After reading some of the "My First Time" by the illustrious people that have contributed, I am sure that mine will be rather lame. It must have been 1956 that I went to the track at Oswego, Illinois. At that time there was nothing really memorable. I am sure that Al Thompson of Al's Speed Shop must have been there with a six-carb Chrysler Hemi in a Chassis Research frame. I went there numerous times in 1956-58, purely as a spectator. I remember the '57 fuel injected Chevys mopping up in Super Stock and John Farconas, later of Farconas, Coil and Minick running a Chrysler 300. There were rapid advances in a few short years. I witnessed the start of the touring pros.

In 1959, the late Rich Warber and I ran a Hillborn-injected Chevy-powered Crosley in B Competition Coupe. We went to the Nationals in Detroit and lost on the trophy run.

I decided that my pockets were not deep enough to continue with active drag racing. In 1960, I bought a camera and started to take pictures at the drags. The money went for other things. I was always buying new lenses, cameras and motor drives in the quest to take better pictures. At least, that was my rationale.

Some of my photos appeared in Rod & Custom, Hot Rod and Petersen's History of Drag Racing. I also sent photos to Drag News almost every week. Drag News printed almost every photo I sent. Of course, I had terrific subjects to photograph. We had a lot of great cars in the Chicago area. And then there were always the great car that was on tour.

After about 1968 I kind of tired of the grind. Going to the strip every Sunday and then going home to develop and process the prints to send to Drag News the next day before going to work. Unruly spectators that amused themselves by throwing stones at my back didn't help matters.

I kind of stayed away from the strip for a long time. I went to the opening of the Route 66 drag strip in Joliet and was blown away. The way the grand stand is shaped, like a horseshoe, and the way it is constructed, left no place for the sound to escape. I never used to put my fingers in my ears; I do now.

I go to the Spring warm ups at Tucson every year and managed to go to the Nationals at Las Vegas last year, which I will do again this year.

I can't believe how much the sport has matured in all these years. It's almost like Jack Paar once said. "From the out-house to outer space."

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