Hey, 49 Out of 50
ain't that bad
By Chris Martin
Photo by Jeff Burk
8/27/03
n
recent times, NHRA had a racer named Al Brown
who attended and raced all its U.S. Nationals
events. I hope ole Al's still up, around, and
healthy, but I'll pick a year like 1990, and
say that NHRA made special notice of this guy
who had attended all the Nationals races from
Great Bend, Kansas; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma;
Detroit, Michigan; and Indianapolis. Forty-five
years of U.S. Nationals attendance -- let's
hear it for ole Al. If nuthin' else, that's
amazing sticktoitiveness, and it's highly likely
that if he's not chomping on respirator tubes,
he'll be made a special attraction when the
U.S. Nationals celebrates 50 years in 2004.
Cordova Dragway Park is one up on the Nationals
as it celebrated its 50th Anniversary World
Series of Drag Racing this past Aug. 22-24,
and wouldn't you know it, there's a racer who's
been to nearly everyone of them. Dave Jamison
of Twinsburg, Ohio attended the first World
Series of Drag Racing in 1954 at an old World
War II airstrip in Lawrenceville, Illinois,
a northern
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town
that is a matter of minutes from the Indiana
border.
Jamison, who is 65, had just gotten his driver's license at the young age of
14 thanks to a dispensation that the state of
Ohio makes for kids who work on farms. He had
just turned 15 when he got his street license
and had heard about the Automobile Timing Association
of America's World Series event at Lawrenceville.
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