Scary Moments in Your Racing Career?

bill dedman · 12-11-2008, 12:47 AM

I wasn't in a car...

It was 1958 or '59... can't recall the year,exactly, but at the Carlisle (Arkansas) drag strip (a WW II bomber emergency landing strip), we had no win/lose photocell system...

What we had was a guy standing on a wooden, folding chair, in the middle of the drag strip at the finish line, with a flag.... He would raise it and tip the flag toward the winning lane as the cars went by.

Yours truly thought that would be a great place to watch the race from, so, one day I volunteered to be the "JUDGE."

The stockers weren't bad.... running 75-90mph.... not too bad at all.... then came...

Raymond Godman's Memphis-based "Boll Weevil" AA/MR; nothing but a blown Hemi dragster with a T-bucket roadster body mounted to the back half... and ran something like 150+ at that time...

One trip through the traps with his Boll Weevil on one side of me and a different 150mph car on the other, and I was ready to watch the races from a different perspective. I think I told them I was sick... not too far from the truth.

To this day, sometimes I still hear that 6:71/Hilborn 4-port coming at me at warp speed.... and me with nowhere to go...

Nobody ever accused me of being smart.

Bill

12-11-2008, 12:47 AM	#9
bill dedman VIP Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Conway, AR Posts: 1,739 Likes: 0 Liked 6 Times in 4 Posts	Re: Scary Moments in Your Racing Career? I wasn't in a car... It was 1958 or '59... can't recall the year,exactly, but at the Carlisle (Arkansas) drag strip (a WW II bomber emergency landing strip), we had no win/lose photocell system... What we had was a guy standing on a wooden, folding chair, in the middle of the drag strip at the finish line, with a flag.... He would raise it and tip the flag toward the winning lane as the cars went by. Yours truly thought that would be a great place to watch the race from, so, one day I volunteered to be the "JUDGE." The stockers weren't bad.... running 75-90mph.... not too bad at all.... then came... Raymond Godman's Memphis-based "Boll Weevil" AA/MR; nothing but a blown Hemi dragster with a T-bucket roadster body mounted to the back half... and ran something like 150+ at that time... One trip through the traps with his Boll Weevil on one side of me and a different 150mph car on the other, and I was ready to watch the races from a different perspective. I think I told them I was sick... not too far from the truth. To this day, sometimes I still hear that 6:71/Hilborn 4-port coming at me at warp speed.... and me with nowhere to go... Nobody ever accused me of being smart. Bill __________________ Bill