Thread: Anyone have any stories of street racing back in the 50's & 60's?

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Way back in 69, my best friend Steve had a 67 Vette with 427. To this day it remains the fastest car I have ever been in. One night we left the burger stand and a black 66 Chevelle rumbled up beside us. Steve and the other driver gave a mutual nod and within a few busy residentual blocks we were roaring around 100 mph. We both glanced back to see where the Chevelle was, but it was right at the rear quarter panel. Steve had a look of being half mad and half worried. At the next stop light both drivers agreed to a place just out of town, next to one of the Wichita aircraft plants. It was about 1:30 AM. On the way we somehow picked up a regular entourage of friends and on lookers.
After arriving at the drag site, one guy agreed to drive his car down to the far end and act as judge. Another served as flagger.
I exited the vet for weight reduction, and soon they were off in a blue smoke.
We couldnt see how the last portion of the race went, but when the cars returned Steve was wild eyed. "Guys got some bad motor! He must have rear gears too. I cant get enough traction, jump in."
This "drag strip" was without intersections, except down at the end, which was a T. It was a two lane street. The last half of the run was down hill, and the point at which the judge was located wasnt that far from the T, so there was heavy braking required after the finish line.
We launched on the second run. It felt like a launch. About 3/4 way through, with clinched teeth I looked over at the Chevelle, and it was a 1/2 car lenght ahead. At about that point, the guy who was the judge, for some unknown reason, decided to reposition his car and did a U turn in front of the racers. He misjudged how fast they were going.
Talk about some hard braking going on, it seemed like both cars were working at staying in their lanes as they slowed down.
But they did. The Judge came really close to being bruised up.
There wasnt a third run. By now plant workers were beginning to leave their shift. If there had been, I think the Chevelle would have won.
Never saw that black car again. I think he came from out of town to blow some locals away.