When I was seven or eight years old my grandfather became very ill and my parents had to travel some distance to be at his bedside. My mother scrambled to find friends to take care of us kids for a few days. I stayed with neighbors who owned a beatuful farm about a mile from our house in the rolling hills of east central Indiana.
The neighbor children were grown and their son was in the Air Force. In a short time I was bored and the neighbor lady was going nuts trying to keep me entertained. Finally, she pulled a box of car magazines from under her son’s bed and said “Here, look at these”.
That day I became a drag racing fan. I devourered every word in those magazines and memorized every picture. About a year later I managed to save enough money to cover the $8.50 or so fee and joined NHRA. I started getting National Dragster and even though I had never been to a drag race I knew every driver and car owner, what their record was, most of the major parts they ran and what they had for sale in the classified ads.
I have never lost the excitement enthusiasm and passion for the sport I felt back then. This web site is meant to provide entertainment and enjoyment to everyone who shares a similar passion for the sport of drag racing including those who are just seven or eight years old.
My day job is a parrot whisperer but I have moonlighted with other jobs including some in drag racing. I spent five years as a crew member on top fuel dragsters and funny cars. Between rounds I serviced the bottom of the engine but at one time or other I worked on just about every component of the cars. Being a crew member is great fun and it can be exhilarating. It cannot compare with driving though and like many of you, I would like to drive. Searching for the funds to make that dream possible is a humbling experience and deals are elusive even for the big names in the sport. Still, it doesn’t hurt to dream and I will share with you some dream come true stories on this site.
Flames-tv is not all about expressing editorial positions. It is all about asking your drag racing heros the questions you would ask if you had the opportunity to ask them. It is all about asking experts to explain how they make their cars perform so magnificently-or not! It is all about getting you closer to the people and machines that are the sport of drag racing.
I hope you enjoy our programs. You are welcome to submit comments about them. Please keep in mind everyone will be able to read your comments and some of the readers may be children.
Also, you are welcome to submit questions. Tell me who you want to question and what you want to know and I’ll try to find an answer for you. Please keep your questions on the topic of drag racing and not on romance or the complete and total lack thereof etc.
Finally, on the parrot whisperer front, I introduce Sam an umbrella cockatoo and Rhett a scarlet macaw. These two characters have been my friends since 1985. At one time I had four parrots and then later a cockatiel, but two macaws and the cockatiel are gone now. These guys are seldom quiet and I cannot always edit out all of their noise. So, if you are watching or listening to a program and wonder what in the world could be making that noise, wonder no more. I will try to keep them down to uncontrolled chaos and I’ll post some pictures or video of them soon. If there is enough interest we can have live parrot cams!
By the way, I still have those magazines.