We rode up to Marion with my Dad - grandpa Jack. He is not one to be silent for long and we talked about various topics. I happened to ask him if he remembered people being busted for drag racing on Highway 70 when it was being constructed. I had recalled seeing the article in the paper when I was growing up.
He could not remember the exact year, but he bought a Dodge that was like a 1954 model. It was a sedan and they somehow squished a V-8 engine into it. He said that it was not really made for a V-8, but they made it fit and there was only like a inch or two space between the engine and the fender wells. So it was a small but fast car - it was like all engine. He also said it had a unique transmission. You could run it as an automatic, or you could shift it like it had a clutch.
So a guy with a chevy had an engine with 2 carburetors. He thought that he was the fastest in town, Dad thought he was the fastest. So they raced and Dad won. They raced a second time with the same result.
Dude was hopping mad. So dude had an idea - lets race backwards! Well he did not know it but Dad had experience with tow motors and had done a lot of factory work moving stuff around - forwards and of course backwards. So the two cars lined up, rear bumpers forward and of course Dad smoked him. Dude laid rubber getting out of there and never challenged Dad again.
This was the same Dodge that Dad used to date my mother. 503 is a curvy road between Lewisburg and West Alexandria. It has several hills. He used to pass cars on a blind curve - never knowing is a car is coming from the other direction or not. Mom used to get frantic - and finally got him to stop doing that. Knowing Dad now, you would never think that he was dare devil who drag raced, ran in demolition derbies and passed on blind curves. But at one time - he was that guy.
