Congrats Terry Pearson
 

on winning super stock at Dallas

Re: Congrats Terry Pearson
 

Is this the sam Terry Pearson who lived in South Dakota many years ago?

There was a racer named "Terry Pearson" (mildly unusual name) who ran a couple of black Olds 4-4-2's, a hardtop and a convertible, each with a foot-wide white racing stripe down the hoods, tops, and deck-lids, and called them "Mother Skunk" (his wife drove that one) and "Papa Skunk,": I believe.

Very cool, attention-getting race cars, and f-a-s-t!!!!

That was in the early-to-mid '70s, I believe.

Jerry Ryan; remember them???

IF it's the same guy, I'd say congratulations were definitely in order.... he's been racing a long, long time...

If not,
CONGRATULATIONS, anyway, TERRY!!! Great job driving the stripe in the final!!!! :)

Re: Congrats Terry Pearson
 

Good job Terry, and yes Terry is from SOUTH DAKOTA.

Re: Congrats Terry Pearson
 

Well, kinda right Bill. It's Terry from SoDak alright, but the "skunk" cars were run by Terry P. and Ron Thorson I believe. Ron drove the convert. I believe Terry's wife at the time did drive his car a time of two. You're asking alot Bill. That was 1970 or 1971. Anyway, Congrats Terry. Glad to see another one for the "old guys".

Jerry

Re: Congrats Terry Pearson
 

Way to go Terry!!!!

Re: Congrats Terry Pearson
 

Great job in dallas. Congratulations on a big win!!!

Mike

Re: Congrats Terry Pearson
 

Double post; sorry...

Re: Congrats Terry Pearson
 

Thanks, Jerry; hell, that was only 35 or 36 years ago... the blink of an eye!!!

I just was pretty sure that it was the same "Terry Pearson" and that if it was, he'd been at this for a long, LONG time, and I was really happy to see him in the winner's circle.

Heck, Jerry; you might even remember the "Jolly Ollie Orange" GTO, and the "Baby Elephant" B altered run by Terry Nagel... no, "Larry" Nagel....

I remember, he had one of the first enclosed trailers I ever saw, and painted on the back of the trailer, it had a cute cartoon of a dancing, "Dumbo"-style elephant in a tutu, and above the picture, it said, "CAUTION: BABY ELEPHANT INSIDE!!!" Guess it was a destroked Hemi, or something like that...

I was coming from the strip in Marion one fine race day in about 1972, on my way to Earl Britt's Pizza Palace (probably closed on Sunday) for some grub, and up beside me at a traffic light, pulls a white '68 Firebird Stock Eliminator car, still with the slicks on it. Apparently, he lived in Sioux Falls and drove to the strip to race.

Any idea who that might have been???

Those were the days... DRIVING your race car to the track.... wow....

Re: Congrats Terry Pearson
 

Bill, I'm a Soux Falls 'local' and can answer some of these questions.

-Yes, that's the same Terry Pearson. He and his partner Ron Thorson (both from Rapid City, S.D.) were always a formidable pair and both won many times at Marion...the 'original' Thunder Vally Dragways, by the way. I went to Indy in 1975 or 1976 with Terry and helped him with his SS/JA '67 Camaro convertible. I believe Terry was runner up in class that year. Terry's car was a 'flood car' from the Rapid City flood of 1972.

- The 'Jolly Ollie Orange' GTO was owned by Denny Kadinger. Larry Nagle did the motor work for that car and a lot of other Stock and Super Stock cars in the area, including Arnie Tofteland's very fast Pontiacs.

-Larry Nagel's 'Baby Elephant' A/A was one of the nicest cars around at that time. Larry did it all..chassis, motor..you name it, Larry could do it. The "Caution, baby elephant inside" phase was thought up by Bill 'Willie' Hofstad, another Sioux Falls guy that many will remember.

-The white '68 Firebird Stocker that pulled up beside you on the street was Jack Wright. Jack did a lot of winning with that car in the early days of Stock...back when you had to have the street tires, etc. after NHRA axed Jr. Stock.

I was fortunate to have been assocated with a lot of the really good racers of this area...the Koppien family, Ron Roddel, Bob Sherwood, Larry Nagel and Don Breen, just to name a few. I started going to Marion when I was 14 years old, changing spark plugs on my cousin Don Breen's '65 327-350hp 300 Deluxe 2 dr. sedan Chevelle which ran in SS/C.

Hope this jogs the memory. Congrats to Terry! -Al Nyhus

Re: Congrats Terry Pearson
 

Thanks Al for filling in the gaps. Bill, Larry Nagel did lots of work for the Pontiac guys including Arnie Tofteland's cars. If you'll look in the (I believe) 1971 Hot Rod or Car Craft coverage of Stock at Indy, you'll read that the writer thought that the most impressive car there was Arnie Tofteland's unlettered Pontiac Tempest. Just the window sticker and a Performance Engineering decal (Larry's business) in the window, but the car was extremely fast. Just as today, the East & West Coast cars get all the ink, but there were and are some REALLY FAST cars out here in the outback. Terry Pearson was one of the original FAST GUYS from around here, and now he finally got a Wally. Congrats again Terry.

Jerry

Re: Congrats Terry Pearson
 

Way to go Terry, it just goes to show you , if you aren't there you sure can't win the thing. Congrats again. Wayne Winfield

Re: Congrats Terry Pearson
 

Al, and Jerry; thanks for all the good info on the Sioux Falls cars. I remember most of them. I was the tech guy at Des Moines Dragway from '65 until it closed, in '68, and had a Stock Eliminator car that I raced (H/SA hydro-equipped 220 hp '57 Chevy sedan delivery), along with my partner, Harry Sparks, who is still running a Div. V Stocker out of Des Moines, today. A mid-'80s Malibu wagon.
As you can imagine, drag racing was pretty much "my life" at that time, so
I made it up to Marion many times in the '60s and '70s, and always had a good time there. Another fun drag strip back then was the very busy "North East Iowa Timing Association (N.E.I.T.A.) strip at Cedar Falls/Waterloo. I remember points races there that were so well-atttended that they seemd like "mini-nationals." That was Jerry Stealy's home strip; MORE fast Pontiacs...

Speaking of fast Pontiacs, there was an NHRA national record-holding, single 4bbl, 400 GTO C Stock stick car from Minneapolis called "LIMEFIRE" (guess what color it was...) that used to come down to N.E.I.T.A and terrorize the locals, running 12.60's... Wonder if Arnie and that car ever squared off??? I believe it was a '67 model. Gorgeous car...

Al, thanks for the corrections on my classification error; I should have known that Hemi car of Larry's was an "A", not a "B."

Did either of you ever see the "TENSION" team car ('57 Chevy 2 door HT) run? It was white, with the word "TENSION" in big red letters on the door, with wavy horizontal lines that appeared to be vibrating from the stress... (tension).

The driver's name was Fred Anderson, and the car was out of Omaha. These guys were F-A-S-T.... and way ahead of their time. They all wore white, tailored overalls, with the "TENSION" logo on the back, and ran it like a truly professional operation.

They came over to our track (Des Moines) and ran some 13.30s in D/S, which was really fast for the time.
I just thought they might have showed up at Thunder Valley, sometime... They raced a lot. It was a 270hp. 4=speed car. Classic Junior Stocker....

Thanks again for all the good info;;; I apolgize for the errors.... Most of that stuff was, as you say, 35 years ago and more... and, frankly, I've slept since then! :)

Re: Congrats Terry Pearson
 

Terry,

I'm sorry your congratulatory thread has deteriorated into a history lesson, but you were part of it.

Bill,

Yes I remember most of that. In fact, if I remember correctly, the Hall's ran the NEITA track in the 60's. Their son-in-law and daughter were in Ft. Hood TX while I was there and I spent most of my spare time at their house. Lot's of pictures of the track and the Willy's pickup that they ran.

You're right. That '67 GTO was way ahead of it's time for ET. They held the record a couple of times and are referred to in a special Pontiac publication from way back (Don Kennedy - ??)

The "Tension" team showed up at Thunder Valley on a regular basis. Someone recently had a bunch of old photos from Thunder Valley in the '70's and there was a great picture showing the dizzying affect of the TENSION graphics. Even in the picture it was noticable. Great times and NO MONEY. It was still fun though.

Jerry

Re: Congrats Terry Pearson
 

Jerry,

I was at Ft. Hood in '62. They had an impromptu drag strip at "The Railhead," that stretch of asphalt beside the railroad tracks where they unloaded tanks and A.P.C's off the flat-cars. They had a flagman at the starting line and a guy with a stopwatch at the finish line. He used some hi-powered binoculars and watched the starter, and clicked his stopwatch to start it when he saw the flag go up, and clicked it off when they went by the finish-line, where he was. Not exactly Chrondek, but it gave the guys something to argue about... LOL! :)

They ran every Sunday, if I remember correctly... There was a guy there who had a '39 Willys sedan with a GMC-Blown nailhead Buick with a hydro who held the record.... low 13's, I believe. Nothing official.

Were they doing that when you were there?

I just remembered the name of the guy with the "Limefire" GTO... "Greg Murnane." Not that it matters, now...

Loved Terry Pearson's "Skunk" car... Too bad that naming cars has fallen by the wayside...

Monster Mash, The Budget Breaker, Mr. 5-and 50, Grumpy's Toy, Color Me Gone, The Strip Blazer...

Those were the days...

Thanks for listening.

Re: Congrats Terry Pearson
 

Good job Terry......we were thrilled you won....see ya in Atlanta

Bob & Buggs:)

Re: Congrats Terry Pearson
 

wow what a history lesson you guys know how to bring back memories i used to hitch hike 14 miles just to watch every sunday the car names were the greatest, the led sled,the coaster wagon,nemisis,instant energy, orange crate, those were the days, bob hall was my auto teck instructor at hawkeye teck in 74 a freind bought his willys and turned it into a street rod and last i new it was still crusing around iowa. it was deffinatly a great time

Re: Congrats Terry Pearson
 

Bill,

I tried to get the Ft. Hood strip going again when I was there in '68 & '69. I couldn't get the job done so we raced the '50 Olds at Temple Academy Dragway (really neat place). However right after I left, an officer with a lot more pull than a Spec 5, managed to get the job done. I can't remember his name, but he had a '55 Chev 4-door sponsored by the Army.

Speaking of naming cars. Ron Roddel was telling me awhile back that someone was trying to come up with a name for their car, and decided that the name "Bodacious" would fit his car perfectly. Ron said, Nope, that's already been taken. That was the name of my '50 Olds that Ron drove for me in 1968 while I was becoming acquainted with the military.

Jeff,

Neat to know that you knew Bob Hall. His daughter always wished there was something else to talk about besides Drag Racing. But she made a birthday cake for me down in Ft. Hood in the shape of a dragstrip. Two cars on it, one black (the '50 Olds), and a white one (another buddies car), and she had me getting beat by the white car. Had to laugh about that, as the Olds won 17 of the 19 races I ran down there (broke in the finals of the other two).

Bob, Buggs, Hi.

Jerry

Re: Congrats Terry Pearson
 

I also say a ' Big Congrats' to Terry on his win.......my God all of you old farts from South Dakota, I remember most of the names, good times, ..............gotta go got a doctors appointment, the wheel chair service just showed up....oh **** forgot to put on pants, oh well.......

Re: Congrats Terry Pearson
 

Jerry,
I'm sorry I never got to see your Olds run, as I was a big fan of those cars, having had a '49 '88', a '51 '88-A' (looked like a '50) and a '54 Super '88'. None were anything other than street cars, though; couldn't afford to blueprint them. Low 17's were par for the course for all of 'em.... about 80-mph... :(

As you know, Ft. Hood was roughly halfway between Dallas and Houston; Tyler was even closer, with Caddo Mills about as far as Green Valley. There was a guy in my outfit who had a '57 Plymouth with a 354 '56 Hemi "300-B" motor under the hood, hooked to a Cad-LaSalle 3-speed stick, with a 3.08 gear in the back; GREAT hi-way car!!!. Every weekend, four of us would pile into that Mopar and head for ONE of those drag strips... they were all in easy driving distance; who cared how much gas those dual quads under the hood drank; it was 31 cents a gallon for the "good stuff" ('Esso Golden Extra'... 101 octane!)

Saw a LOT of TEXAS drag racing while I was in the army... LOL!

Bill

Re: Congrats Terry Pearson
 

Hey Al were they AC or Champion plugs ?

Re: Congrats Terry Pearson
 

OLD INJUN: Can't remember the brand of plugs, but definitely remember how hot the headers were (grin). Say "Hi" to the family. -Al

P.S. Maybe you could help hadtobethere out and pick him up for his Drs. appointment? A ride in a nice Olds convertible might be just what he needs, 'ya know? If you're concerned that his wheelchair might ding up the paint or upholstery, just get him one of those walkers with the little tennis balls on the front legs.

Laffin' in The Forbidden Zone.

Re: Congrats Terry Pearson
 

Congrats Terry .. I see that a few Old Frats can still Win One LOL LOL Red Le Blanc

Re: Congrats Terry Pearson
 

Hey Al , do you think hadtobethere has ever ridden in any thing this fast ? http://community.webshots.com/user/mr442100 check em out!