worked 2nd shift so we did a lot of riding at night during the week.

It was about 11:30 pm and he wanted to race up I-75. We both had them wicked out and after about 5 miles he was far behind me. I came around a slight curve leading up to exit 25 and I thought I saw a reflector strip across the back of a car about 250 yds. ahead. TN State Troopers had that strip and I backed way off the throttle. But here comes Jerry riding with his head down between the handlebars. I'm frantically waving my left arm for him to slow down. Nope. It wasn't until he passed the Trooper going 90 in a 55 that his brake lights came on LOL The Trooper pulled on the shoulder until I passed him.

We got off the exit and came to a stop sign. I had my left blinker on hoping Jerry would be smart enough to turn right. Nope again. The Trooper lit us up and I took off. I went thru a ditch and went flying thru the McDonalds parking lot and then hung another fast left with my left foot dragging the ground, as if I was actually good at it. I wasn't but I was that night. I looked behind me and no lights. I figured he took off after Jerry after I went thru the ditch.

I got back on I-75 south and rode my bike off the highway and hid with it behind some brush or something. After about 30 minutes I shot back down the highway and went to the phone company where Jerry and I had met to go riding. About 15 minutes later I could hear his straight pipes.

Me: What happened?

Jerry: I followed you thru the ditch and when I saw the cop did too I pulled over.

Me: So, what happened?

Jerry: The first thing he said was: What's your friend's big hurry?

Me: So, you got a ticket, right?

Jerry: No, he was a young guy and really cool

I've lost track of Jerry. I remember he was from Macon, GA. Man, I had some fun riding with my friends when we were young, thinking we would never die. I really wonder why one of us didn't get killed on a bike.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

Almost all my vehicle memories are on 2 wheels, not 4.

Mine wasn't as much the race as it was the chase, or lack thereof LOL

In '76 my friend Jerry had a 500 Triumph and I had a 650 Yamaha. He was always wanting to race even though my bike had a top end about 15 mph more than his. He topped out at 90 and my Yamaha about 105 or a tick more. We worked 2nd shift so we did a lot of riding at night during the week.

It was about 11:30 pm and he wanted to race up I-75. We both had them wicked out and after about 5 miles he was far behind me. I came around a slight curve leading up to exit 25 and I thought I saw a reflector strip across the back of a car about 250 yds. ahead. TN State Troopers had that strip and I backed way off the throttle. But here comes Jerry riding with his head down between the handlebars. I'm frantically waving my left arm for him to slow down. Nope. It wasn't until he passed the Trooper going 90 in a 55 that his brake lights came on LOL The Trooper pulled on the shoulder until I passed him.

We got off the exit and came to a stop sign. I had my left blinker on hoping Jerry would be smart enough to turn right. Nope again. The Trooper lit us up and I took off. I went thru a ditch and went flying thru the McDonalds parking lot and then hung another fast left with my left foot dragging the ground, as if I was actually good at it. I wasn't but I was that night. I looked behind me and no lights. I figured he took off after Jerry after I went thru the ditch.

I got back on I-75 south and rode my bike off the highway and hid with it behind some brush or something. After about 30 minutes I shot back down the highway and went to the phone company where Jerry and I had met to go riding. About 15 minutes later I could hear his straight pipes.

Me: What happened?

Jerry: I followed you thru the ditch and when I saw the cop did too I pulled over.

Me: So, what happened?

Jerry: The first thing he said was: What's your friend's big hurry?

Me: So, you got a ticket, right?

Jerry: No, he was a young guy and really cool

I've lost track of Jerry. I remember he was from Macon, GA. Man, I had some fun riding with my friends when we were young, thinking we would never die. I really wonder why one of us didn't get killed on a bike.

was your 650 Yamaha the one that looked like a British Triumph twin?

 

[Cholo]

Mine looked like this. 1976

I changed the mufflers to Rocky Megaphones but could never get the carbs adjusted to my satisfaction. I ended up putting Hooker Headers on it.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

Mine looked like this. 1976

View attachment 4493


I changed the mufflers to Rocky Megaphones but could never get the carbs adjusted to my satisfaction. I ended up putting Hooker Headers on it.

they were a nice bike

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Mine looked like this. 1976

View attachment 4493


I changed the mufflers to Rocky Megaphones but could never get the carbs adjusted to my satisfaction. I ended up putting Hooker Headers on it.

Hey Cholo,
I bought this one new in 1979 to ride to work which was 40 miles round trip. I paid $2500 for it. I could not afford to buy another used/new car. I got tired of tightening/changing out chains and sprockets so after about a year I bought a used 1979 Gold Wing which was a GREAT scooter. Smooth and fast:)

Gold Wing like this one but with a Windjammer

I liked the looks of a vertical twin reminded me of the Triumphs of the 50s

 

[Cholo]

I got tired of tightening/changing out chains and sprockets so after about a year...

No kidding! Those 650's stretched chains like no other bike I've ever had. I'd go riding for the day with a friend who had a '72 650 and we'd have to adjust the chain mid day and when we got home. It would be flopping all over the place LOL IIRC, the tool kit was behind the right side cover. We were always thrashing those bikes. They were made for riding hard.

 

[graygun]

More stories than I care to talk about. Graygun; have you ever wondered how the white stripes appeared on Triton Beach road? They just happened to be 1/4 mile apart. Sergeant Dawson of the AA County Police told us that he knew we were going to be racing there. He also said that if ANY car was exceeding 30 MPH when it came around the bottom turn (Triton/Mayo Beach intersection at the bottom of the hill) they were in DEEP trouble.

I remember that road and raced Mel Davis there in early '71. He had a stock Cutlass and lost. He had cooler cars before and after that one: '66 GTO,'69 Roadrunner and a '71 SS 454 Chevelle.

My brother was driving my mother's '59 Plymouth wagon (old style 318) there when the ps belt broke at 70 mph.

 

[Johnnu2]

GOD.... we all had fun didn't we...???

It IS a wonder we're still alive, but hey..... we ARE.

One of the main reasons I decided not to breed.

J.

 

[Dave P.]

It IS a wonder we're still alive, but hey..... we ARE.


J.

It really is. I've posted this before but being young and stupid I got talked into running a drag bike most of one summer, Saturday nights at Tri-City. Kawasaki 750 2-stroke triple running usually 10.70 to 10.85 dial in.
That bike would try to kill you about every other run. It was fine until shutdown then would get into a violent wobble.
We tried all kinds of braces, steering dampers, steering head and swing arm mods.. The only thing that ...usually...worked was to get hard onto the brakes before closing the throttle. I think I lasted 7-8 weeks with it and finally admitted defeat. Shook so hard one night the steering stops bent the triple clamps and one fork tube.
I thought it might have broke my left thumb that pass.
I've made high 9 second passes on modern almost stock street bikes within the last few years that are pretty much just point and shoot. The modern technology is amazing, some of today's riders have no idea of the fun they missed.

 

[Dave P.]

One of my experiences, I had a 68 Roadrunner, 383, 4spd, open 3:23 rearend. Stock except for headers. Raced a C2 Vette, 4 spd, that a local guy had. He had money, the car was nice and had at least a semi built motor. Either a 327 or 350. He had his girlfriend in the Vette and I had a buddy with me. We raced once and I beat him by a fender. We raced again and I beat him again by virtually the same amount. His first loss, he said he missed a gear. The second loss, he said he thought he rebroke his arm, which he apparently had broken sometime earlier. By all rights he should have beaten me. The RR ran good, but not that good... Side note, my oil light was coming on after the first race, but hey I was 17 and what the heck, stupid kid. So another Vette that was there (first Vettes buddy) wanted to race. This car was known to be fast. So with oil light on and a waste of gas, I went home... P.S. This would have been in 1975 or 76.View attachment 4495

Is that a hippo on the roof?? What the...?

 

[Mag-force]

I live in Michigan in the 60's-70's and would cruise out to Telegraph rd. that is where every weekend we'd cruise and street race. I had a 428 CJ Mach 1
4 spd that was a pretty fast car race 454 chevelles 440 road runners and had a great time. I still got a 70 Boss 302 that i take to shows and cruise ins So i know how those boss cars run. Nothing like those solids lifters talking to you! Great conversation!

 

[Boxhead]

Not back in the day ('65 327/365 Corvette and a '68 327/350 Corvette) out of college as I could not afford to break anything. But I now own (age 60) a '70 Dart Swinger (360/320 Mopar crate) and a '73 Mach (427 Windsor) that would have been fun in the day. Just when I drive either and enjoy their scoot, noise and looks, my 2017 Boxster S reminds me how far we have come.

 

[GasGuzzler]

I'm younger than some here so my street racing stories came later when cars were much faster. I have too many of them but I grew up in a north of DFW suburb so had unlimited spots to visit in Dallas and Ft. Worth metro area. My 12 second big block Chevelle daily driver I would drive 90 miles one way to Texas Motorplex to race and drive home was SLOW compared to my buddies' cars. Their cars were SLOW compared to the fast guys on the street.

Luna Rd. north of I-635
Emerald Ln. (actual racing was on Goodnight) just south of I-635
348/West NW Highway between Las Colinas and Irving (wasn't there the night a drunk passerby plowed through a crowd but a friend was on 9-2-96)
Manana Dr. between Spangler and I-35E
Shady Grove under 356 where it turns into Regal Row entering Dallas leaving Irving
The other end of Shady Grove and Beltline by the skating rink (the old Super Shops was right down the street)
In front of Kimball High School on Westmoreland
Platinum Way between Westmoreland & Cockrell Hill (saw one car chasing another with the passenger of the second firing at the first - unrelated to racing)
Astro Drive In (closed) Racing was actually on Investment Dr. off Duncanville Rd.
Wheatland Rd. somewhere I-35E/I-20
Risinger Rd. and I-35W Ft. Worth

I have so many stories I might have to type one up per week for the rest of my life.