The October "Tenn-Tuck" at Bowling Green, "A reminder that the good times still exist"

I went to the Tenn-Tuck Big Bucks bracket race held at the beautiful Bowling Green Raceway in Bowling Green, Kentucky. I had been racing IHRA and NHRA points races most of the summer and hadn't bracket raced on the 1/8 mile since Memorial Day. The races I watched and participated in at the Tenn-Tuck were some of the best I had witnessed in years.

With three days of perfect weather and a race facility that Dallas Jones and track manager Wally Kornegay had groomed to perfection, the racing was superb. It had been a long time since I actually sat down and watched a big bucks bracket race from the grandstands. There was no real "downtime" as either the Big Bucks racers were going at it or the "Little Bucks" race was taking place. A pair of cars about every 30 seconds and almost no oil downs. It was racing, as I had not seen in a long time. Where I usually race, there are ten, fifteen and even twenty minute time spans where no cars go down the track. Those tracks need to go watch a race at Bowling Green!

My wife, Barb, and I watched the final few rounds Friday night and really enjoyed it. Saturday, after a .495 exit by yours truly in the second round, we watched the remainder of the Big Bucks and Little Bucks race. WOW! I can't remember seeing the number of dead-on runs and five-0 reaction times that we witnessed.

A couple of performances stood out to us. George Rupert's dragster dialed 4.90 all Friday night right up to his runner-up spot and all day Saturday he stuck with the 4.90 into the late rounds. Bryan Robinson taking the $10,000 Friday night in his 6.4-second wheel standing Camaro did this old doorslammer fan's heart some good.

Were there lots of dragsters? Oh yes! But on the 1/8 mile I really think the door cars are on equal ground. The number of dragsters and door cars dialed in between 4.70 and 5.00 surprised me. There aren't that many fast cars running those kinds of rounds in my home state of Iowa and I was impressed by their consistency and speed. There were no street cars, imports or motorcycles, just Super Pro cars. It was a fast paced show, easy to keep track of who was winning and a fun race to watch. Even found myself cheering on the door cars every round.

As a spectator the ONE THING I appreciate that separates this event from the dozens of other big bucks races around the country is the ABSENCE of BUY-BACKS! Dallas Jones does not offer buy-backs and I applaud him for it. I realize they seem common now and we have grown used to it, but I have to admit I like it when I beat someone and they ARE NOT coming back in this race. This event does offer a Little Bucks race that starts after the third round of the Big Bucks and for $50 you can race for $2000 to win.

I met some people I hadn't seen in years and met some racers that I only knew from the Internet. It was nice to see Edmond and Scotty Richardson battling it out with local and national bracket racing hitters. Got to meet Danny Sons of Dragraceresults.com. I hadn't seen Mike Hoffman and Myron Streit of Minnesota in a long time. Johnny Labbous Sr. and Jr. putting their Mopars into late rounds.

As you can tell, I have missed 1/8 mile bracket racing and IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN. I've had my fill of IHRA and NHRA point's races and all of the sitting around for one race. Going to freshen up the old cast iron 452" in the Dart and we hope to see you at some 1/8 mile Big Bucks action in 2001.

Thanks for the memories…

Jok Nicholson
"Attitude Adjustment" '67 Dodge Dart
alias (theoldfartinadart)

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