The "Tempest Reigns" Story

It was an ordinary day. I was on my way to US Route 30 Drag-O-Way in York, PA to race my car. The story started in 1965 when I saw a guy at a local McDonald's with a really neat blue suede jacket with white leather sleeves. On the back of the jacket in big letters read "U.S. Route 30 Drag-O-Way." I told my friend Terry D. that I have to get one of those jackets. Seems that in York, PA the year before someone opened a drag strip for car racing on the York airport runway. I was some what of a piston-head, but only because I loved really neat, shiny, fast cars. I had a 1958 Chevy Impala convertible at the time and had just customized it for a class at Millersville State Teacher's College. I told Terry that I'll have to take my Chevy to the drag strip and see if I can win a jacket. "Yeah, right!" was his answer. Well, a few months passed and I continued to read about the drag strip in York and all the big names that were showing up there to race. Don "Big Daddy" Garlits raced there on occasion. Crowds of 10,000 people were common. The airport had a 5,000 foot strip so the big horsepower cars could race there. The "Funny Cars" would compete there occasionally. The racing was between two cars that would accelerate for 1/4 mile in a hopefully straight line to see who would reach the finish line with the best time. Many "Muscle Cars" or high performance cars with big cubic inch engines were being produced and in Detroit at the time, so everyone wanted to see who was the best. I fell into that craze!! More time passed and I sold my Chevy to a friend I worked with at the Acme Supermarket. How dumb was that? Gas was getting costly and I wanted a more economical car. So I bought a 1961 Pontiac Tempest. Yeah, you're reading that right. Certainly not a car for those with speed in their blood. Burgundy in color with a four cylinder, 195 horsepower and automatic transmission. Certainly not cool, but I was getting over the "being cool" stage of my life. No, that's not right, because I never got over that yet. Terry saw me one day at work and said, "Now you could probably win at the drags." "With that car?" I replied. "You race against cars with the same horsepower and cubic inch engine so you should have a chance," he said. In the meantime I had added really neat chrome wheels to add some "class" to the car. My uncle said If I take the exhaust off at the engine, it would add a few extra horsepower to the engine. "OK, let's go," I told Terry. We're on our way to U.S. Route 30 Drag-O-Way to win a jacket. Didn't tell my parents. Thought I'd surprise them when I walked in with the jacket on that night. Took about 45 minutes to reach the race track and it was packed. Paid the fee and followed the signs to the pit area and had them inspect the car and write a classification on the driver's side of the windshield. Terry and I disconnected the exhaust from the manifold and I pulled in line to race. Close to the front of the line an official came by the car to check it and told me to put on my helmet. Uh, Oh! "Don't have one," I told the guy. "Can't race then," he told me. Just then here comes Terry with a helmet he borrowed from someone. Strapped it on and I was ready. Finally, it was my turn! I pulled to Lane 1 and a big Ford with a scoop on the hood pulled next to me in Lane 2. The noise was deafening! No way can I beat that guy!! The "Christmas tree" or starting lights began. These are a series of about 6 lights with 5 red running vertically top to bottom with a green light at the very bottom. I pushed the gas pedal halfway down and pushed hard on the brake. The red lights started and when the green light came on I released the brake pedal and pushed the gas pedal to the floor. Then I realized that the car next to me hadn't started. I later found out he was in a different classification and I had a time difference based on our horsepower. I had a 100 foot lead when he finally started. I was halfway down the 1/4 mile when he went flying past me. I'm not sure of my time anymore, but I remember that I almost reached 80 MPH. What a feeling! Half exhilarating, half scared! I pulled into the pit area and Terry said that he found out that I am the only car in my category for the night and I automatically win. A jacket! No way. Then I found out there has to be a minimum of a dozen cars in a class before they award a jacket. For my winning effort I got a certificate. Can't even locate it anymore. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Don't have a photo of me at the drags, but do have a photo of the Tempest that was decorated for my wedding. Check us out in the back seat.