Congrats Terry Pearson

Chad Rhodes · 09-23-2007, 06:28 PM

on winning super stock at Dallas

bill dedman · 09-24-2007, 12:01 AM

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!!!!

Jim Hanig · 09-24-2007, 12:36 AM

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

JRyan · 09-24-2007, 02:00 AM

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

Larry Buckingham SS3820 · 09-24-2007, 11:12 AM

Way to go Terry!!!!

Mike Pearson · 09-24-2007, 01:54 PM

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

Mike

BananaMan · 09-25-2007, 01:08 AM

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

Bob & Buggs

racer4919 · 09-24-2007, 08:10 PM

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

bill dedman · 09-24-2007, 09:08 PM

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!

JRyan · 09-24-2007, 09:49 PM

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

09-23-2007, 06:28 PM	#1
Chad Rhodes VIP Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Where the Green Grass Grows, AL Posts: 2,375 Likes: 0 Liked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Congrats Terry Pearson on winning super stock at Dallas __________________ Chad Rhodes 2113 I/SA

09-24-2007, 12:01 AM	#2
bill dedman VIP Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Conway, AR Posts: 1,739 Likes: 0 Liked 6 Times in 4 Posts	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!!!! __________________ Bill Last edited by bill dedman; 09-24-2007 at 12:04 AM.

09-24-2007, 12:36 AM	#3
Jim Hanig Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Pukwana SD Posts: 860 Likes: 554 Liked 99 Times in 49 Posts	Re: Congrats Terry Pearson Good job Terry, and yes Terry is from SOUTH DAKOTA.

09-24-2007, 02:00 AM	#4
JRyan Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Aberdeen SD Posts: 645 Likes: 30 Liked 112 Times in 31 Posts	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

09-24-2007, 11:12 AM	#5
Larry Buckingham SS3820 Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Mansfield, OH Posts: 58 Likes: 0 Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Congrats Terry Pearson Way to go Terry!!!!

09-24-2007, 01:54 PM	#6
Mike Pearson VIP Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 2,437 Likes: 611 Liked 1,904 Times in 571 Posts	Re: Congrats Terry Pearson Great job in dallas. Congratulations on a big win!!! Mike __________________ Mike Pearson 2485 SS

09-25-2007, 01:08 AM	#7
BananaMan Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 30 Likes: 0 Liked 3 Times in 2 Posts	Re: Congrats Terry Pearson Good job Terry......we were thrilled you won....see ya in Atlanta Bob & Buggs

09-24-2007, 08:10 PM	#8
racer4919 Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 53 Likes: 0 Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts	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

09-24-2007, 09:08 PM	#9
bill dedman VIP Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Conway, AR Posts: 1,739 Likes: 0 Liked 6 Times in 4 Posts	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! __________________ Bill

09-24-2007, 09:49 PM	#10
JRyan Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Aberdeen SD Posts: 645 Likes: 30 Liked 112 Times in 31 Posts	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