{"id":737173,"date":"2019-01-10T01:29:58","date_gmt":"2019-01-10T09:29:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bangshift.com\/?p=737173"},"modified":"2019-01-08T20:26:10","modified_gmt":"2019-01-09T04:26:10","slug":"straight-axle-mafia-action-and-pit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bangshift.com\/bangshift1320\/straight-axle-mafia-action-and-pit\/","title":{"rendered":"Hit Job: Straight Axle Mafia Action And Pit Photos From US60 Drag Strip"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Words and photos by Doug Gregory) –\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>The Straight-Axle Mafia (henceforth referred to as SAM) has a pretty steady core of racers that we see nearly every time we attend an even they support.\u00a0 Some cars have changed, but the regular folks have been there since we started following them.\u00a0 Mike Johnson and his \u2018Comet Kaze\u2019 Mercury rarely miss a race and as reigning season Champ he was eager to repeat.\u00a0 What was once one of the slowest SAM cars is now mid-pack or better.<\/p>\n

This has also led to some much-improved burnouts and thus opportunities for good photos.\u00a0 The Dyehouse Racing Falcon adds to the unusually high number of Ford econoboxes in SAM.\u00a0 Chris Huls\u2019 \u2018Twisted Mouse\u2019 Austin is one I can always count on for a solid rolling burnout photo.\u00a0 The Thornhill coverage coming soon will prove that.\u00a0 Dwight McGuire is still pounding on the Steel Lady Nash which has been a racecar since at least 1960.\u00a0 Co-ring-leader Tony McConnell wasn\u2019t setting the track on fire, but had the nose of the Ford six-powered Tennessee Taxi pointed skyward on every launch.<\/p>\n

For that day\u2026.it was my most-reliable to get a high wheelie shot.\u00a0 Jim Baker\u2019s \u2018Crazy Horse\u2019 Mustang is equipped with zoomies and has its very own wicked tunes.\u00a0 Chuck Mitchell drove his white Comet to the track and won the straight axle class.\u00a0 Wade Craig\u2019s Poncho is a regular, but had other commitments though he still made the trek and ran.\u00a0 Josh Embry\u2019s \u2018Honest Abe\u2019 Henry J is his rebuild of an old gasser that really thunders thanks to a seriously-potent big-block.<\/p>\n

Scott Mize and Dwayne Rader lined up their real deal hotrods a couple times.\u00a0 Both of these cars are the actual rides from the day that were and are still in their families.\u00a0 The Itty bitty Hemi Anglia hails from Tennessee and the Rebel Rouser made the pull from Winchester, KY.\u00a0 Lee Vickery\u2019s TLB tribute has been on these pages before and it was a fairly accurate version.\u00a0 He\u2019s ran with the SEGA and wanted to step up his game so the tunnel-rammed big-block came out and in its place is a high-winding small-block.\u00a0 The down track photo shows how successful that change was as it bested the Falcon of SEG regular Adam Lowhorn more than once that day.\u00a0 Jerry North brought out the former Gene Fulton Willys and ran some conservative numbers (for this car).\u00a0 That thing is a real beast.\u00a0 Chuck Dever\u2019s \u2018Leave it to Dever\u2019 Dauphine is such a treat to watch and hear.\u00a0 It\u2019s powered by a big Chevy six topped with a 4-barrel carb and runs like a scalded dog.\u00a0 It\u2019s a mid-pack player or better in a field made up almost entirely of V8s.<\/p>\n

Chris Crable\u2019s multi-hue Chevy II has somewhat filled the gap left when Bruce Sturdivant sold his \u2018Tin Man\u2019 \u201964.\u00a0 This car has shown it can boil the hides and pull the wheels with ease which keeps me pointing the camera to whatever lane he is in.\u00a0 Joe Bridges is the other co-ringleader of this fun-loving group.\u00a0 He was piloting this black-primered Ford for a customer and going rounds with it.\u00a0 We\u2019ll finish with the Lowhorn and Sons \u2018Rod Slinger\u2019 Falcon showing off its guardrail rash on the driver\u2019s front corner caused by a rear-bumper-banging wheelie during a chilly event here at US-60.<\/p>\n

Keep an eye out for the show-and-shine\/pit area photos from the US-60 Spring Nostalgia Nationals.<\/p>\n

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