George Johnson

History

How It Was Back in the Day

 by George Johnson, in correspondence with Jim Wemett

“When I was first starting out Al Segrini said to me, ‘You’re just having a good time, aren’t you, George?’ A few years later we ran a 6.15 or something real low and Al comes and asks what we are doing and I told him, ‘Just having a good time, Al.‘“

“Epping NH, last race of the season and the tires were gone. I think I was racing Kosty. Burnouts done and we staged. Hit the throttle and the car went sideways, off the throttle and I saw people on the sidelines with their mouths open. Rapped the throttle and got straight and almost caught him. Jack the track manager said I should have shut it down. I never would have stopped it anyways and would have hit the fence. You said the fans went wild. Crazy Indian seat of the pants driving, just came normal at the time.”

“I remember a Div/race at E-town, ran a 6.41, unreal, we were used to 6.70, burnt a piston or two, almost made the call but Pee Wee soloed for the win. Should have been Div1 champ 2 or 3 times. Gremlins I guess.”

“Great Lakes Dragaway first time there I did my burnout too far back, there was a little hill at the starting line and I went airborne, so I started burnouts closer to the lights.”

“We were in the staging lanes at Great Lakes when the jet dragsters were starting to run. Bert said, ‘I’m going up to watch.’ Then standing behind them he was toast and got hit with dirt and pebbles and said ‘I’ll never do that again.’”

“I remember the PRO race at Great Lakes Dragaway, when Garlits was feuding with NHRA. The rule with PRO was if someone was staged you had 15 seconds to stage. I was racing Jungle. We did our burnouts and Jungle pre-staged, then I did. A second later I staged. Waiting for Jungle to stage. All of a sudden he backs out and starts chirping his tires etc. I am in the car thinking, ‘What the hell is he doing?’ Next thing I know he is staged, green light is on and he is out 2 cars on me. He sure could play head games. He was probably back there counting 1 thousand 1, 1 thousand 2, till he got to 14 then he staged it on time. What a guy. He and Pam had just split and he wasn't running real good ,.. down in the dumps.”

“The first time we qualified at Gainesville you had just put new tires on the car. We were in our glory, even smoked a cigar, don’t know where they came from, but it was the right time for it.”

“How about the drive from York to Epping. I think 2nd round we had a bang on the starting line, got back in the pits. Fuel pump fell off 10:00 or 11:00 at night had to race Epping next day 2 car show. Seems like we had 20 guys in the truck but no one could drive move than 1/2 hour. Made it there only to have you check the bottom end and all the rods not in place. No spare motor. Jack track manager was mad.”

“It felt good when I’d call Sid Waterman for parts and he would say all the boys out here want to know what you guys are doing? Nice to know people feared us on the west coast. “

“It was nice to be Div 1 champs but in '77, '78, '79 people knew we were around getting our s--- together. Always felt good when you’re on top.”

“US 30 match race stop before going to Great Lakes Dragaway. In the staging lanes watching everyone slip and slide all over the track. I think the fastest time was a 15-16 or no ET. Well you started me up, I did a burnout and staged. I did the old Al Hanna trick, hold the brake on till you get out and ease it off. All was going right, we were going to hit 6.90 maybe, well ahead of everyone. Well, half track everything went black, clutch dust and sparks everywhere. Time for a new clutch for sure. Off to a bigger and better things. I truly believe it was a better time to be a drag racer in those times. More cars, racing and you could almost afford it. Can’t nowadays.”

“Lancaster Dragway. Wombat VS TV Tom Ivo. Tommy asks if I had been down this track. I said in a modified car, years ago. So I took a ride down there to have a look again, real bad shutdown area. Well first round 4.07 win and hang on! On the road off the road, hopping, slipping etc. Had to race Maple Grove next day so next 2 rounds shut down early saved me and the car. “

“First time I met Willie Borsch I said, ‘You used to be my hero.’ He said, ‘You mean I’m not anymore?’ I said, 'I am my own hero now.’”

“What about the commercial we were doing for Labatt’s beer in Canada. Parking lot was way too slippery wound up in the ditch. Broadway Joe Siti said, ‘I knew you were coming (to get the car fixed) my kids saw it on the news.’”

“First time at Winternationals we wonder what everyone was doing in the staging lanes at 5:00 AM, I think we got just one run in that day. Next day we were in the lanes at 5:00 AM, so many cars and so little time.”

“When we got Bernstein’s trailer from Austin, Texas, had a new truck and a real bitchin’ race car. Top of the line we were.”

“Tom Prock said we do this so we don’t have to work a 40 hour week job but work twice as hard racing.”

“It was wild winning the 32 car show at E-Town and then 2 or 3 weeks later win Crazy Eddie’s night of Thrills at E-Town.”

“Getting to race with some of your heroes and sometimes beating them. It doesn’t get any better. I loved it when we were going fast and would go to a match race and run a 6.20 or 6.18 when everyone could only go 6.50 or so.”

“Going out west was so cool seeing all the west coast shops and hanging out there. Waterman Racing Engines, VHT, K. Black Racing , Russ Collins 3 engined motorcycle, etc.  Hob knob with the big boys.”

“Bert got into a race on the flats of Texas with 2 or 3 semi trucks. Talking on the CB the one guy said he never been beat and when he does he will by a faster truck.  We were going 90-95. Bert said he thought he won so he slowed down, good thing, trailer tire blew 1 mile later, the trailer tires couldn’t stand the heat.”

“I would like to have been paid for all the tires, springs, transmissions, etc. we changed out at the roadside.”

“It was so neat to meet all the different racers and crew, wild and wacky, mostly Big Kids. TV- Ivo was a big joker. He would leave his rig at Joe Siti’s place when he went to NYC to visit friends. We were always having a good time drinking beer and shooting the bull. I remember down south someplace at a motel he leaned garbage cans up against your door and then he’d knock and hide. You’d end up with garbage in your room. I believe we were all just a bunch of big kids. I think that helps keep us young.”

“B&H Speed Shop was important to our team. It was in Erie, PA, three hours from home. When I went I slept in the truck or got a motel close by. I stayed at Smitty’s place a few times, he was a machinist at B&H. He was a big time biker and the bikers would hang out there in his back yard. All their bikes were Harley-Davidson. He wouldn't let them pull out back they had to park out front. He called them bowling pins. I went to the biker bar one night got drunk and smoked something, bad deal. Next day, boy was I sick, didn't feel like doing much. At the speed shop I used to re-groove piston ring lands and cut a few heads to make them flat, or clean some of George’s machines. I hogged out a few hemi heads trying to get more power. I put a few motors together at his shop.”