TopFuel@Lions
Nitro Member
Did ya ever make a trip to that strip by the ocean in Nor-Cal, Half Moon Bay? Let's hear some stories.
TopFuel@Lions
TopFuel@Lions
Half Moon Bay-Ever Go? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter TopFuel@Lions
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TopFuel@Lions
Nitro Member
It was Cliff. Half Moon Bay was never the same after Denny M was killed there.
TopFuel@Lions
TopFuel@Lions
Tell you a story about Half Moon Bay. There is a little old fashoned bakery on Main Street (Half Moon Bay Bakery) with pictures of the strip and cars on the wall. There are Dragsters - Gassers - Etc & Memorabila and it is on their web site. I think you can still get a T- Shirt from them. Google Bakeries in Half Moon Bay Ca. Yes it was like Lions but with even more fog and not as good surface.
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Denny was a great guy. When a good friend of mine and I decided to get a Dragster we wanted to run injected fuel. Bobby Christensen (Salisbury & Christensen) worked in the same machine shop for a auto parts store as me and he was drafted so we bought the old car of his and put the Small Block out of my 57 Chevy in it - got injectors from Enderle and a mag - bought 10 gallons of Nitro & 5 of Methanol and we were ready to go. We bought a 16 foot cargo chute at a place called Art's Surplus and we had almost everything we needed. Rented a 12 foot open trailer from U-Haul and hung the front wheels over the front. We packed up and drove to Palmdale to their nearly new dragstrip. Almost was the word because we did not have a Hydrometer. No problem we wanted 75% so not knowing the difference between Volume & Weight we poured out 3 quartes of Nitro to 1 quart of Alchohol. We got Teched in and pushed this Baby up the track and it made noise even though it was really rich. Larry staged her up with 20 PSI in the tires and "Let er' rip. About 10.45 seconds later @ 165 MPH he made his first pass. Everything was perfect untill he pulled the 16 foot chute. That car stopped in 100 or so feet with the head wind holding the chute wide open. I got down there and the windshield was broken and Larry was in severe pain with marks from the harness that turned Black and Blue for a couple of weeks. This guy in a Caddilac pulls out onto the track and says "What the Hell are you doing? - my name is Jim Deist and you guys are going to get somebody hurt". Well he got in his trunk pulled out a 20' foot teather and some nylon cord. He then choked the canopy down - added the teather and proceeded to slice up our brand new $30 surplus chute. We asked him how much and he said come see me for a real chute. We go back to the Pits and these guys come over and introduce themselves. Denny says do you run here a lot. I said "Not really - actually that was our first pass ever". Then he says what percent are you running. I told him with a big smile on my face 75 and he asked why. I told him because we have a quart milk bottle and it's easy to measure. He turns to one of his guys and says something and off he goes. After that he asked what Nozzles and Pill we were running and says "Do you mind if we help you?" He then explained 75% by VOLUME is not the same as weight and 75% of either was a waste of time so he opens his little box and we mixed up 85 (not enough for him). Next we get to timing. I said I forgot to bring my timing light but I was pretty sure it was exactly 30. Now we get a lesson on timing a Mag staticly and we needed 45 because we didn't have enough compression. Ok - next qualifier was in the 9:0's and we were standing tall. First round we raced Tony Waters with Charlie Allen in a blown Chrysler. He got crossed up and went to the center and had to shut off. Having moved over next to our new "Freinds" we made it to the second round. I don't remember who it was but they had an Oldsmobile and it quit on the fire up. Denny got a single because he was low ET and now we are in the final. Denny asks which lane do you want? Larry said the left one because the single street light at the finish was on that side and now that we were running better it pushed oil out of the breathers on the top end. A few red rags and some 200 tape later He says OK - you got it. We pushed down and Denny held back which we found out later was to get heat in the motor. Unbelievable - Denny Red lit and we won Top Fuel first time out when we actually had no chance. I went over and said you get 1/2 the money because of what you guys did for us. He says "No you don't you guys won." I talked to him only one time after that but he was one great guy.
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I found a picture on Google Maps of the bakery.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/H...921934136994cb!8m2!3d37.4633527!4d-122.429477
https://www.google.com/maps/place/H...921934136994cb!8m2!3d37.4633527!4d-122.429477
