2/16/05

NEED RELEVANT BODY STYLES

You mentioned Pro Stock a couple of times. Its time has come and gone as it is. It started as "factory hot rods" that bore a resemblance to actual cars that people drove regularly. That changed years ago. The new Pro Stock already exists with the professional sport compacts. Some of the cars still have relevance. The 500 c.i. gasoline naturally aspirated engines are modernized remnants of a bygone era. Pro Stock, like many aspects of NHRA, is a reflection of big money, big business, big management that plods along and evolves slowly.

Don Seamans

A BETTER ATTITUDE

Jok: Wow! I was nodding my head in approval the whole time I was reading the subject article! Thanks for mentioning my name also, I really appreciate it. I've been sensing a lot of the negativity that you describe lately. Hopefully some people will read the article and realize how they're acting.

Also, thanks again for all of the converter help you gave us this past year. Hope to see you at the races soon.

Lane Dicken

REMEMBER DAD. . .

Thanks for the excellent [black drag racers] article. You left out a very important man in the Detroit racing scene. That man is Huston Martin the father of Harold Martin. He had a string of very fast cars in the 70's and 80's with the name "Little Kim" on the side. He was, and still is, very respected in the Detroit area.

Thanks,
Jay Thomas

. . .AND JACKSON. . .

In the Back in Black section it states that Harold Martin only runs 6.40's @ 220 and it never even mentioned IHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock driver Bert Jackson.

Drake Simmons

. . .AND THESE GUYS, TOO

Great story. I remember most of the West Coast names. How about the Porsche Bros, Howard Cam Rattler, late '60s, early '70s? Creole, to be sure.

Glenn Menard
New Orleans, LA

YOU'RE WELCOME

Chris: On behalf of all American racers of African decent, thank you for the "Drag Racing's Black History" article. I enjoyed immensely. I took the liberty of forwarding the article to a number of my buddies who may not of been familiar with DRO.

I am an American racer of African decent. I run a Super Stock/GT car. Unfortunately, due to family and business commitments, I have not raced as much as I would have liked over the years. However, I look forward to stepping up my schedule this year and beyond. As you alluded to in your article, there are a number of American racers of African decent in most, if not all of the sportsman categories.

Once again, on behalf of all of us and the entire racing community... THANK YOU!

Arvester W. Faulkner
GT/FA 2229