I-475 Reunion@Lapeer Dragway Pics(and my car is really a racecar now!)

[Al K]

Gorgeous day,and a tough call as to what to attend. Nostalgia Drags at Milan,a couple of good car shows or the I-475 Reunion(In Memory of Adam "Opie" McIntosh-RIP) at Lapeer Dragway. I really wanted to run into some old mates from the 1980's when I was part of the local street scene-did see a couple-and MAYBE...take the lovely Sabrina down the track. I figured if I did-and I did-and something went byebye,I could possibly get the car home on someone else's trailer. Well,there was no need! Only made two runs,as I got there later than I had planned,and had no problems. OK,there was a performance problem. She ain't a fast lady(yet). More on that later. I did take pics! Not many,but hey...

9 second car. Beautiful,as well.

An Open Comp car that came up from Milan

Did not see this car run,but another cat there said low 9's. Damn. Looks the part,too. (UPDATE! This car turned an 8.83 later in the day. Double damn!)

These guys were a hoot. It was the first time someone had taken a pic of their car,and they were thrilled! They got an even bigger laugh when I told 'em I was going to make them famous-on a Mopar site. Ran 9's.

Nice,fast Dart. Didn't see it run,so no times.

WAY-cool '67 Cyclone rep with a blown 427. Sounded *******!!!

A lot of guys(and gals) were running "N/T" or "NO ET" on their windows. Which meant street/grudge racers,such as this. This car was astoundingly clean and well-turned out. Speaking of grudge racers,I was parked next to "Gettin' Paid Racing",well known in the grudge world. Top-shelf cars and operation-and a crapload of Nitrous!

Lapeer is just a basic facility. VERY basic. Racers love it. Good hook and the racers are treated well.

Next post:the rest of the story...

 

[Al K]

OK...The temptation overcame me and I decided to take the Sport Fury down the track for the first time in my ownership. I was rather reluctant,as 1) I drove it there,2)that's a tired ol' 413 in there,3)there's not a ready-built 440 waiting at home,and 4)I had to drive it home. But,you only live once,or so it is said.

What everyone who has ever raced can relate to. The Wait.

Since I only got a couple of runs in(there were a few hundred cars there),I didn't have time to really figure out what worked best. So...do you really want to know what it ran? Really? Gawd;this is so embarrassing...

A 16.34 and a 16.28. Damn;thought for sure that there was a 15 in there. The speed tells me that there's a better ET possible.

Didn't power-brake too much(about 1800?),and it left decent. Eased into WFO mode,shifted at 4500(hey,refer to #4 above) and just kept my foot in it. Car went dead straight,no funny **** in the traps or at let-off,and just felt like there was more to be had. Uh...also need to work on those reaction times. A .549? A .563? WTF-I mean,it's been over 30 years since I've run down a track,but that's bad. Re-e-e-a-a-a-l-ly bad.

I'm also leaving the number on the window overnight-I should have hit a local cruise,and been "Mr. Cool" with my shoe-polish # on the glass...yeah,just like the old days...all the guys would be like "Wow,man;he was at the track..." and the girls(those that "got it") would want to ride shotgun and...oh,sorry.

So...should I start a "Post your 16 Second Combination" thread? Or,better yet, a "...10 Second(In The 1/8th) Combination"?

 

[coloradodave]

Al,
This is what's called a 'baseline' to measure future runs against. At least you were out there and I give you lots of credit for that. Thanks for taking the time to post all the pictures with a running dialog. I enjoyed it.

 

[Al K]

A couple more:

Babes? Why yes,there were numerous babes. Accompanied by large,gorilla-like creatures. I didn't get to age 56 by being a total maroon in these situations-so only a couple of not-so-good pics. I'll try harder next time...

 

[Al K]

I'm famous! Relatively speaking...

The Beemer M6 in the last pic? Ran a 12.51 on this pass. Damn

Photos by Dave's Kustom Kreationz.

 

[HEMI-ITIS]

That's very cool!Good for you man.

 

[detmatt1]

Good job Al! You da man! I missed you at the Roseville show, it was great and the MCG was on hand with cameras. Looks like you had a great time anyway.

 

[Al K]

Matt;the Roseville show was the one I was seriously thinking of heading to. Probably a good thing that I didn't;isn't that Riehl's re$toration part$ $tore? Let's see...and Mancini'$ is nearby...and there was room on the VI$A...no,I think I made the right decision.

 

[Mike Z]

Al,
At Least You Won 1 out of 2.
The Plymouth Surely looks Good.
Mike Z.

 

[Budnicks]

Al-K at least she looks great, we will all help you work on them E.T.'s...LOL... you've made 2 more runs than me lately...LOL... Thanks for the photos of some cool old cars, I like the mix of the Brand-X stuff too... I don't blame you for not going to Roseville, Mi. & Mancini Racing neighborhood, Mancini Racing is my "true Nemesis", it seems every damn time I get a sales flyer's, way out here on the west coast even, I have to buy something from the damn flyer's advert., I could only imagine how bad I'd be, if I walked into the place, my VISA card would be SMOKEN'.....

 

[Ron 73]

Looks great Al, Sounds like you had some fun doing it. Thanks for sharing!

 

[detmatt1]

Matt;the Roseville show was the one I was seriously thinking of heading to. Probably a good thing that I didn't;isn't that Riehl's re$toration part$ $tore? Let's see...and Mancini'$ is nearby...and there was room on the VI$A...no,I think I made the right decision.

You're right on all counts there, buddy. I didn't buy anything though, for the most part, well I did close the deal on my dad's Challenger convertible while at the show! So I guess you could say the only thing I bought while at the show was this...

 

[Al K]

WHOA! That's nice! Your Dad has good taste.

OK,here's a few Facebook links for a TON of pics from Dave's Kustom Kreationz,the guy who does most of the photography at these events:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.472965612737583.114541.100000724440772&type=1
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.472976996069778.114545.100000724440772&type=1
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.472988829401928.114549.100000724440772&type=1
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.472999812734163.114551.100000724440772&type=1
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.473012522732892.114555.100000724440772&type=1

There's almost 500 pics in these albums,so take your time and enjoy. This is how we do it in south-central Michigan.