Dahio Drag Strip, outside Dayton Ohio, 1959. At 17, I was president of Viking Customs, a Dayton-based, NHRA charter sanctioned car club. All us area clubs used to show up at Dahio on Sundays to run the strip, a simple off-to-the-side runway at Dahio Airport. Our timing tower was a single construction scaffold with some 2 x 6 planks laid on top for the "race director" to announce from. We had an ancient set of clocks that worked sometimes and sometimes not. When they weren't working, we'd have a guy sit in the tiny little timing trailer at the big end and trip them with the tip of a pencil while eyeballing out the window of the trailer. Some of the racers used to get very excited about getting a better time at Dahio than at their home track hahahahaha.
I remember this fellow named Dick Vest who campaigned a SBC front-motor digger with a 2-spd box. He figured he could get a better time running direct, but didn't have enough horsepower to turn the hoops from the gitgo, so he had his crew bring oil-soaked rags out to the starting line and oil down the slicks so he could leave in top gear. Of course, this happened very quickly before any of us knew what they were doing and had to shut down for a while for cleanup (shovels, dirt and brooms). By the way, Dick didn't go any faster in direct than he did leaving in 2nd and shifting.
"Ohio George" Montgomery came out once or twice, but I've never seen him as mad as the last time he was out. Driving the baby blue '33 Willys, he hit the only pothole we had about mid-track and popped an axle. He managed to keep the Willys shiny-side up, but was furious and we never saw him again out there.
I was driving my '48 Ford Tudor with a '51 Merc flathead transplant, 4-bbl intake, WCFB Carter and twice-pipes. Normally I'd run F/Gas, but I remember one Sunday, we had two other very fast F/Gas cars show up from out of town. Subscribing to the (if you can't lick 'em, change cl*****) philosophy, I removed the back seat of the Ford and soloed for the trophy in C/Altered. :thumbup: