I got the assignment to cover the Edelbrock car show this weekend. I think it is manifold destiny that I was tagged with this assignment because this year the show is honoring the historic Trans Am Series Cars.
I love those pony cars and the heroes that raced them. I think I was selected to cover this event cause I’m the only one here old enough to remember the Trans Am series in heyday of stock car racing. REAL Stock cars. Not those engineered pseudo “stock cars” on the NASCAR track these days. Those are impressive, and I love NASCAR, but those aren’t stock. The Trans Am series had real stock cars. The same cars you could buy at the showroom were out on the road courses, racing side by side. I wanted one sooooo…. bad.
I loved the AMX cars, but who didn’t? But the highest on my dream list was the Barracuda. I would have done anything to have a ‘cuda fastback. That car looked like it was going 100 mph when it was parked. I still want one.
The Edelbrock car show is one of the perks of this job. I missed out on meeting a lot of my childhood heroes like Smokey Yunick, Fireball Roberts, and Tiny Lund. Now I get the chance to meet some of the legends, and I’m not going to miss it. Vic Edelbrock Jr and his racing daughters will be there. They have done so much in the racing world that I am really looking forward to shaking Mr. Edelbrock’s hand. I can’t even imagine the things he’s seen, the people that he’s raced with and supported in racing over the years….it’s just mind blowing.
Parnelli Jones will be there too. Back when USAC and Indy Cars were the heavy hitters of the American racing scene, Parnelli drove and won in about everything there was. I always remember him in a red, white and blue car. Seems to me that he always sported number 15 or 40. And he always was at or near the front. Always. The man won the 1963 Indy 500 and should have won at least one other when a seven dollars part failed. A member of just about every racing Hall of Fame that exists. And I am going to meet him!
A personal hero of mine will also be there. George Follmer. Mr. Sportscar. Mr. Follmer is another one of those guys that could race and win in any series, and in any car. He is the only man that won the Trans Am series and the Can Am series in the same year. What makes Mr. Follmer stand out as a hero to me is his willingness to do the right thing, for the right reason. The year that he stood up to the USAC sanctioning body for the right to race in other sanctioned events is a milestone for all the racers that came after. USAC was a very powerful organization back then. They had complete control over their drivers. Absolute power. Yet one man had the courage to challenge that absolute power, to do the right thing, and Mr. Follmer emerged as a hero to many. And, I’m going to meet him!
Man….I can’t wait till Sunday. I want to sit in the Smokey Yunick Camaro, talk to the Edelbrocks, shake hands with an Indy 500 winner and talk with one of the most courageous men that raced in the 60’s and 70’s.
My fun meter is pegged.
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