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On my 32nd birthday, March 8, 1979, I got two
presents. One was the very first software video camera on the market. It was just amazing
that what you shot could be instantly viewed. I had tinkered with film cameras, but this
was unbelievable. The second present I got was not so welcomed. It was a ticket to the
1979 Gatornationals from my best friend Jimmy Galuzzi. Oh no, not a drag race. I had never
been to a drag race and didn’t want to start now. Jimmy was an avid racer and always
begged me to go with him to Englishtown. Being a hard-core New Yorker, just the fact that
E-town was in Jersey was enough to make me stay away. I mean nobody goes to Jersey for
anything. And I had seen drag racing on TV and, man, it was boring. And here he wanted me
to fly 1200 miles to Florida and take in four days of racing.  Please…shoot me now.
Well, this particular winter was brutal in New York, so I figured, oh what the hell,
let’s go. At worst I’ll get a sun tan. On the flight down I was trying to think
of all kinds of excuses to avoid going to that race. Disney World was open, hey let’s
go there. It’s my birthday. We pick up our buddy Dave who lives in Daytona
where we landed and drive to Mickey’s place. Ah, one day down, three to go. We stay
an extra day. Great! Two down, two to go. By now Dave and Jimmy are hip to my tactics and
take over. We drive to Gainesville on Saturday as they prep me for what would be in store.
Me, I’m groaning every mile. But we’re having a good old time thanks to many
twinkling illegal substances containing many pretty colors.
Let the good times roll.
So they’re talking about funny cars and all I could picture in my head was some
paisley-colored Volkswagen. I had reluctantly sat through NHRA TV shows at Jimmy’s
house and couldn’t understand how anybody would want to waste their time watching
this boring, dull thing. Well, we get to the track. Pretty impressive. Lots of drag cars.
I had never experienced any of them. But I kept an open mind…yeah, right. We take our
seats on the top of the stands by the 100-foot mark. Nice three-quarter angle from up
high. (At this point I was looking at everything from a lens vantage point of view.)
Pro Stock was running when we got there and Jimmy, a Glidden fan, was into it. I’m
sitting next to him bored silly, gagging. Please God, let the time pass quickly. Good. Pro
Stock over, the first pair of Funny Cars are wheeled out. It was WENDY’S HOT &
JUICY and The CHELSEA KING. Pretty neat-looking cars. Weird, but more of the same, I
thought. Well at least it’s the last class of the day and we can bolt soon. The crowd
rises in thunderous applause. OK…the starter gives the signal to fire up and fire up
they do. Holy Moly!
Now, there is one thing all drag race fans have in common. It’s the thing that I
believe bonds us all. It’s watching a lit fuel car, live, for the first time. Good
God Almighty. Such a thing as this exists? I simply could not fathom what was taking
place. how the ground shook, how the fans erupted in simultaneous cheers, how hypnotic,
mesmerizing, nitro was. And then they both burned out. Well, shut my mouth and blow me
down; this was the most intense thing I had ever witnessed. Awesome in its fury and
passion. Unleashed dinosaurs tearing up terra firma. It was simply spectacular. That cack,
cack, cack…the smell.
My Lord, I thought, this is not what I saw on television. "This has got to be on
tape," I said. It was large entertainment of the highest degree. Raw, unbridled
energy. Pure in its form. Soulful, surreal. Rock & Roll. A feast for the eyes.
 I didn’t know how I would do it, or
how long it would take, or how much it would cost, or if I could make any money at it. I
just knew that I was chosen to be the one who would change the "look" of
televised drag racing and driven to do it from that day to this.
After all, all I had to do was translate to tape what I saw and felt. Could it be any
simpler?
Dean Papadeas founded Main Event Video and fulfilled his dreams. |
