NARAMORE RIDES AGAIN

Way back in 1962 the Peoria, Ill., duo of Jim Naramore and Larry Sheppard started drag racing as partners with a ’55 Chevy two door B/Gasser. They ran at the local Peoria Drag Strip, which later became ‘Boondocks Dragway’ before its demise. The central Illinois team ventured out to other tracks like Tri State Dragway in the northeast corner of Missouri, another 1/8th mile, 660-foot; and Quad Cities Dragway (Cordova today) which was always a quarter mile.

In later days, Sheppard went on his own with smaller gasser cars including an Anglia called the ‘Agitator’. Naramore would bide his time helping other racers and learning all he could about the sport. He also made his living as an engineer at Caterpillar, Peoria’s leading industry.