Only then did I notice that the mailer seems bigger than when it began its journey some time ago, Hello, wha’ts this?  Well, color-me-grateful, said flopper pilot is breaking it to me gently, via sending me a bunch of racing swag!  The world is familiar with the phrase 'Dear John letter', well, lemme tell ya, race fans, when your name ACTUALLY is John, its not as amusing as it is to the rest of the world. Much like Bill Murray, I'm Catholic, and there's nothing more deflating than the first day of school, sitting there in your puff-blue shirt, clip-on tie and navy-blue corduroys waiting for Sister Mary Elizabeth-Eternal-Damnation to call your name, and when she does, yours and seven other hands go up in the air. Nice "originality-on-a-silver-platter", Mom and Dad. (And I have NEVER worn corduroys since.)

But anyhoo, let’s take a look at all the awesome goodness spilling out of the bubble-failure, er, MAIL-ER. Some clippings, a staggering windfall of photos of my FAVORITE racer, and the crowning jewel? A pristine copy of a 1975 issue of DRAG NEWS! As Purple is now launching into 'Might Just Take your Life', I take a hearty swig of my beverage, and begin contemplating if I'm the one who should be cutting someone a check. With spirits now far higher than they were out at the mailbox, I begin perusing said drag-mag, and find myself traveling back to 1975.

That my favorite TV show in 1966 was a thing called 'The Time Tunnel' really sorta sets the tone for the fact that, even though I'm "having fun today", I sorta feel more comfortable in the past. I wonder if those born after the publication in my hands went to press can even fathom what it was like to grind out a weekly print news publication, where there were probably actual times when the stereotype image of someone grabbing a phone and yelling "TEAR OUT THE FRONT PAGE" was not a corny line from a '40s movie, but an actual occurrence.

In the breaking news column, page 2 has us learning such things as Harry Schmidt bring two Blue Max floppers to a particular race at the County (more on that in a second) while getting assistance from Butch Leal (!) The racing community was mourning the recent passing of Charles Edward Card, better known as "Honest Charley", Richie Rosen was taking over the Candies & Hughes dragster, planning to take it to the A/econorail wars, while his older brother was planning to have his film premiere at the upcoming WinterNationals. Said film, BURNOUT, actually comes out in 1979 and was reviewed by yours truly on this very site some time ago, and much like the Miller-produced product in my left hand, I pounded on it with "rampant veracity", as memory (sometimes) serves, I declared it a goldmine of vintage footage, and not much else. There’s also a mention of local boy Ron “Snag” O'Donnell and his recent partnership with Steve Ostrowsky of South Chicago Auto Parts fame. SCAP would also land signage on the Hawaiian, and that would continue on into the 1977 season, which was better than Steve faired, as he didn't continue on past October 5, 1976, courtesy of a mob hit.

Page 3 brings us to the County, as previously promised, and God bless those legendary Funny Car Manufacturers shows they produced. A crowd of 17K jammed the facility, and by this account, got their money’s worth.  As I'm pouring through this, the re-occurring mantra is "whatever happened to that dude?", as name after name that you'd read on an almost weekly basis now ring as echoes from the past. Gervase O'Neil, Gary Cochran (in an unpainted Jim Terry car), Henry Harrison (apparently in the Vulture), Leon Cain...some of the nights insanity included The Mongoo$e eclipsing The Snake’s track record, only to bow out in later rounds with a massive engine fire, Jungle Jim turning the clocks at 96 mph on a full-track BURNOUT, John Paxson’s rocket dragster, Richard Schroeder’s wheelstanding Nova … and no Steve Evans spectacular would be complete without marching bands and fireworks. 

I never made it to one of those deals, but thank the Lord that Byron Dragway’s Ron Leek did his best to clone them. I got to most of those, for which I for one was grateful, and the peasants rejoiced....