My first "professional" racing job

[Dave Severson]

I was digging through some old shots and found these, the car I worked on as my first ever job as a race mechanic... I worked for a guy named Charlie Kemp, good man, good racer, unfortunately his biggest claim to fame was doing a back flip down the big hill at Road Atlanta in a 917 Porsche--and breaking his back.

The car pictured is a '76 Mustang II, chassis by Bob Riley, sheet metal by Ron Fournier, engine by Gapp and Roush. My job was the shop make ready guy. Go over all the checklists load the trailer, prep the chassis, change engines, service the car, and the fuel can guy if we were in a long race and did a pit stop. The car raced in IMSA GT class. Big event of the season was the 12 hrs of Sebring, most prestigious win was Road Atlanta for the IMSA championship race. I was with Charlie for 2 seasons, that got and invitation to move back home and build/race sprint cars. We hadn't won any races, I was young and dumb, depressed from no wins, so I bailed out and went back to dirt burners...

Lots of memories in this car for me, it was very advanced for it's day, I worked with some very, very competent people and learned a ton from them about suspension, engines, racing, and life in general..... Had a blast!!!!