Quote: mid 80's... south ave was long over by then...
From the mid 80's on, Gulf Ave was the proving grounds which was referred to as South Ave like the 3 fellas said above. We lived it.........
Gulf was n AWESOME place to run...I made probably a thousand passes there in at least a dozen different cars over the years. It was great UNLESS you happened to be wheeling a really fast car, then it could get pretty hairy. Not the marked quarter itself (actually just over 1000 feet) but the shut down area could really get your attention. Right after the finish line, there was an increasing radius curve, and then a field where some guys kept horses and trailers. The pavement was all choppy and usually covered with horse sh*t and mud. I remember one night we were alone out there and I was trying to get the bugs worked out of my friend Stan's Hemi Challenger. It had a full house Mansau 426 in it, 4 speed, 14x32's and 5.13's in the Dana. So I finally get this thing to where it gets past it's second gear stumble, and it's flat out haulin bananas up through 3rd...felt too good to not grab a handful of 4th, so I went for it. I should have known better! I go blazing past the stripe, just a blur in the night...all smiles and then I realize I gotta get this thing stopped...HA! The 10 inch drums go instant fade. I'm standing on the brake pedal, it's barely slowing down, and I'm into the bad part of that curve at probably 75 MPH. Cars's bouncing up and down on the slicks, front wheels are sliding across the muck and I'm seeing nothing but death and dismember-ship through the windshield. To this day I have no idea how I managed to not roll that damn thing, but I got through curve and the only damage were the holes I bit through my tongue. I never drove that car again without a helmet and belts. Man I miss those days!
