Trick or Ticket
90% of our street drags would happen in
downtown Seattle. They would start from a stop light across the length
of an intersection, an additional 30 feet at best. Then you would be
up against a line of cars stopped at the next light.
There were other areas in Seattle such as Harbor Island were
you could find a measured ¼ mile. But this area was for the big boys.
Besides, it was more fun downtown. Usually there would be a couple of
guys in each car, sometimes more. When I won it would be up to my
buddies while we were waiting at the next light, to talk some dirt. I
mean some real nasty stuff, about my opponents car, their mother, and
especially about their sisters.
This was just another way to humble
your opponent. There were times the occupants of the other car would
take the commits personally and the fight was on, but that was rare.
Denny and I had just left the drag strip and turned onto a
four-lane highway when the 56 Chevy pulled up along side of us. We
could tell the Chevy was in second gear and the driver was just
waiting for us to make our move. Denny asked. "Are we cleared, John?"
I looked behind us to make sure there were no state patrol cars.
"You're cleared", I said. Denny shifted down. The race was on.
We were going up a long sloping hill. Denny made such a fine
shift into high gear, it made the tires chirp. We were a half a car
length ahead of the Chevy. Just before the crest of a hill, Denny
backed off at 100 MPH. The 56 Chevy went flying past us. We saw the
state patrol car parked about 1/3 of the way down the hill. Denny hit
the brake light switch turning the taillights off pushed in the clutch
and rode his brakes down the hill.
The driver of the 56 Chevy backed
off too late. He hit his brakes hard. His rear tires were smoking, his
taillights were on and his pipes were making a loud noise as he went
by the State Patrol. We went by the State Patrol at 45 MPH, nice and
quiet.
"He pulled out on us, John", Denny said looking in the mirror.
The State Patrol went around us, and pulled the Chevy over. It just
pays to know all the tricks.
After Fact - Denny and I always backed off at 100 MPH. If you didn't
have the other car beat by then, another 20 or 30 MPH wouldn't make
any difference.
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