Driving a Dragster

Whoa, yes the night at Fontana Drags. I can't remember the guy’s last name, Jerry I believe was his first name, and he owned some kind of engine building place in Pomona CA. He had bought or some how had the (twin engine) Freight Train dragster. (Hey Frank) and we use to joke about trading rides. This was the night I showed up with the Pete Jackson injectors, one on each head, when we were still running a four inch drag slick. The power the engine put out was great, erratic actually more than that slick could stand. I hadn’t ridden the bike but a couple times and was just getting the hang of it when it blew the engine right in the timing lights. Jerry had just made a run and was down at the end of the track, had watch me get control and not fall down, when I got off the strip I pulled up behind his car. I took off my helmet and said to him, this would be a good night for that trade because you won’t have to ride the bike. Later back in the pits he walked up to me, handed me his fire suit and said OK come on. I guess he felt pretty safe because it was the night the car only had one engine it, doing some testing. They took me to the return road out of the way and I fired it up and got the feel of things, made a couple almost burnouts, he talked to me about how you shifted the trans (two speed), it was a lever close to the steering column, you pulled out. At Fontana in those days the dragsters fire up by being towed toward the end of the strip, fired, made a u-turn, came back and made another u-turn and start your staging The guys in the little timing tower Fontana had was really talking it up about me driving the dragster. Every thing went pretty good and I made a good burn out. They did have to push me back to restage after I rolled past the lights trying to stage, got the green and was way out in front of the other dragster went to shift and missed, finally got it in gear and he past me right there, I lost the race. When Jerry came to pick me up, he was excited about how I got off the line and got such hole shot on the other car. I told him I did just like my bike, let the clutch out first and follow up with the throttle. I only drove that one time, it was an experience and Jerry ask that night if I wanted to start driving for him, of course I turned it down, I already had a ride.