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rodding

racing

To check out some of my "old" rodding and/or racing pictures, click on the respective arrows below.

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"The Best Of South Texas Rodding

and Racing; Past and Present!"

Green Valley Race City

AA/DA Dragster

Don & Shorty Metz

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Although I was born in south Texas, my teenage and college years and my first couple of years of marriage were spent in
the historic Houston Heights district. My now 22 year old son went to private and magnate schools in the Heights and
since my parent's home is in the Heights, I still feel a connection to the area. Recently the Houston Heights Chamber of
Commerce put on a Crawfish Festival and one of the event's attractions was an open car show. All the festivities were
held the parking lot of an old K-Mart where my sister got her first job. I was in Sealy covering a nostalgic rodding and

racing event (above) but my brother was able to swing by for a little while after covering an event in New Caney just north of Houston. Although it was a
small show, some good looking vehicles showed up including a sharp looking, nostalgic style, early '50s Chevy pickup with California plates on it. Check out
the pickup and a few others below.

CRAWFISH FESTIVAL in the Heights

Although I was born in south Texas, my teenage and college years and my first couple of years of marriage were spent in
the historic Houston Heights district. My now 22 year old son also went to schools in the Heights and since my parent's
home is in the Heights, I still feel a connection to the area. Recently the Houston Heights Chamber of Commerce put on a
Crawfish Festival and one of the event's attractions was an open car show. All the festivities were held the parking lot of
an old K-Mart where my sister got her first job. I was in Sealy covering a nostalgic rodding and racing event (above) but

my brother was able to swing by for a little while after covering an event in New Caney just north of Houston. Although it was a small show, some good
looking vehicles showed up including a sharp looking, nostalgic style, early '50s Chevy pickup with California plates on it. Check out
the pickup and a few others below.

CRAWFISH FESTIVAL in the Heights

*A couple of weeks after the HEIGHTS CRAWFISH SHOW, I was driving around up in north Houston and saw the same early '50s Chevy pickup above for
sale at a local car dealership. My brother did say that the truck was offered for sale at the show. A steep $50,000 and the truck is yours.

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On March 28, 2012, it was announced that Indy
Car racing would return to Houston October 4-6,
2013 with the IZOD IndyCar, Shell/Pennzoil
Grand Prix of Houston. On the right is a picture
I took at the last event in 2007.

THE "GRUMP" IS GONE. Pioneer Chevrolet Pro Stock driver Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins passed away March 29 at the age of 81. In almost
four decades of following drag racing, Jenkins is the only driver that I can remember rooting for. He was to Chevrolet Pro Stock racing
what Sox and Martin were to Mopar. Ten years ago, when the NHRA was celebrating their 50th anniversary, they compiled a list of the
top 50 drag racers of all time and Jenkins easily made the top ten at number eight. Checking my old pictures that I've since converted to
digital, I came up with the three below. I believe Larry Lombardo was driving the Camaro at the NHRA Cajun Nationals while Ken
Dondero was at the helm of Jenkins' Vega at Green Valley Race City. Below that is a 1/18 scale diecast replica of Jenkin's '68 Nova
Super Stocker that I've owned for a few years. To it's left is a 1/24 diecast replica of Jenkins' '68 Camaro Pro Stocker that won the
first ever NHRA Pro Stock Eliminator title at the 1970 Winternationals in California. An e-mail from Supercar Collectibles first
informed me of Jenkins' passing so I went ahead and ordered the legendary race car from them. Can't wait for it's arrival.

FINALLY! Finally nostalgic drag racing down here in the Houston area. We have our share of nostalgic hot rod shows but as far as nostalgic
drag racing goes, almost non-existent. Thank God for the Niftee 50ees Classic Cruisers and Lone Star Motorsports Park. They combined to
bring us the Second Annual "MEET THE LEGENDS" drag race, rod run and car show event. The inaugural event, which I missed, was up in
Navasota last year and this year it was 60 miles west of Houston in Sealy. Check out some of the"racing" vehicles below and click on Jeff
Norwell's event poster for extended coverage including more racing and car show images following the Third Coast Nationals coverage (above).

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Inaugural THIRD COAST NATIONALS

Car and Truck Show @ the HAWG STOP Bar

Inaugural THIRD COAST NATIONALS

(Click on "HAWG STOP" logo for "THIRD COAST" coverage)

Inaugural THIRD COAST NATIONALS

Car and Truck Show @ the HAWG STOP Bar

Inaugural THIRD COAST NATIONALS

(Click on "HAWG STOP" logo for "THIRD COAST" coverage)

In the past I have posted images of vehicles that were up for auction
at several of the Barrett Jackson events. I would then update my site
with final selling prices. This year Mecum Auctions is having an
inaugural event down here in Houston and I was anxious to see if I had
seen any of the offered vehicles before at local car shows. I know the
auction offers vehicles from all over the country but I decided to
check it out anyway. Below are some of the more "interesting" vehicles
offered including the first two which I've seen this year at local shows.

This "wild", all-steel 1939 Ford Coupe is as wild as they come. I know it's hard but try not to "notice" the jet engine sticking out of the trunk. The
fully custom '39 Ford is "normally" powered by a 398 Chrysler Hemi with a 671 blower topped with twin 750 cfm carburetors. The Turbo 400
trans is shifted by a button shifter in the custom interior with air conditioning and a full stereo system with iPod connection. The reinforced (I
wonder why?) Morrison frame rides on Corvette front and rear suspensions. Added enmities include rear view cameras, a fire extinguisher system
(I wonder why again?) and electric hood and trunk. I don't completely understand the terminology but it's being sold with a custom Garrett APU
Jet engine with four afterburners and two 2500 psi auxiliary jet fuel pumps. Still couldn't do anything about the Houston traffic but at least you
wouldn't have to worry about someone tailgating. Should be interesting to see just how much it sells for.

Not much information on this good looking nostalgic '49 Chevy pickup. It has less than 10,000 miles since it's rebuild and includes all the creature
comforts; automatic, air conditioning, power windows, power brakes, air shocks and a 350ci Chevy engine. I saw this truck at the Houston Heights
show (above). It had California plates on it and had a "For Sale" sign on it. They were asking $50,000 so we'll see how they do at auction.

Here's a good looking '71 Nova Street Machine. It's listed as a "Resto Mod" but whatever you want to call it, its a good looking car. Besides its
beautiful copper and black paint job, it has a complete leather interior with Dakota digital instruments and fully polished stainless metal work. It
rides on Mickey Thompson radials mounted on Billet Specialties wheels. And it doesn't just "show" good, it goes good! Power comes from a 572ci
Reher & Morrison big-block Chevy with aluminum heads hooked up to a TCI 400 Turbo transmission back into a Dana 60 posi rear end.

Don't know if they added this one later or I just missed it the first time around but check out the body mods on this '56 GMC pickup. There was
absolutely no information listed on this auction but just check out the pictures; they tell the whole story.

1946 Buick Roadmaster

1956 Ford Pickup

1957 Chevy 210

1963 Plymouth Belvedere

1937 Dodge Humpback

1959 Chevy

The above vehicles are a few of my "favorites" from the auction but the auction has it all; classics,
muscle cars, street machines, hot rods, trucks and more. Click on the small Mecum logo on the left to
direct you to the Mecum website where you can see all of their upcoming auctions. I'll be posting
some of their Indianapolis Auction racing vehicles that will be going across the block soon.

I'm sure I've said it more
than once; "I love nostalgic
drag racing". If I had to pick
a favorite "current" drag
racing class, it would have to
be the wild Pro Modifieds. As
a comparison, they are the

closest to the wild nitro-burning, short-wheelbase Fuel
Altereds from the "good old days". One of the sites I visit
frequently is Pro Mod Zone. They cover all the latest news
concerning Pro Mod racing but it's the message boards that I
visit the most. They have several boards covering different
topics but my favorite is "Blast From The Past" where fans
like me can post and share older racing images like these!

O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals

I can't believe I updated just last week and completely forgot to mention the largest racing event in the
Houston area. I'm referring to the upcoming O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals on April 27-29 at
Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown. All the "big dawgs" are coming to Houston and although it's still a week away,
the predicted weather looks great. Pre race activities have already started including the appearances of the
John Force Racing Team at local Walmarts. Since this is short notice, your best bet is to check out the NHRA
website or go straight to royalpurpleraceway.com for pertinent information regarding schedule and prices. On a
side note; wouldn't it be great if Houston native Erica Enders could become the first ever woman Pro Stock
winner? She's been close on several occasions so let's head to the track and root for the "home girl".