Racing!

Yes... That IS Tire Smoke!

Click Picture above to see video of this Tire-Smoking Turbo-Pinto I built! The car is a late 70's Pinto Pony MPG with a stock Automatic Transmission, Factory (working) A/C and stock gearing (2.?:1) to which I added a Mustang Cobra II Turbo, Modified Wastegate (10 lbs. Boost) and a home-made Water/Alcohol Injection system breathing through a Holly 2bbl. It would do 115 MPH in street trim. This was the test-bed for the Mustang II (shown below) I raced in SCCA Solo II Modified competition.

The first 2 images are of the 1st stock car I ever raced. My father bought it for my older brother Tommy when I was about 14. I raced it, when I turned 15, for the 1st time at I-20 Speedway just West of Shreveport, LA. It was a nice track to learn on because a 100" wheelbase, big-block powered Full-Body w/center steering is a hand full! I spent most of the night either spinning-out into the infield or out in the "goat weeds" surrounding the track! B-) Believe it or not, I made it to the finals and missed beating the track champ by about 4" for 4th place. I have driven, built, maintained dirt cars from Hobby class up to Modifieds since then and while I never won a dirt race, I usually placed in the money (top 5). Not bad for a poor boy with no sponsors.

While not exactly Indy cars, I had a lot of fun and won more than a few races with the Red River Region of the S.C.C.A. in the other cars above and several others not shown. The Vega was bone stock while the Turbo Pinto was the "beta test" for my Mustang which had a modified 2300cc turbo engine w/water-alcohol injection, major suspension mods, Goodyear Formula Ford slicks on all 4 corners and a drastically lightened chassis! This puppy would smoke those 8" wide Goodyears in ALL 4 GEARS! As for S.C.C.A. experience, I have built and driven S.C.C.A. Solo II H-Stock (past champion, Red River Region) and E-Modified. Oh yes, that is me in the Formula Ford Swift in the background (thanks for the ride Mike!).

I also won the National Collegiate Driving Championship in 88/89 (sponsored by Dodge) at the Louisiana Tech event and was sent to the finals in Indianapolis where I finished in the middle of 40 of the best college drivers across the country. The BEST part of the whole thing was... I GOT TO EAT DINNER WITH TED NUGENT AND HIS FAMILY! YES!!! B-)

The ragged old Toyota above is actually a Red River Region, S.C.C.A. Class champion! In 1986 Jody K., driving in the photo above, and I drove that old girl HARD (we competed against each other as well as other H/S racers). I bought the car wrecked for $100, it cost another $100 to get the title an paperwork done, raced and used it for transportation for a year, won the championship in it and then SOLD IT FOR $500!!! A special thanks goes out to Barton's Auto Glass in Shreveport, LA who sponsored the car by installing a free windshield for us!

I also raced bikes (when I was younger and lighter) since I was 9 years old starting out on dirt oval short tracks and quit after several top 10 finishes in the amateur division open class Enduro as well as Hare and Hound Scrambles on both the local and national level. I stopped riding at 30 `cause my old knees and back just couldn't take any more. B-(