bobby

1955 and my cousin from texas.....he wrote this to me....

.....Hi guys: This came from buddy George, who found a bunch of negs stashed
away. Taken at Amarillo airport strip, June 1955. This is the first
serious dragster that my good friend, Jack Moss built with a little Dodge
Hemi. It ran 131 at an earlier meet, and then had new Weber cam. He
predicted 135 , but don't recall what he did, except to twist an axle,
(first of many) but think he was top Eliminator after the axel fix. I was
there, home for summer vacation (two weeks! ) from NAI.. Don't you love that
big beefy roll bar? He had top time in same car at NHRA Nationals in
1956. He was shut down by the Bean Bandits. Yeah, they were a stormin'
bunch out of S. Cal.. Geesh, that was long ago!!!
Jack was captured when Japs overran Java in January, '42. He spent WWII
in several slave labor camps, and worked the Death Railway, the one that
went over the River Kwai. He is still kicking . Just completed an
electric car he calls Sparky.. We saw it and Jack at car show in Amarillo
in March. A great American and a good man.. Regards, Leroy

more on this story...............

Bobby: Hey, he is right on..Must be a displaced Texian. (Or a wanna be). The photo was taken in June of '55 at Tradewinds Airport, on S. side of Amarillo. There were several races held there, starting in '54 I think. I was there, home from CA for summer break (2 weeks). Tradewinds was the municipal airport, and the only airport strip near Amarillo I know of. Don't recall anything close and NE of town.
The strip near Pampa, was about 60 miles NE, was where we did lots of early racing. It was just "Pampa" at the time, was out on the prairie, had been a WW II practice strip. (I never knew why the strip was there until much later when learned it was built by USAAF . A buddy at NAA wind tunnel did touch & go's there, flight training in '43. He later flew B-24's in S. Pacific with the "Jolly Rogers".) The Pampa "operation" was really informal, with no tech inspection, minimum classes, "Stock" ie: "hello cheaters", "Modified Stock" (anything goes), "Dragster" ie: "My Gawd, just frame rails and an engine" or "Motorcycle". My '40 Ford Tudor flathead (bored, stroked, relieved, ported, a wild, short track cam, with two/three/or four carbs, 9:1 heads & Lincoln gearbox, & sometimes doped gasoline. Yes, it stunk! ) It was the reigning champ in Modified in '53-'54. I have a few trophies still stashed away in the garage. (We even ran 100% alky once. That's another story, huh George?)
A new, purpose built "Amarillo Dragway" became a big venue in the '60s and is still used, but not as popular as once was. During its prime time, they held NHRA Regional meets. Old timers talk about having thirty or so nitro burning dragsters, all fired and cackling at one time. Enough nostalgia to make an ol' rodder cry...
BTW: We had supper with Jack Moss last month after a car show in Amarillo. He just had his 85th b-day two weeks ago. An amazing guy. He even called me Friday to say thanks for the card I sent.
Enough for now. Cheers, Leroy

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