nhusa
Well-known member
Will - I understand your passion for a "Trailer Queen" and wish I had the time, skill and money to own one. I have learned to be satisfied with a close to original T that was restored in the 50's and an A that has never been restored. Both went into a barn in the 60's when my dad got sick and they only recently became mine.
When I go to a car show I amaze people by letting the kids sit in my T (closely supervised) and demonstrate the cranking –and sometimes free start - of a T. It has been to three shows and has won a third, second and first place trophy against some nicely restored pre 40’s vehicles including brass Model Ts and beautiful Model As.
My passion is to share the history of the T and the A while spending time with my family – I am in the perfect place when I can do both at the same time.
You have significantly more NASCAR experience than I do.
Richie Evans was a friend. I met him when I was working in Corning's Process Research Center in Painted Post NY and helping Roger Treichler with suggestions on his modified. At that time I was also doing some sports car racing at The Glen. Steve Smith's first chassis book had recently come out and we were all trying to figure out suspension geometry, roll centers, roll axis, and where the cg was. The Goodyear and Firestone short track tire fight was just beginning.
The best way I can explain Richie is that he was a magnet, a sponge, and a friend; a magnet because people were drawn to him, a sponge because he soaked up information, and a friend because he did not keep secrets from me. When I saw him at the track he always wanted to show me what he was doing and discuss the next idea. Once we were so deep into a discussion about keeping the “big tires” fully in contact with the pavement that he almost missed qualifying at Spencer Speedway.
When my job took me to Ohio, I didn’t get to see Richie but followed his success. In October of 1985 I was on RT 70 near Springfield OH when I heard about his death at Martinsville. It affected me so deeply that I didn’t go to a race track for about 10 years. When we moved to NH I could hear just barely hear the Super Modifieds warming up at the local track when I worked in the yard on Saturday afternoons and it agitated me. Finally my wife told me that if I didn’t go to the track she was going to do something horrible to me because it made me “hard to live with”.
The rest is history – after attending a few races at the two NASCAR tracks near our home I started by helping with pit tours and eventually ended up in the tower with the race director. I would spend a lot more time there but frequent trips to China make it impossible for me to do anything but help.
So we are pretty much on the same page but reading different lines!
When I go to a car show I amaze people by letting the kids sit in my T (closely supervised) and demonstrate the cranking –and sometimes free start - of a T. It has been to three shows and has won a third, second and first place trophy against some nicely restored pre 40’s vehicles including brass Model Ts and beautiful Model As.
My passion is to share the history of the T and the A while spending time with my family – I am in the perfect place when I can do both at the same time.
You have significantly more NASCAR experience than I do.
Richie Evans was a friend. I met him when I was working in Corning's Process Research Center in Painted Post NY and helping Roger Treichler with suggestions on his modified. At that time I was also doing some sports car racing at The Glen. Steve Smith's first chassis book had recently come out and we were all trying to figure out suspension geometry, roll centers, roll axis, and where the cg was. The Goodyear and Firestone short track tire fight was just beginning.
The best way I can explain Richie is that he was a magnet, a sponge, and a friend; a magnet because people were drawn to him, a sponge because he soaked up information, and a friend because he did not keep secrets from me. When I saw him at the track he always wanted to show me what he was doing and discuss the next idea. Once we were so deep into a discussion about keeping the “big tires” fully in contact with the pavement that he almost missed qualifying at Spencer Speedway.
When my job took me to Ohio, I didn’t get to see Richie but followed his success. In October of 1985 I was on RT 70 near Springfield OH when I heard about his death at Martinsville. It affected me so deeply that I didn’t go to a race track for about 10 years. When we moved to NH I could hear just barely hear the Super Modifieds warming up at the local track when I worked in the yard on Saturday afternoons and it agitated me. Finally my wife told me that if I didn’t go to the track she was going to do something horrible to me because it made me “hard to live with”.
The rest is history – after attending a few races at the two NASCAR tracks near our home I started by helping with pit tours and eventually ended up in the tower with the race director. I would spend a lot more time there but frequent trips to China make it impossible for me to do anything but help.
So we are pretty much on the same page but reading different lines!
