My Scamp @ Raceway Park, Englishtown, NJ

[Old Moparz]

Ever spend half a day looking for something & not find it? I was searching for these photos last week & couldn't locate them after going through a huge box of photos. When I was looking for something else today, I found them. 

Anyway, back in 1991 I raced my Scamp at the Mopar show at Raceway Park in NJ. This was the first time I ran it, & surprisingly I won my class. There were lots of cars & all I wanted to do was see how fast it was. I did 3 time trials & went on to win the first round. It was fun, so I came back for the next round. I won the second round too & decided to keep going. Before I knew it, I was in the last round of the class racing & won.

Next, was the King of the Hill rounds which was only about a dozen cars. Bracket racing is great since you don't really have an edge or a disadvantage, but when you pull up next to a 10 second car with a 15 second car, it's pretty intimidating.    I was next to a 1970 Super Bee owned by a guy named Ken Dickerson. I've seen him run many times, & also see him peg his dial in time, or come within 100th's of a second often.

While waiting in the staging lanes, the car next to me, a '66 or '67 Coronet that was dialed in somewhere in the 17 second range, had his hood up. It turns out it was the editor of one of the Mopar magazines, but I didn't know it, & don't recall his name. I asked him what was wrong, & he said the carb needed an adjustment, but that he didn't have a screwdriver. I got one out of my trunk & lent it to him.

He fiddled with it, thanked me, & eventually we moved up to the track. It turns out one of the final cars didn't run this round, so I didn't have to run along with the 10 second Bee. I ended up at the starting line with the 17 second Coronet who I had lent the screwdriver to. As the lights on the tree were ready, his went green & he went first, as I waited for the longest 2 seconds I can recall.

I don't remember specifically why, but I never caught him by the finish line & lost. Lending him the screwdriver was a big mistake I suppose, but I still had a blast & would have lent it to him all over again.     The most surprising part of the day was the trophy I had gotten. I didn't even know they were giving them out until the track announcer said "All class winners are to go to the souvenier booth."

The trophy was huge, & you would think I'd have won the Grand Prix or something. I wish I had pics of that day, but I never expected to run, let alone win anything. The car was my daily driver back then & I just wanted to see how the engine rebuild would do. A 318-4V, 904 automatic & a teeny 7-3/4" rear with 2.76 gears inside. That rear will be history soon, I just got the 8-3/4" back from the machine shop with a sure grip & 3.23's in it. 

The pics I do have are the following year's show & race. A friend of mine had a photographer's pass & was right out there at the starting line. They came out nice, but I had wished I had the car fixed & painted before these shots. You can still see the wrong color fender from the previous owner, as well as the small amount of rust in the rear quarter coming out.

[Old Moparz]

The year I had won my class, 1991, I ran through the exhaust & ran the best of 15.50. The following year, these pics, I opened the headers & took 3/10's off & ran a 15.20. Now with the 3.23's in the new rear, I'm thinking I may be into the 14's.

I lost the first round against this fastback Barracuda, but the photos are a cool trophy to me.

[Old Moparz]

Here's the last few pics of the car at home waiting for the rear end. I got to take the cover off & let the poor thing pose with it's trophy. 

[Johnny SixPack]

Cool stuff, Bob!

Hope the 3:23s do the job.

[Silver R/T]

cool shots, thanks for sharing

[firefighter3931]

Nice car and a cool story. 

That drag racing thing can become addictive 


Ron

[262chargers]

Neat story, and cool car 

Whats "3RDSTONE"?

[Old Moparz]

Neat story, and cool car 

Whats "3RDSTONE"?

Just my favorite Jimi Hendrix tune, "Third Stone From The Sun"   

I'm working on other custom plate ideas for my other cars & will post them after I get them from DMV. I once mentioned what I was after & was beat out for it & didn't get it.

I have 3RDSTONE on the Scamp
I have IN ASPIC on my Satellite          (Larks' Tongues In Aspic by King Crimson)
I have MOPARZ on my Dodge Ram

I have a few worked out so far, & the next plate will be for the Road Runner. All I will say is that it's Nine Inch Nails related. 

[greenpigs]

Closer?

How about: DEPENDS?

I like the dart and story but it could have used some nudity.

[Old Moparz]

Closer?

How about: DEPENDS?

I like the dart and story but it could have used some nudity.

CLOSER isn't available, haven't checked on DEPENDS yet. How does that song go? 

Funny you call it a Dart, I tell most people it's a Scamp & they are lost. When I say it's Plymouth's version of a Dart, they seem to understand. (Or they at least humor me.)

Troy will get on my case for nudity, so I had to edit the photo I took as I crossed the finish line. This is a family site you know.