Thread: Am I the only teen who envies.....

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But what does giving lengths prove? Theoretically you could put a fuel dragster on the starting line, and an old lady on a three wheel bike on the other end of the 1/4 mile, 3 feet from the finish line, and if she gets across first is she really a winner? All she did was negotiate a better deal than the dragster driver.

If I win I want it to be because my car is actually a faster car, not because I am a better talker than him.


Don


PS: I also see this as going to a car show and winning a class trophy and you were the only car in that class to show up. Yeah, you got a trophy, but did you really WIN it???

Giving up lengths may have been around, but what I recall more often was "Break of the tires". If one racer felt he needed a handicap, he would ask for the break of the tires, in other words he got to start first and once the other racer saw him move then he would go. In a street race, for money, sometimes a fast car would have to give something up in order to get a race. If you won a few in a row heads up, then no one wanted to put their money down against you. It's no fun not having someone to race against.

Pat

what happened to run what you brung??????????

Originally Posted by bigtom71

what happened to run what you brung??????????

It's now called "Let's make a deal."


Don

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

It's now called "Let's make a deal."


Don

For sure.
We are racing for custody of my car. My car that I love and built. I'm supposed to LET YOU sit HALFWAY up the track? Let's rethink this Q-sponsored event

lets make a deal is BULLS@#T!!!!!!!!!!

Giving and getting car-lengths or "spotting" has been around since the beginning of street racing. One of my first cars ('56 Chevy Bel Aire 2-dr sedan) had a great running stock 265 in it, but that old cast-iron Powerglide slipped so bad in low gear that I used to get "spotted" 2 lengths to get moving. That was in 1966.

A few cars and a couple of years later (1968), I had a '60 Pontiac Catalina 2-dr with a 389 two-barrel and an early 4-speed Hydramatic. One night I blew the doors off of a '58 Chevy that had a dual-quad 327 and 4-speed Muncie. After that I had to give up a few lengths. A few months later, I rolled out against a '59 DeSoto. I figured that ugly 5,000 pound barge with all that chrome on it would be easy pickin's. HA! The joke was on me. The starter yelled "GO" and I saw nothing but DeSoto taillights. When we shut down at the other end he opened the hood and showed us that factory stock dual-quad 392 Hemi!

Yes, those were some good old days for street racing. We had start / finish lines painted on a country road 1320 feet apart. The farmer who lived on the corner next to the starting line used to pull a lawn chair out by the road and watch us. I never raced for "pinks" (actually, in Indiana back then titles were a sort of blue-green); we ran mostly for fun and bragging rights. Once in a while there might be a 5 or 10 dollar bet. It wasn't all a bed of roses back then, though. We had the draft and the Viet Nam war...

My geuss is that the whole giving up lengths thing was not started by the guys with the slower cars, but rather the guys with the faster cars... "Racebait"!!!

Picture this... You are a street racer, running on a weekly basis for money, win more than a few times and nobody wants to race you anymore, offer up a head start and maybe there are some takers... You know everyone wants to take down a local legend, just like Bob Falfa looking for John Milner in AG...

Dave Brisco

Originally Posted by dangeroustoy

My geuss is that the whole giving up lengths thing was not started by the guys with the slower cars, but rather the guys with the faster cars... "Racebait"!!!

Picture this... You are a street racer, running on a weekly basis for money, win more than a few times and nobody wants to race you anymore, offer up a head start and maybe there are some takers... You know everyone wants to take down a local legend, just like Bob Falfa looking for John Milner in AG...

Dave Brisco

Dave you got it. It's better to offer up a few lengths and get a race than insist on heads up and have no takers. A handicap race is better than no race. The guys that were good never won by more than half a car. Always leave the other guy thinking he was close, just like hustling pool. I've hustled a little, and been hustled too. I've even seen guys lose a race or two they shoulda won to get big one later. It's not about who has the faster car, it's about who leaves with the $$! Of course it's nice to have the faster car too!

Pat

And, when you know ya got the dude completely covered on of my favorite lines has always been, "You just go, I'll take off when you're out of my way". Last spring, took off behind two ricers, passed em both.....Neither would pay but both "waved" next time they saw me!!!

Pat and I grew up in the same era and even ran some of the same tracks (and streets, maybe?).... Laying out a bit of race-bait with a half car length loss does wonders for the $$$$ at the end of the nights action.......

I graduated in 65, started my apprenticeship in local 12 Sheetmetal workers union, bought a new mustang, three months later, traded it for a new GTO, 3months later got married and bought a house, all the while building my straight front axle altered wheel base 61 ford fairlane. Can a kid just out of HS do that today. Sorry Mickey D just doesn't pay that well.
The 60's were good to a lot of us. You could build a very acceptable race car with junkyard parts. Hell, I think the only speed shop in Iowa in 65 was in DesMoines.
John

Originally Posted by 41willys

Hell, I think the only speed shop in Iowa in 65 was in DesMoines.
John

Hey I know that place! Couch's Speed Shop! Used to order from them when I was in Omaha, even made the trip over there a couple times. Bought a set of headers and they discounted them to make up for the gas I burned getting there. Great folks.

I built a pretty decent race car out of junk yard parts in the 80s too. Difference today is there is not a lot in the junk yard worth having! Well except LS1s and LT1s

Pat

Pat

The diference is street racing,and real racing.

Giving lengths harks back to at least the 50's and 60's. Remember it well in high school. No body would ask for lengths. After all what was the point of racing if you had an inferior product and you knew you were gonna get your ass whooped. No body likes to be embarassed, especially after being spotted 4 or 5 lengths. And besides what is a length? The length of a mini Cooper or a Cadillac deVille or a football field?

Guys, Guys,
Forget the blues!!!! I grew up in the 50's and 60's Come on, Kennedy got shot, do you think my brothers and I were allowed to miss Judo lessons???? My father was a Fighter Pilot.......things move on!!! (Kennedy....responsible for the single largest tax hike in history and esculation of the Vietnam conflict). I never knew I had hair growing up as "head wounds" are dirty!
Didnt stop anything form racing or having fun. I run a 7 sec super gas at the races occasionally and have plenty of youngsters come up that are having the time of their lifes as we did in our era. Yes things and times evolve but the fun is still there in it's new context. Do I miss the old days??? Yes I miss the beauty of Beirut, the girls I learned about life with, the cars I sold that I wish I had kept and the missed opportunities, I was too drunk or stupid or too young to recogonize. Never say Sorry, "Tis better to beg forgiviness than to ask permission"
Doug