Back in the summer of 1969, I had an experience that I never thought would have happened to me. I was involved with drag racing at a young age. I worked a lot of summer jobs and did a lot of odd jobs, when I could find one. All of this work supplied the money to purchase my first car. I purchased a blue metallic 1956 Chevrolet two door hardtop with my savings. The Chevrolet was a plain car equipped with a 265 cubic inch motor and a two speed powerglide transmission. After several weeks of work and a lot of my savings, the classic was changed into a mean machine. The motor was bored and stroked to make a 292 cubic inch monster. I equipped the car with a good set of racing headers. This allowed the motor to breathe. I changed the two barrel carburetor to a four barrel Holley double pumper carburetor. I pulled the transmission out and changed all of the gears and put a shift kit in it to make it shift harder. I changed the rear end gears to a 4:11 positrac and put a set of Good Year Wide Oval tires on the rear wheels. Both of these modifications would help the car get better traction.
While I had used the "Drag" downtown to test my new car, and it turned out to be a super street car, now was the time to put the "Toy" to the test by going to Penwell Raceway on Saturday morning. Gilbert Raley and Joe Croom, two friends that I grew up with, went to help me with the car. After checking the car out, it was time to send the car through the quarter mile traps to see what it would do as far as an elapsed time and top speed. The first run was okay. The second run was a lot quicker. The third run was showing what the car could really do. We chose a dial in time and the track official used white shoe polish to write my elapsed time on the windshield.
The waiting time was just beginning. We watched as cars pulled up to the starting line in pairs. At the end of the track, there would be only one car come out a winner. This car would return to the long waiting line and wait to make another pass. This process was repeated until there was the one final winner.
I watched friends win and I watched friends lose. I knew a lot of the racers, but there were a few that I did not know. One car in particular was a 1957 Chevrolet two door coupe. It was a beautiful black car with dark tinted windows that you could not see through from the outside of the car.
My first race was a 1967 Camaro. The race was a good run, but the Camaro could not keep up with my little smallblock Chevy. I won the race and the privilege to wait in the long line again. I watched as the black Chevy beat his opponent.
There was something curiously strange about this car and driver. I was asking other drivers if they knew who it was and where he came from. No one seemed to know who this mystery man was. I could never get a good look at the driver in the pits, because he was a long way in the back away from everyone else.
The official called me to the line to make my second run. I added another win to put me closer to being the first place car. The black Chevy made his second run, which he also won. I watched as car after car was defeated in a test of speed and reflexes. I was winning, some by close margins and others by big margins. The black Chevy was winning his share of the races also. This Mystery Car kept preying on my mind. It was my eighth run and I was not paying attention to what I was supposed to be doing and missed my starting light. I made a mad dash to the finish line, but had been too slow. I had been outrun by a 1964 or 1965 Plymouth Belvedere. It was a family car! I had been outrun by a four door family car! I lowered my head and drove to the elapsed time booth to get a slip of paper showing my elapsed time and marking my defeat. The track official told me congratulations. I asked him why he told me that. He said the other car had red-lighted. The other car had left the starting line too soon! I had won my eighth round!
Gilbert and Joe met me in the pits. They were asking what had happened. Did you break something or what? I appologized and said it was my fault, because I was thinking about the black car. We fueled the car again and checked everything out. It was time to go to the waiting line again.
I was told there were only four street cars left. Kenny Alexander's 1965 El Camino, Roy Perkin's "Wild Thang" 1960 Falcon, my 1956 Chevy, and the black Mystery Car were the last racers in the street class.
I was called to the line to race Roy's "Wild Thang". I have known Roy for many years, so I waved a good luck signal to him and pulled to the line. The green light came on and it was time to go. Roy beat me off of the line and was ahead of me by about a foot or two. The next thing I knew, Roy dropped out of sight and the only thing I could figure was that he missed a gear. He had to have missed shifting into third gear. I crossed the finish line first. I was going to the final round.
I was so excited that I had forgotten Kenny and the Mystery Car! I went back to our pit place. Gilbert, Joe, and I were so excited that we were checking some things and forgetting to do other things!
It was time to go to the line for the final time. The track official told me to stage. I did not know who my competitor was until I saw the black Mystery Car in the other lane! I said a little prayer and told myself it was just another car that I could beat. I pulled to the staging lights. The first lights came on and then the second set came on, but the first ones went off. I had staged too deep on the starting line! This would throw off my reaction time. Time stood still. The seconds turned into hours. The lights started the countdown. The first yellow light came on and then came the second yellow light. The countdown continued. On came the third yellow light. That left two lights, the green for go and hopefully the white win light. After what seemed like hours, the green light flashed like lightning. It was time to race to the end of the track. At the signal, my feet worked in unison, one came off the brake and the other tried to push the gas pedal through the floor. The car jumped off the starting line. The little smallblock put out all of the horsepower it could produce. I glanced out of the corner of my eye and there was the Mystery Car. We were running side by side. It was an even race. My tachometer had maxxed out, so I shifted into high gear. All I could do was hold my foot to the floor and hope my car stayed together. Straight ahead was the finish line and to the left was someone trying to come between that line and me. I crossed the first white line and then crossed the second line. The race was over. Winner or Loser was the title I would be given. I had given my competitor the best race I could.
I stopped my car, opened the door, got out, and stared at the finish light. The win light was in my lane! Gilbert and Joe were jumping up and down at the finish line. We were all celebrating as the Mystery Car pulled up to where we were. The driver's door opened and the driver got out. It was my brother!
All of my curiosity had been answered. I thought he had sold his '57 Chevy. He had taken the car somewhere else and rebuilt it. I had been so busy with my car, that I had forgotten about him and his car.
It was a great weekend. We had beaten everyone at the track "Black and Blue"! A black 1957 Chevy and a blue 1956 Chevy made it to the top two places that day.
My brother and I have competed a couple of times since that day. It was not with the "Classics", but with our newer cars. I had a 1970 Mustang Boss 302 that I pitted against his 1967 GTO, his 1969 Hemi Charger, and his 1967 Corvette. He never did outrun me with any of these cars. I had an unknown edge on him. I was backed by the local Ford dealership and my Boss Mustang was worked over with the best of everything. I guess I kept that secret from him as well as he had kept his identity from me in his black 1957 Chevy!
How do I remember all of this so well? I have a little help. That raceday is not a memory of a story, it is a fact. Pictures and old friends talking about old times help, but I still have my blue 1956 Chevy Monster! That is real evidence of a happy time!