The "Crusin' "The Loop" And Drag Racing Across The Susquehanna" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading my favorite column in my Sunday News.  Column is written by Jack Brubaker, aka "THE SCRIBBLER," who retired from writing his daily stories and now only writes his Sunday column.  His story in the latest Sunday News tells about a local fellow named Dean Graybill who loved to cruise what was known as "Lancaster's Loop."  The loop took you from downtown Lancaster's Penn Square north on Queen Street to Clay or Ross Streets then left for a block to Prince Street and then left (south) once again back to Penn Square.  North Queen was a two lane street with both lanes heading north.  Great loop to drag race against other "souped up" cars owned by friends or just other guys with "souped up" cars.  Jack's headline in today's "The Scribbler" read "Cruising 'the Loop' and drag racing across the Susquehanna." I lived all of my teenaged life on the last block of North Queen Street.  It was one block after where the drag racing stopped on N. Queen.  Jack wrote about "cruising" the loop which I did many an evening after I bought my first car, a 1953 Henry J.  Not the best of cars to "drag" in since it was a 4-cylinder car, but my friend Jere helped me add some extra horsepower to give me a better chance to top my competition on North Queen.  Summer evenings and winter week-ends usually saw me driving "the loop" looking for some competition.  I still didn't have the horsepower to "burn rubber", but my car was so light that I gave all my competition a good run for their money.  I spent many a night riding "the loop" looking for someone to race.  Then one evening I had parked my car in front of my house in the last block of North Queen when a drunk driver ran into it and did a number to it.  Tried to fix it but it was hopeless.  Took the money I got for the wreck and bought a 1955 Ford coupe that I had my Uncle Bob paint black for me.  I now had a car with a bigger engine and I could do better against the competition.  I eventually sold that car and bought a 1958 Chevy convertible.  Didn't spend many evenings "riding the loop" since the car was to nice to race though it had a bigger engine.  By now I had a girlfriend and didn't want to spend my evenings "cruising' the loop."  Jack's story in the newspaper talked about drag racing on "the loop" as well as drag racing across the Susquehanna River between Lancaster and York Counties.  I have very few memories of drag racing on the bridge since it was a two lane highway and a bit to far to have to drive that distance from my house on N. Queen.  Jack wrote a story about a fellow named Dean Graybill who did quite a bit of racing on the bridge and who also wrote a book that featured 165 vignettes about cars and racing in Lancaster and York Counties.  His book is called "Burning Rubber, Slamming Gears & Cheap Gas."  I'm going to have to get my copy so I can relive my late teen years racing my car.  Dean's new book sounds like a good read and I'm sure will bring back many of my "Motorhead" memories.  Thanks Jack for writing the story!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.