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Dragstrip Fun in Stan’s ’55

Kristin Cline
Lifestyle, other cool cars
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Nothing says nostalgia like a 1955 Chevy Gasser!

When my friend Stan asked me to join him at the dragstrip to race his ’55, I couldn’t say no. As I arrived at his place, I expected to see a trailer. Not this time – because this Chevy dragster is street legal! Heads turn as we drive by and in no time we’ve arrived at Irwindale Speedway for Thursday Amateur Night.

Arriving early meant no waiting in the tech inspection and almost no line to race!  Everything went so quickly, it was only a few moments before I was jumping out of the passenger seat so Stan could pull up to the waterbox. Waterbox? That’s the area that they wet down so each car can burnout and warm up their tires just before they pull up to the line.

Powering that beautiful metal down the line is this 454 Rat engine. Adding a little something extra is a merc cruiser blower. Behind it all, there’s a Turbo 400 transmission with a Maxwell valve body.

He calls it the Lynwood Flash. Stan happens to be a So Cal guy through and through (those of you not from SoCal may not know that Lynwood is a part of LA.) Which is part of the reason why he loves the ’55 Chevy so much. So much so, he’s actually got two of ’em he races! But the Lynwood Flash seems to be his baby if you ask me. Even though there are some primer patches in the paint, he likes the authenticity of the look…so he just leaves ’em.

Adding to the old skool charm of this racer is the custom painted figure on the trunk lid…it’s the flash himself. Ya gotta love a little humor!

Back to the dragstrip… Although not the time Stan likes to see, he beat the other guy with a 7.54 in this round. Stan shoots to run in the 7.20s on the 1/8 mile, reaching around 95 mph at finish. While everyone wants a low time – I really think in the end its all the fun they have in pursuit of that which keeps ’em all coming back.

As we rode away that night – I knew I’d be coming back…hopefully with my Studebaker. Thanks Stan, for being so kool and keeping nostalgia rolling on the drag strip!

For more drag strip stories, check out the following:

 

One Response

  1. jameswaterwolf

    That ’55 Chevy Rat is awesome. I remember a ’55 hardtop in highschool being built with a 348 cube engine and having the radiused wheel wells. It was painted flat black. The vehicle was put through torture tests every day with smokey burnouts in the parking lot. Those were the Days. Crazy rabbits! It’s called living.

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