alphaone101 Hi Alphaone. You saw that match race?? How exciting! What I wouldn’t give to have been with there with my little wind up 8mm movie camera. After all these years, to hear from someone who actually was there! A witness to drag racing history Wow!
@@vintagedragsters Thank you, Mr. Pitts for the intense amount of time and effort you've put into recording the history of the early days of AA/FD racing including the interviews with members of the crews for these cars as well as memorializing those no longer with us. I was so extremely fortunate to have a brother who let me tag along with him and his friends to the drags then go around the pits on my own taking in everything that I could. I was 9 or 10 years old when I went to my first drag race at York US 30 dragstrip. When Maple Grove Drag Strip opened we mostly went there unless there was a major event happening at York US 30. I would have been 12 years old when I saw the Surfers match race at Maple Grove in Reading Pa. I could fill a column with all the famous AA/FD's that I got to see racing. My favorite AA/FD was the Hemi Hunter front engine dragster (they later had a rear engine) It was powered by a big block Chevy (the only car I know to have been running one back then and somewhat "successfully" against the Hemi powered dragsters) I was a Chevy guy and the Hemi Hunter was a local team. I also saw Jim and Allison Lee race several times in their Great Expectations dragster as well as Fred Forkner (from Maryland) is his Brief Encounters AA/FD. I never missed a single weekend at the drags if it wasn't rained out until 2 years after graduating high school. I believe that I probably saw most if not all of the popular Top Fuels teams of that era race at least once, which is probably why my hearing is so bad today! For a short time I owned a former AA/FD chassis with a beautiful, full Tom Hanna Aluminum body. A previous owner of that dragster was Bilas and Windward out of Md. They ran the car in AA/FD with a blown and injected nitro burning 426 max wedge engine, before switching over to AA/GD with a Ford SOHC Hemi in it. Bilas and Windward came to my garage to see the dragster and see if it had been their car and were able to verify that in fact it had been their former dragster. They told me that they had purchased the car from Tommy Ivo. Ivo was selling the car because it had been built for him as an ultra lightweight car (I can't remember the builder but it was one of the major builders) but the chassis flexed too much for Ivo because he ran match races on some fairly small and rough rural drag strips and the frame rails would flex at times to the point where the bottom tubs would hit the track and leave a trail of sparks! I no longer have the dragster (long story) and that effectively ended my dream of driving a front engine dragster. Mr. Pitts, thank you for reviving all those great memories I have!
@@vintagedragsters Thank you, Mr. Pitts for the intense amount of time and effort you've put into recording the history of the early days of AA/FD racing including the interviews with members of the crews for these cars as well as memorializing those no longer with us. I was so extremely fortunate to have a brother who let me tag along with him and his friends to the drags then go around the pits on my own taking in everything that I could. I was 9 or 10 years old when I went to my first drag race at York US 30 dragstrip. When Maple Grove Drag Strip opened we mostly went there unless there was a major event happening at York US 30. I would have been 12 years old when I saw the Surfers match race at Maple Grove in Reading Pa. I could fill a column with all the famous AA/FD's that I got to see racing. My favorite AA/FD was the Hemi Hunter front engine dragster (they later had a rear engine) It was powered by a big block Chevy (the only car I know to have been running one back then and somewhat "successfully" against the Hemi powered dragsters) I was a Chevy guy and the Hemi Hunter was a local team. I also saw Jim and Allison Lee race several times in their Great Expectations dragster as well as Fred Forkner (from Maryland) is his Brief Encounters AA/FD. I never missed a single weekend at the drags if it wasn't rained out until 2 years after graduating high school. I believe that I probably saw most if not all of the popular Top Fuels teams of that era race at least once, which is probably why my hearing is so bad today! For a short time I owned a former AA/FD chassis with a beautiful, full Tom Hanna Aluminum body. A previous owner of that dragster was Bilas and Windward out of Md. They ran the car in AA/FD with a blown and injected nitro burning 426 max wedge engine, before switching over to AA/GD with a Ford SOHC Hemi in it. Bilas and Windward came to my garage to see the dragster and see if it had been their car and were able to verify that in fact it had been their former dragster. They told me that they had purchased the car from Tommy Ivo. Ivo was selling the car because it had been built for him as an ultra lightweight car (I can't remember the builder but it was one of the major builders) but the chassis flexed too much for Ivo because he ran match races on some fairly small and rough rural drag strips and the frame rails would flex at times to the point where the bottom tubs would hit the track and leave a trail of sparks! I no longer have the dragster (long story) and that effectively ended my dream of driving a front engine dragster. Mr. Pitts, thank you for reviving all those great memories I have!
Great Meadows NJ, is Island Dragway. It looks the same, today, as then. Garlits ran there in 64. I race at Atco, Maple Grove, and Cecil County on a regular basis. Great stuff.
Huge fan of your work. I missed this Era of drag racing BUT am involved in a nostalgia fed with some friends. Looking for some info on a car called Satan's mate. One of the guys says he was involved with the car. Please help with pics or info. Thank you
I was there to see that match race and Maple Grove Drag strip, those were some great times!
alphaone101 Hi Alphaone. You saw that match race?? How exciting! What I wouldn’t give to have been with there with my little wind up 8mm movie camera. After all these years, to hear from someone who actually was there! A witness to drag racing history
Wow!
@@vintagedragsters Thank you, Mr. Pitts for the intense amount of time and effort you've put into recording the history of the early days of AA/FD racing including the interviews with members of the crews for these cars as well as memorializing those no longer with us. I was so extremely fortunate to have a brother who let me tag along with him and his friends to the drags then go around the pits on my own taking in everything that I could. I was 9 or 10 years old when I went to my first drag race at York US 30 dragstrip. When Maple Grove Drag Strip opened we mostly went there unless there was a major event happening at York US 30. I would have been 12 years old when I saw the Surfers match race at Maple Grove in Reading Pa. I could fill a column with all the famous AA/FD's that I got to see racing. My favorite AA/FD was the Hemi Hunter front engine dragster (they later had a rear engine) It was powered by a big block Chevy (the only car I know to have been running one back then and somewhat "successfully" against the Hemi powered dragsters) I was a Chevy guy and the Hemi Hunter was a local team. I also saw Jim and Allison Lee race several times in their Great Expectations dragster as well as Fred Forkner (from Maryland) is his Brief Encounters AA/FD. I never missed a single weekend at the drags if it wasn't rained out until 2 years after graduating high school. I believe that I probably saw most if not all of the popular Top Fuels teams of that era race at least once, which is probably why my hearing is so bad today! For a short time I owned a former AA/FD chassis with a beautiful, full Tom Hanna Aluminum body. A previous owner of that dragster was Bilas and Windward out of Md. They ran the car in AA/FD with a blown and injected nitro burning 426 max wedge engine, before switching over to AA/GD with a Ford SOHC Hemi in it. Bilas and Windward came to my garage to see the dragster and see if it had been their car and were able to verify that in fact it had been their former dragster. They told me that they had purchased the car from Tommy Ivo. Ivo was selling the car because it had been built for him as an ultra lightweight car (I can't remember the builder but it was one of the major builders) but the chassis flexed too much for Ivo because he ran match races on some fairly small and rough rural drag strips and the frame rails would flex at times to the point where the bottom tubs would hit the track and leave a trail of sparks! I no longer have the dragster (long story) and that effectively ended my dream of driving a front engine dragster. Mr. Pitts, thank you for reviving all those great memories I have!
@@vintagedragsters Thank you, Mr. Pitts for the intense amount of time and effort you've put into recording the history of the early days of AA/FD racing including the interviews with members of the crews for these cars as well as memorializing those no longer with us. I was so extremely fortunate to have a brother who let me tag along with him and his friends to the drags then go around the pits on my own taking in everything that I could. I was 9 or 10 years old when I went to my first drag race at York US 30 dragstrip. When Maple Grove Drag Strip opened we mostly went there unless there was a major event happening at York US 30. I would have been 12 years old when I saw the Surfers match race at Maple Grove in Reading Pa. I could fill a column with all the famous AA/FD's that I got to see racing. My favorite AA/FD was the Hemi Hunter front engine dragster (they later had a rear engine) It was powered by a big block Chevy (the only car I know to have been running one back then and somewhat "successfully" against the Hemi powered dragsters) I was a Chevy guy and the Hemi Hunter was a local team. I also saw Jim and Allison Lee race several times in their Great Expectations dragster as well as Fred Forkner (from Maryland) is his Brief Encounters AA/FD. I never missed a single weekend at the drags if it wasn't rained out until 2 years after graduating high school. I believe that I probably saw most if not all of the popular Top Fuels teams of that era race at least once, which is probably why my hearing is so bad today! For a short time I owned a former AA/FD chassis with a beautiful, full Tom Hanna Aluminum body. A previous owner of that dragster was Bilas and Windward out of Md. They ran the car in AA/FD with a blown and injected nitro burning 426 max wedge engine, before switching over to AA/GD with a Ford SOHC Hemi in it. Bilas and Windward came to my garage to see the dragster and see if it had been their car and were able to verify that in fact it had been their former dragster. They told me that they had purchased the car from Tommy Ivo. Ivo was selling the car because it had been built for him as an ultra lightweight car (I can't remember the builder but it was one of the major builders) but the chassis flexed too much for Ivo because he ran match races on some fairly small and rough rural drag strips and the frame rails would flex at times to the point where the bottom tubs would hit the track and leave a trail of sparks! I no longer have the dragster (long story) and that effectively ended my dream of driving a front engine dragster. Mr. Pitts, thank you for reviving all those great memories I have!
I'm suprised that they built that beautiful new car and never ran it...the surf mobile must have been clapped out after 3 years...
Cackle in the pipes. Thank you mr. Pitts for all the hard work you put into your videos you do awesome work thanks for sharing. standing ovation
Great Meadows NJ, is Island Dragway. It looks the same, today, as then. Garlits ran there in 64. I race at Atco, Maple Grove, and Cecil County on a regular basis. Great stuff.
June of 66 they had won everything and were done.
That's amusing to hear of the rod length change for the compression ratio to suit the altitude.
Can't wait to see the next one Bill!
THANK's Bill love the great videos
Looks like the Bill Maverick's new Little Red Wagon in the Drag News issue. Didn't S and J build a brand-new dragster for '67?
Indy....what a let down that must of been for the team, especially as the last race ever...THANKS BILL.
Great!
Huge fan of your work. I missed this Era of drag racing BUT am involved in a nostalgia fed with some friends. Looking for some info on a car called Satan's mate. One of the guys says he was involved with the car. Please help with pics or info. Thank you