Guess what I am getting for my birthday this year?

[Joe Fan]

Eight laps around the new Kansas Speedway in Richard Petty's Be-A-Petty stock car. I'm pumped!

[Lee]

ALRIGHT JOE!

Your going to have a blast! Have a great time!

[Heeltoe6]

You will love it Joe. A little advice, just floor it as soon as you past your acceleration cones, the cars are so under powered and handle so well it will not be a problem; take adantage of it and get all the speed you can

[Joe Fan]

Have any of you guys ever done this or have you just heard from friends?

[Heeltoe6]

Joe, Id did 8 laps up at NHIS this summer. Awesome. First thing you'll notice is how professional they run the thing, like the military, everything on time, everyhting in order, perfect. But at the same time, among all this organization, they make you feel comfortable and settled, they're very good about not talking down to you or anything. Anyways, I went nearly last and was talking with someone who had already gone, and he told me about not lifting until the cone and accelerating as soon as you hit the second cone. He said he took it cautious a few laps and was kicking himself when he did turn it up a notch cause it was easy to handle, so he felt he robbed himself of going faster. So took his advice and took it to the limits at each end, and increased my speed every lap. A blast!

[Lee]

Joe,

Back in the mid 70s, I got the chance to drive a Grand National car, 1974 Dodge Charger, around Daytona, Atlanta (original configuration) Darlington, and Rockingham. Had things gone my way in the money department, I might could have wound up driving, but that's a different story. All I can say is, you are going to have a blast!

[Sparky]

Well, it seems they're asking over £800.00 ($1200.00) for the RPDE over here at Rockingham UK, or £50.00 ($75.00) for three hot-laps.

I think I can stump for fifty quid...

Lee, what were the circumstances of your lucky drive(s) Not once but four times?

[Lee]

Back in the mid-70s, I drove a late model sportsman car at a local track a little North of Atlanta. A friend that owned the car that I drove was approached by a driver that had been, a few years before, an up and comming Grand National star, but had basically become an alcoholic, which ruined his budding career. He had dried out, and was hopeful of making a comeback. He approached my friend, and ask him if he would be willing to foot the bill for a Grand National car, and would run the team with him as the driver. My friend said yes, and bought a car from Banjo Matthews, and engines from Petty Enterprises. He was going all out for this driver. When he had everything in place, this guy, without telling him, signed a deal to drive for another owner. He left my friend holding the bag. I ask him if he would let me drive the car. He said, "yeah, why not". We decided to test and enter competition toward the middle of the year. Went through the whole process of getting a NASCAR competition liscenes, he rented tracks, we practiced. To make a very long story short, a rule change, conserning engines, was made, and my friend didn't have the money to make the necessary changes to be legal for competition. He wound up having to sell the whole operation. So ended my brief shot at glory. Thus is, as they say, life. It was tremendous fun, for the brief period that it lasted. Who knows, it things had of only been a little different. You never know.

[Sparky]

You may not have felt so imediately afterwards, but you're a lucky guy to have those experiences...
I'd give my left leg to be in that position, but then I guess i'd be a pretty poor racecar driver without a gas foot!

Hey! Did you take any photos?

A '74 Charger? That was when Petty was driving Dodges and winning everything, wasn't it? A Petty engine package would've been very competitive, too.

Too bad it didn't work out.

What ruling did NASCAR make? Was it an engine parity ruling?
Was it because the Dodge was so competitive?

[Lee]

I've got some old pictures somewhere, hadn't seen them in years. I'll look for them, and scan them, if I can find them.

Yes, this was when Petty was driving Dodge Chargers. He was winning allot. I don't know how competitive we would have been. Petty Enterprises was Chrysler's racing outlet at the time. If you bought something from them, it was top notch equipment, but since it was, you had to pay top dollar for it. Cost was what ultimatly did us in.

This was during the time when NASCAR was downsizing engine displacement. The rules had allowed a cubic inch displacement of a maximum of 430 CID. This led to the Ford 427 "Tunnelport", and 429 BOSS engines, and Chrysler's ledgendary "Ol King Kong", the 426 "Hemi". NASCAR wanted a smaller displacement, and moreso, wanted to get rid of the "special" racing engines, like those mentioned above. They went through a complicated series of testing dsifferent restrictor plates, for the big engines, while pushing for the teams to convert to the smaller displacement engines, the ideal displacement being 366 CID. Chrysler responded by releasing a 366 CID version of the Hemi. This engine was superior to anything Ford had. After a couple of races, NASCAR again responded by dropping the displacement down to the present 358 CID, mainly to disqualify the Chrysler engine. Here is were cost got us. The engines that my friend had bought were the 366 hemi. They cost $50,000 per copy, which in those days was a hugh sum of money. He could not afford to buy more engines, so he sold the car, and all of the equipment. Yes, I realize that I am extreamly lucky to have had this experience. As brief as it was, it was the experience of a lifetime.

LOL at Sparky, race driver with no gas foot! Seriously, I hope you do get a chance to do the RPDE, you will have allot of fun it you do.