INTRO: Ok, so I'm playing with the HTML. I hope this lines up for your size of screen, but if it doesn't ....chill.

 

Way back in late '97, I promised all those poor folk who were surfin' with AOL browsers...and worse... that I would repost all the fun stuff I put up on the nhra newsgroup. Once again, better late than never. Here ya go kiddies...all you 640x480 guys dream on...

I will admit that to many western Canadians Gordie Bonin is a God. So many times throughout all the 64 Flopper extravaganzes of the 70s at Seattle the intro of the Jerry Verhuel-wrenched Bubble Up Firebird of 240 Gordie far outpaced those for the Max and even Jungle. It could have been the beer-laden Canuck fans, but even the Kent regulars held him at or near the top of a very crowded local AA/FC ladder. A natural driver if there ever was one, he thrilled everyone who ever saw any of his passes. Usually of the wheelstand, sideways or top speed of the event kind. GB had possibly the heaviest foot to ever plant a fuel coupe pedal. This jpeg image is so far removed from Carlson's original 6x7 Pentax print it's unbelieveable, but you get the idea.

The Fireman from Corvallis didn't win too many races in this car, but he made many, many fans and friends. Ernie Hall is a Northwest legend that should NEVER be forgotten. Maybe the nicest of the nice, Ernie passed away at the drags, a fitting end to a wonderful life. He's seen here toasting the tires at one of the original Fallnationals.

Beadle and Ruth. If I had five grand for every time they met in the Northwest I could retire...duh.

Late one hot, hot Saturday night in the middle of the 70s, Beadle and the King lined up on either side of Ray Rice for what may well have been their final matchup. I don't recall who won, but really...who cares. Their pairings were ALWAYS one of the hilights of the night...if not the year.

It may have been the touring pros that drew the fans to Kent back when Doner ruled the world, but it was guys like Bryan Raines who held it all together. The Calfornia guys would come north on a tour that usually included Fremont, Portland before baking 'em at S.I.R. on the first weekend of August. And you wonder why those stands are tired...

Seen here at the very, very first Fallnationals is the very, very first Monza-bodied Funny Car. If you are too young to know or care, then relax, as after Russel Long, nearly every idiot on Earth got one.

I can't recal who drove the AA/A Thrill Seekers, but anybody who picks up the front tires in something like this at HALFTRACK deserves space here!

Sure it was a cool wheelstander, but everyone remembers Wall-to-Wall Richard's BAD BOSANOVA for the burnouts...that usually were measured in minutes. Here he is cleaning off the hides on the return road.