GREEN VALLEY

At Green Valley Drag Strip, near Gadsden, Alabama, I saw "Sneaky Pete" Robinson race, plus Raymond Godman's "Tennessee Bo-Weevil," plus the late Jimmy Nix, plus plenty of Thunderbolts, A/FXs, 413 and 426 Dodges and Plymouths and a gasser or two or more. I raced there once, in my old dragster. The track was so ancient that I didn't know where the staging marks were and ended up staging with my rear tires. When I finally got that straight, I went down through there and hit my head on the top of my roll cage, nearly knocking myself silly. Green Valley is no more. A dirt track located next door now draws in all of Gadsden's spectators.

WINSTON COUNTY

I never raced at Winston County. All I remember about it (it's now closed)is the guy who ran it, named Cooney Hicks. He raced a fast bracket car, maybe a "pre"-Pro Modified. Perfect name for a racer, Cooney Hicks.

If you went too far at Winston County, you ran off a mountain. Or so I've heard.

BYHALIA

And finally, there's Byhalia Dragway. Owned by Carlton and Mike Franks, two Willys freaks -- Carlton used to race a competitive A/Gas Supercharged Willys coupe and a truck, which he still has, and Mike has several sedans, including the old Contorno-Houser B/Gasser,

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which sees bracket action now. Byhalia is in northeast Mississippi, just over the railroad tracks, which shuts down track entrance and exit when the Memphis train comes roaring by.

There is only one incident that sticks out in our mind, the time Fran and I drove over there to watch a Dixie Pro Stock race. Now, before Pro Mods took over the match racing around these parts, there were the Dixie Pro Stocks, mountain-motored Camaros, Vegas, Vettes and 'glass '57 Chevys (Robbie Vandergriff's) high on nitrous oxide and alcohol, and maybe 20 percent nitro thrown in. About 20 showed up for this Saturday night show, held sometime in 1987.

The incident: Hugh Scott, an Alabama Pro Modder who now shoes one of those "Star Wars" chopped Willys coupes with a blower, had his candy-red fastback Corvette at Byhalia, and by this time Scott had already won his "legend" moniker. He was known as a man who wouldn't lift, regardless.

Byhalia had adequate guardrails, but in front of them, between them and the track, was about five feet of dirt and grass, kind of like a reverse boulevard with grass growing down the middle. Scott had to race somebody for final, and so he left and got out on the guy, then got squirrely and headed for the grass. Then he got it in. Grass and dirt were flying up, people were running, sparks jumping, and all I can remember was seeing that red Corvette going down through there with header pipes a'flamin' and weeds a'flyin', still a'gittin' it. Scott never lifted. You could just about see the side of his car, and he didn't lift. He took the win light.