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We had no cooler, no food, no water, no Grape Nehi sodas, and no place to stay that night. Oh well, at least the old Ford had survived the trip there and we were going to see the racers we had only read about.
Talk about overwhelmed! We must have walked 20 miles that day on adrenaline alone. We actually talked to Dyno Don, Fast Eddie Schartman, and Ronnie Sox, and watched them tear Hemis apart right in the pits. Here is a strange thing: Most of the funny cars and touring racers had open trailers or ramp trucks and worked on their racecars on the grass and dirt. It was, without a doubt, the most awesome experience in my life up to that point.
When the last cars had made their runs and the sun was starting to set we realized our plan had a major flaw. Without a motel and being low on money already, we had to find a place to get cleaned up and sleep. We found a place to camp in Clermont at the Lion’s Club Park. The shower was full and we smelled so bad we couldn’t wait that long so we found an alternative shower. We rolled the Fairlane into the car wash, closed the doors and pressure-washed each other until most of the sweat and grime was gone. Now that we were refreshed (at least improved a little) we went to the Lion’s Park.
No sleeping bags, no blankets, no nothing. We walked the campgrounds and looked at all the race cars (back then the racers took their cars to the campgrounds to work on them, wax ‘em, “test” ‘em, etc. Anglia gassers with fuel injection, Max-Wedge cars, ’57 Chevy Jr. Stockers -- the Park was jammed with people and cars. I think we passed out about 10 p.m. to the sounds of open headers and revving engines that were being readied for the next day. Sleeping in the car seemed like a night at the Hilton at that point. Up at dawn, we found out the Lion’s Park had a pancake breakfast! About eight pancakes later we were ready for Day 2 of the U.S. Nationals.
AWESOME. We sat in the bleachers for hours watching Top Fuel, twin-engine dragsters, muscle cars of all types. We found a new sandwich too. The grilled sausage cooked in peppers and onions! (I am going to look for them this year, I don’t care what the cardiologists say! It’s Indy, damn it!) We walked down the side of the track to watch the finish line area and the shut-down area. It was a life-changing experience for both of us. We had never seen anything or been anywhere like it.
We stayed in the Lion’s Park again Sunday night but we had to leave Monday morning to get home in time to go to work at 5:30 Tuesday morning. We talked constantly on the way home and fatigue was never a factor. We had “great plans” on what we were going to do to our cars to make them faster. I think we got back with about $3.00 between us, and, considering we had just spent what took us two weeks to earn, it seemed like the bargain of a lifetime. We vowed to go back the next year. (Bill actually joined the Navy and never returned to Marshalltown, IA.) I got married that winter and our first “official honeymoon” was a camping trip to the 1970 U.S. Nationals!! We stayed at the Lion’s Park again and IT WAS AWESOME!
I hope you have made a “trip to remember” at some point in your life. My first trip to the U.S. Nationals will live in my memory forever. Now I get to return, maybe for the last time, and write a story about cars I have been in love with for over 30 years, the 1968 Hemi-Cudas and Darts. I hope my story does them justice and I hope you’ll read my same-day updates here in Mopar Max this week. I’ll get a final story up on Tuesday or Wednesday for all you Hemi-Freaks!
Until then, never pass up a chance to make that “trip of a lifetime.” Life is too short to wait for enough money, enough time or whatever excuses you are using to not live a dream. I have been lucky enough to have a lot of dreams fulfilled in my lifetime. This weekend will be another one. For that I am thankful to God for allowing me to still be here, Barb for sharing those dreams, and Jeff for the opportunities he has presented us to fulfill some of them.
