Ok, let’s hop in the way back machine... I remember my sister coming home from her first job. I was watching “speedracer” she says,” you should have dad bring you up to my work at lunch time. The guys race in front of work on their break.”
My sister worked for Miller brewery. They had a bottling plant on a dead end road that is about 3/4 of a mile long. The guys had some serious hardware for the time. The concrete was almost pure rubber. The street had a finish line painted across it that had been there a long time. After seeing a few races I was hooked. I remember a guy talking to my dad saying, “If you like this, come back after 10:00! He never took me back... he could see it in my eyes.
When i got old enough to ride my bike and stay out later, that is where I was. Over the years, more businesses built up around there. It got to the point where late Saturday night was the only time races would happen, but they were BIG. There would be hundreds of people watching. The air had spiderwebs of VHT all over the place. The police would let it happen. At the time the fastest cars were 10 second 1/4 cars. The two fastest cars were a 69 “302” Camaro, and a 74 Laguna S3. That huge Laguna was the first car I ever saw do a legit tire hanging wheelie on the street. That image is burned into my brain like a branding iron.
I was very close to being a Chevy guy until the night a superbee with a hemi came in and cleaned house on all the GMs. After that night I have been and always will be a mopar fan.