What was your first (or most memorable) street racing experience?

[FL SAAC]

The front disc calipers on a SS, RS or Z28 where regular production passenger car type single piston calipers.

When you ordered the R. P. O. JL8 option on  a Z or an SS Camaro you got four piston calipers that where very similar to the Corvettes

That's why this option was expensive and only about 200 Camaros received this particular brake set up

It's no wonder why we went to four wheel disk brakes.  But then, the Z/28 had the JL-8 option as far back as 1969 (which very few ordered apparently).

[67 GT350]

So...yeah......racing

[68stangcjfb]

1990. I'm 20 in my 66' 428 powered Fairlane GTA. On Long Island Nassau County, You would cruse Hempstead Turnpike. I'm at Burger king one night around midnight talking with a guy I know in a Buick Grand National. We never actually raced each other. He had his Hoosier Quick times. I had my Mickey Thompson 28 X 9 slicks on so we drove to Route 109. There's an intersession at Bi County road and a flagpole almost exactly a 1/4 mile away. We got there and waited for the light to turn red, pulled up and when it turned green, we were gone. I beat him by 1/2 a car at the end. That's when I looked in the mirror and saw lights way back in the distance. I decided to pull over. He ran and got on the Southern State Parkway. I was stopped and out of my car with my hands in plain sight by the time he pulled up. I was shocked after he ran my license then said he wasn't going to give me a ticket because I actually pulled over. He then said that running those soft street tires were no good in the rain. Funny thing is the street light is shining right on the spot of the tire where it says "Destined for drag racing only. Not for street use". I don't know how he didn't see it. But it was fun beating the Buick and not getting arrested that night! Just one Hempstead Turnpike story.

[shelbydoug]

The first experience right?

1976 at the first meeting of the Cobra Club in Sparta, NJ. It was at Mark Bucheim's place.

At the time he has CSX 3121 which had just come out of the paint shop and was a medium metallic blue.

It was the only 427 in attendance as I recall but there were about a half dozen 289's, 1 '65 GT350 and me and my 68 GT350.


One of the 289 owners was bugging Mark that 427's were a load of useless iron and his "Dragon Snake" replica, Ameican mags, 2x4's, etc, was a good deal "quicker".

Well, at some point someone suggested that we all go for a nice cruise in the countryside? At this point in time, Sparta, a little ways of of Rt 23 north in "Jersey" was not quite rural, but not far from it either.

So there was a procession that lined up. I just followed at the rear, not knowing these roads at all. Now I can tell you that is was rural enough for cars with brake scoops to get their share of horse manure after passing through the farm.

One of the Cobra owners, maybe Rich Feldheim, thought that was hilarious. I think he was the one that asked me not to park next to his Cobra and put my "Mustang" out in the street? Maybe not, but one of the snobs there did?



Anyway, I don't know what kicked it off, but someone gave someone a dirty look and it was off to the races. I had already decided to give them plenty of room as in theory, not to pile in on their wreck?

At this point, there were only three cars in this "scenario"...not a race...just a "scenario". The other cars were smart enough to have gotten lost, stopped to pick wild berries or gone home. Not me.



Now if anyone asks someone how fast they actually were going and the driver responds..."oh...130", it's my opinion that he is just a little bit full of s hit. The reason being that at that speed you need to look so far down the road that your eyes, at least mine, can't focus instantaneously on the speedometer.

I can tell you though, that IF you had the wet dream to install an rpm indicator light that would flash at a predetermined rpm you set as a safety factor, you WILL see it flashing. So at 7,200 in second I noticed the flashing red light.

Anyway, this was a nice quiet, freshly blacktopped back road. Nice and straight, but a little bit up and down. You know that when you get butterflies in your belly from the free fall after each jump. 

So there goes 3121 and the phony Dragonsnake and here I am in the "chaser plane".


Like I said, I'm at 7,200 rpm and they are disappearing into the horizon. Fine. No problem. Not yet. Now granted, there was a bit of a commotion and a little bit of noise so I suppose it is to be expected that it is going to gather some attention right?

Right. Here's the question though. Who would have thought that after the Cobras zoomed by that none other then Little Abner, driving a hay truck loaded to the hilts with hay and horse shit would have pulled out of a side street RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU, looking to see if these were cruise missiles that just went by?

I guess that when you live in Dog Patch you don't need to look at the intersection and you just pull out? All I can say is that thank God there was no oncoming traffic in the other lane 'cause otherwise good ole' Dougie wouldn't be 'round no more.

There was no way it was physically possible to stop, only to swerve in avoidance.


Now I can't attest to exactly what Little Abner was doing to wrestling that load of horse shit and hay but I coulda' sworn I heard him swearin' in his best Gomer Pile voice,  "GOLLY...WHAT IN THE HELL?" Just as well I really don't want to know the answer to that.

I just kept going so that there would be no cops to make me clean up all the crap off of the road before they slapped on the cuffs? 


You know? At some point I actually had the thought that maybe IF I was wearing those retractable shoulder harnesses it would help them find the body in one piece?

[FL SAAC]

Iove it !

Always said better lucky than good

The first experience right?

1976 at the first meeting of the Cobra Club in Sparta, NJ. It was at Mark Bucheim's place.

At the time he has CSX 3121 which had just come out of the paint shop and was a medium metallic blue.

It was the only 427 in attendance as I recall but there were about a half dozen 289's, 1 '65 GT350 and me and my 68 GT350.


One of the 289 owners was bugging Mark that 427's were a load of useless iron and his "Dragon Snake" replica, Ameican mags, 2x4's, etc, was a good deal "quicker".

Well, at some point someone suggested that we all go for a nice cruise in the countryside? At this point in time, Sparta, a little ways of of Rt 23 north in "Jersey" was not quite rural, but not far from it either.

So there was a procession that lined up. I just followed at the rear, not knowing these roads at all. Now I can tell you that is was rural enough for cars with brake scoops to get their share of horse manure after passing through the farm.

One of the Cobra owners, maybe Rich Feldheim, thought that was hilarious. I think he was the one that asked me not to park next to his Cobra and put my "Mustang" out in the street? Maybe not, but one of the snobs there did?



Anyway, I don't know what kicked it off, but someone gave someone a dirty look and it was off to the races. I had already decided to give them plenty of room as in theory, not to pile in on their wreck?

At this point, there were only three cars in this "scenario"...not a race...just a "scenario". The other cars were smart enough to have gotten lost, stopped to pick wild berries or gone home. Not me.



Now if anyone asks someone how fast they actually were going and the driver responds..."oh...130", it's my opinion that he is just a little bit full of s hit. The reason being that at that speed you need to look so far down the road that your eyes, at least mine, can't focus instantaneously on the speedometer.

I can tell you though, that IF you had the wet dream to install an rpm indicator light that would flash at a predetermined rpm you set as a safety factor, you WILL see it flashing. So at 7,200 in second I noticed the flashing red light.

Anyway, this was a nice quiet, freshly blacktopped back road. Nice and straight, but a little bit up and down. You know that when you get butterflies in your belly from the free fall after each jump. 

So there goes 3121 and the phony Dragonsnake and here I am in the "chaser plane".


Like I said, I'm at 7,200 rpm and they are disappearing into the horizon. Fine. No problem. Not yet. Now granted, there was a bit of a commotion and a little bit of noise so I suppose it is to be expected that it is going to gather some attention right?

Right. Here's the question though. Who would have thought that after the Cobras zoomed by that none other then Little Abner, driving a hay truck loaded to the hilts with hay and horse shit would have pulled out of a side street RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU, looking to see if these were cruise missiles that just went by?

I guess that when you live in Dog Patch you don't need to look at the intersection and you just pull out? All I can say is that thank God there was no oncoming traffic in the other lane 'cause otherwise good ole' Dougie wouldn't be 'round no more.

There was no way it was physically possible to stop, only to swerve in avoidance.


Now I can't attest to exactly what Little Abner was doing to wrestling that load of horse shit and hay but I coulda' sworn I heard him swearin' in his best Gomer Pile voice,  "GOLLY...WHAT IN THE HELL?" Just as well I really don't want to know the answer to that.

I just kept going so that there would be no cops to make me clean up all the crap off of the road before they slapped on the cuffs? 


You know? At some point I actually had the thought that maybe IF I was wearing those retractable shoulder harnesses it would help them find the body in one piece?

[C6ZZGT]

No personal racing stories BUT I did spend a night in Detroit following Nick the Greek around while his nephew got races lined up. We went for breakfast about 5 in the morning . That was a night to remember.

[FL SAAC]

I also heard another story about some guy who had a little red corvette LT-1. I will abreviate it as much possible

It was during spring break,  the bikers where in Fort Lauderdale and about one million of your friend's also on the strip.

Biker tells the vette, hey Blondie ! Refering to the guy in the Vettes girlfriend.  The vette guy tells back your Blondie because the biker had long goldilocks.

The biker gets furious and off his bike, the vette guy pulls out a hand cannon but hides it so goldilocks dies not see it.

All of a sudden and completely unrelated a semi automatic or rapid fire device is heard just off to the right hand side at a park.

Goldilocks jumps on his bike and rides down the side walk never to be seen

And they all lived happily ever after

P.S. the vette got sold and went to Jersey,  the black charger 440 magnum is still owned by uncle Luis