Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

Lloyd Bray & D.G. Gillam from the OK City or Tulsa area. First saw this duo in Wichita late '70s early '80s. At the time, they were running a 68 1/2 Cobra Jet Mustang (I think it may have been one of the original 50 from Ford. I remember looking @ the odometer and it read like 3.5 miles). If I remember right they raced in SS/F with a number of 4406. In the '90s, they were running an '83 Mustang in SS/GT still running a stick. I only saw them race once or twice, but for some reason the duo made an impression on me. Maybe it was the Mustang connection. I was living and breathing them back then. Maybe it was the white jumpsuits they wore while they were @ the track. They were old school before there was old school.

Thanks, Brian

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

I think Lloyd may have passed by now. He was in a nursing home and in really bad shape last I heard. I have seen Don (DG) this past year. Still had the shop going last I heard. He had a later model Mustang with a big engine running a GT class. They are from Bartlesville, which is about 30 miles or so north of Tulsa on hw 75.

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

These guys?

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i...7/TVD263-1.jpg

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

another one...
I believe I have a shot of the late model Mustang as well,
I just have to find it...

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i...N57/TVD888.jpg

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

Yep, that's them. When I saw them, the car had a little different paint on it with "Bray & Gillam" on the side.

Sorry to hear about Lloyd passing. R.I.P.

Thanks.

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

I knew I had one...

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i...57/TVD1270.jpg

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

That's how I remember seeing it. Thanks Mcink.

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

Lloyd has not passed. He is still in a nursing home and has suffered some serious health problems.

Mike

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

Thanks for the correction Mike. I will retract my R.I.P. and throw in some prayers for good measure.

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

Well there is enough history in Lloyd's racing past to write a pretty interesting book. Many national records and racing victories. I belive the 68 in the pictures is in a museum in Oklahoma. I do belive he was one of the early Ford sponsored racers and the 68 is one of the 50. Not a nicer person in racing and Ford Blue through and through. Really miss seeing the team at the races.
Best wishes and Prayers to Lloyd.

Jeff Colvert
SS/G 4456

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

Not a nicer pair of people in my book. Known both of them for nearly 30 years, and have many fond memories. Their 1983 Chev Dually Crew Cab had the windshield with a "Border" of National Event Entry Decals on it.

They were true Sportsman Racer Representitives in the sport of Drag Racing. Always wore their white "Precision Performance" uniforms at the track and I swear I never saw a mark on either one of them.

Lloyd had to have his legs amputated due to infection brought on by his diabetes a couple of years ago and has since been living in a nursing home.

If anyone is interested in sending him a card or letter I am sure he would be thrilled to hear from someone who enjoys drag racing whether he may know you or not. I will get his address and post it here.

D G stills runs the business (precision performance) in Bartlesville, Ok and runs the GT car once in a while. Last time I saw him at a race was in Noble, Ok a couple of years ago.

They had the first Ford GT SS car back in 1984 and D G still has it, They sold the Lite Weight Mustang to a mutual friend in Michigan when they built the GT car.


R J Sledge

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

r.j. is correct, the car was sold to and restored by a gentleman in michigan. it is one of the original six cars that was prepared by ford and bill stroppe for the 1968 winternationals, driven by gas rhonda. it has been restored to the way it appeared for the 1968 winternationals and has been displayed in various museams in the detroit area. also this car was displayed at the 40th mustang anniversary in nashville, tn.,
there were three of the original 1968 winternational cobra jets on display. the information that has been provided is there are five cars remaining of the original six.

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

Way back in the 70's when I first started drag racing at Tulsa I was pitted next to them. I somehow managed to make it to the finals and was down to about one gallon of gas. We had a six gallon tank and could see the bottom. There was no gas available at the track back then. I didn't know hardly anyone and asked to buy some gas from them. Lloyd and DG put enough in my tank for several more rounds and would not let me pay them for it. They didn't know me from Adam.

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

When I ws racing I got to be friends with the Line family and Lloyd was a very close friend with them. They told me he was a class act;in fact he did the heads on my 283. He wouldn't know me from Adam but I'd be more than happy to send him my best wishes.Any form of motorsports could use more people like Lloyd and DG. Doug Schriener

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

well i wish i'd stopped by here when this thread started... but RJ pretty well hit all the updates correctly...& Lloyd's racing history dates back to the late 50's starting with a dual qaud 312 57 ford fairlane, then a paxton/ mccoulha( spelling?) centrifugal blown 312 ford engine that he got the parts for & built for the 57, which he sold to gordon payne of the parham payne fame ... who was/is a good friend.. then on to 62 galaxie 500 xl convertible 406 3x2 4 speed, then a 67 7 liter conv. that they actually towed their 68 mustang to races with when lloyd & dg first bought it.. & the 68 mustang is restored to its 68 winternationals condition by the gentleman they sold it to & he even drove down from detroit for us to rebuild a 428 for the car & he finished the whole restoration of the 68 in time for the ford 100th anniversary which lloyd & i attended.. anyways i have worked with Lloyd & DG since 2002 but more exclusivey with Lloyd in the machine shop where he so graciously taught me a lot of what he knew.. we became good friends & Lloyd is considered family... some of you may know me from seeing me @ the races with Lloyd & dg .. i was that "kid" that was always with them.. i know who a lot of you on the forum are even if you don't know me from going to the races with them & have had a lot of reverence & fun living in their shadow over the last several years

anyways if you guys want anymore info or pics i have a lot.. DG may even chime in

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

this one of my favorite of thier old pics
i have several more if anybody is interested in seeing them
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/a...199/Slide7.jpg

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

I met Lloyd & DG while racing my AF/S Daytona in Denver. Somebody introduced us and I said I was building an AMX for Stock and it had an Autolite carb. Lloyd became interested in the project and offered his help in the carb department. The AMX eventually made it on it's maiden voyage but all I had was a borrowed Holley 750 DP. It had no jet extensions and was overly rich. So much that it labored to 5000 RPM. It ran a 12.65.
The next week my Bray-O-Lite arrived. "No payment" said Lloyd, "just try it. If you like it, we'll talk about the money". Oh boy I said. But off to the races I went. First pass: 11.65 / 11.50 corrected and instantly hitting the 6200 RPM rev limiter!
I called Lloyd from the track as I was still pissing in my pants from the excitement. Lloyd shared in my excitement. I said "guess I owe you some money" and he made a long drawn out presentation (oh boy I said, here it comes...), finally saying "how about you send me $250?"
Well that same carb eventually got me down to 10.50 in D/S and 10.02 in SS/H. I tried different air bleed sizes and no improvement.
I've kept in touch with DG and Lloyd and have spent many hours on the phone with him. He trully is a racing legend and you won't find a nicer guy. Same with DG.
I've tried calling Lloyd at the home but he's not good at answering the phone. I would love to drop in one day and keep him company for awhile. I'm all for a card. Is that done on the internet and mailed to his home?
Now that Daniel kid, he was supposed to be building a Rambler on my advice for Stock. I'm a little pieved to see mention of a Buick instead! :rolleyes:
Lloyd, I hope you get this. You've been a great influence in my racing and I owe you.
Peace...
Jeff Lee

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

I have been planning to go see Lloyd again.. the problem with going to see him is that the care center (nursing home, call it what you will) is about 3 and a half hours away from Bartlesville... one way .. so its an all day thing to go see him.. but i will for certain let him know that this thread was started & how many ppl are thinking about him still.. i may even take a laptop with me & show him... & jeff if it makes you feel any better i have been working on my 69 american this month trying to get it road worthy.. we'll see what happens, but i also have a 67 mustang coupe that Lloyd & I were going to make into a stocker.. but never got a chance to...

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

I would love to see more pics!

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

I will do a massive mega-dittos to all the good things said about this pair. Lloyd and D.G. are some of the best people I have ever met in the sport. Their GT Mustand was one of the first GT cars built when NHRA started the classes, and the first stick GT car ever built IIRC. Very specal guys. Lloyd, in his humility and down-home ways, was brilliant. That's a lot for me to say, considerng they raced Fords, were Okies, and all. :) (Showing my Ozark-American roots there.)

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

Thanks for all the replys. Although I didn't have any direct interaction with the duo, they sure made an impression on me. Looks like I'm not the only one.

Post that address up, I'll send Lloyd a card.

Keep the replys coming and let's see some more photos.

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

Great guys, I had not seen them in about 20 years, but I ran into them, in Topeka a few years back, and we visited a good long while. Lloyd was already in a wheel chair, but still had his great smile, and additude, We talked a lot about all the good times we had racing Super Stock over the years. Lloyd, I have you in my prayers old buddy.
Eddie Rezac

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

dad called to tell me about this post. he told me a tidbit of imformation that a lot of people probably didn't know about the blue oval wonders. loyd used to race a 58 pontiac. how many knew that? maybe D.G. will get on here with pictures. someone needs to post pictures of there mustang with motor wheels looks really cool.

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

I knew Lloyd and DG when i raced Division 5 a "few " years ago and in the early 80s had a ball pitted next to them at Indy . They are top Notch people and I feel so fortunate to know them . I used to call Lloyd all the time to discuss racing and we had some great talks .:)

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

Somebody ought to print out all these notes and take them to Lloyd to read. I spent 3 months in a rehab facility last year with a problem I was having with my legs, and I'm telling you, it gets pretty boring and lonely. I am sure that, seeing how well he is remembered and respected (along with his racing partner,) would put a smile on his face, and brighten his days for a long time to come!

I'd do it, myself, but he doesn't know me.

But, it needs to be done...

Bill

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

Bill,
That is a great thought. I just have to pass on my best wishes to Lloyd, I believe this string will find it's way to Lloyd soon.
I am another who had the pleasure of getting to know and spending time with Lloyd & DG. There are none better and I am very fortunate to have spent time with them.

Bill Ringer

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

I sure do miss seeing Lloyd. We used to have a lot of fun with him and D.G. at the races.
Big Ed Dobson and I would always do our impersonations of Lloyds mannerisms, even Lloyd enjoyed hearing us do it!
I got a lot of good Lloyd stories!
Daniel, hope to see you again soon too!

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

It is heart warming to see all of the nice things everyone is writing about these two fine gentlemen so i have to tell my story .. several years ago along about 1983 or 84 we were at a div. 5 race in marion S.D.we had been there for a few hours and this new white chevy dually towing a white chapparell trailer came in to park next to us [ only the pros had chapparells at that time ] well i quickly learned it was lloyd and DG this was around the time that natl. dragster did a story on them and they were on the cover . me being a 14 year old punk kid thought that was the neatest thing in the world "parking next to some racers who had just been on the cover of natl. dragster" . [ if you look closely in the background of one of these posted photos there is a green 68 chevelle SS/KA # 5001 parked behind the CJ that was my dads car and this is the weekend i am telling you about ] after they had got out and unloaded everything i went over to look at they"re mustang and talk to them if they would talk to me and talk did they ! i"ll bet i talked to them mainly lloyd for several hours over the weekend asking allot of probably stupid questions to them but none the less he was very gracious to answer them and from that day on we became good friends . you know what is very ironic about this story every time i would see lloyd he always brings up this race and laughs about how young my brothers and i were and always says" it"s nice to see you guys are out here doing this together " well lloyd if you happen to get this just wanted to let you know we are thinking about you and to get well ! P.S. maybe you can con one of the nurses into sneaking a few COORS LIGHT'S in for ya LOL! FYI i have a copy of that natl. dragster with them on the cover that lloyd gave me 4or 5 years ago i remember asking him when i was at they"re shop visiting if they buy chance still had any copies left and he said yes and i asked if he would sell a copy to me and he laughed and said " i am flattered that you would even want one " and he gave me a copy that i very much cherish ! these are people you meet only once in a lifetime . and i am very proud to say they are my friends ... chris

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

I first met Lloyd and DG on the way to Bowling Green back in the mid 70's. As everyone has said, they were great racers, great guys and a 1st Class act. We actually raced each other many times and had a lot of fun.

Sorry to hear about Lloyd and offer my prayers.

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

What ND issue was that?

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

the dragster issue is volume xxv number 16 july 20th 1984. it has the picture of the cobra jet at the winternationals .

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

I knew I had one more photo in my collection of their older Mustang...

Enjoy...

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i...57/TVD3286.jpg

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

a few more pics... gimme some time to scan some more of them
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/a...acecarshop.jpg
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/a...rtsnatls77.jpg
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/a...ydcarbhelp.jpg
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/a...8ndriveway.jpg

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

Daniel

I talked to DG yesterday and he was going to get me Lloyd's address for me to post. How about you getting it and posting it on here. DG told me that its a pretty sad situation, but the man who handles the mail is close to Lloyd and he would make sure he got the correspondence and would probably read them to him.

Rolee

Any time you want to make the trip I'm in, just call or email. A couple of days notice is all I need.

I know that we all bitch and moan about things not being right or done to our satisfaction, but can you imagine whats it like to be in the condition that Lloyd is in and just hanging around and waiting for the end.............

RJ

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

Talihina Veterans Center
c/o Lloyd Bray
P.O. Box 1168
Talihina, Oklahoma 74571

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

Daniel,
Thanks for the info. It is so great to read everyones threads about Lloyd & D.G.
Lloyd has always been so nice to me, he has really helped me with my car and always
was there with encouragement! I really need to go and see him.
D.G. is such a class act, he has a great attitude.
We did have some great times in the pits together! Although adult beverage consumption
has erased alot of what I hoped to remember!
Lloyd, I think of you often, thanks for all the help!
D.G. I am amazed how you can keep everything together
Daniel, its great "kid" that you helped Lloyd, and now that you remind us
NOT to forget him!
I will now make it a point to hook up with Cimo for a road trip to visit him
hopefully next month.

Marty

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

sorry for the minor thread hijack--can anyone tell me about the camaro in the lane next to them in this photo??

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

http://www.classracer.com/classforum...1&d=1245372255

Love that first pic. A Cobra Jet Mustang out front and a '69 Shelby in the back. Those must have been some good times.

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

I believe I took that photo at the Winternationals in Pomona.
The Camaro is a Division 7 car, as you can see...

Re: Anybody have any history on these guys?
 

I believe the black "tony" camaro is Harvey Lawson.