Well, of course you have to lead off with the Manufacturers Funny Car Championships. Crafted after the Steve Evans shows out west at the County, these things were awesome. In 1973, Dale Pulde really lit up the Mickey Thompson Grand Am, and thank God the Byron fire department (on scene) did not waste all their water hosing down T-shirt clad women, as they saved that car for certain. Or, how about 1977, where legend has it Prudhomme and Ivo had a fist fight? (Am I the only one thinking about how "Jeff Spicoli pulled a gun on Mister Hand"?) There was the 1985 UDRA SpringNationals, and one of the few times Tony Zizzo’s stream-liner was run (I understand that ride is being restored). If you haven't been to the Meltdown Drags, you’re missing out, it really packs the people in, and gad-ZOOKS, race fans, NIGHT TIME racing at Byron! [Ed. Note: See coverage of the 2016 Meltdown Drags]

God Bless Ron Colson for in 1984 essentially putting the Funny Car race on his BACK, and giving us fans one last super nitro event. (Match racing for the nitro-bunch was drying up at this point, so 1984 was the swan song for that event.)

At an NHRA Division 3 points race in 1977, I was helping a local unload his econo dragster in the pits, which, because of the volume of entries spanned into the shutdown area. We stopped to watch John Ligenfelter (in the former Bob Glidden Monza) make a pass, and BOY, we were lucky to be paying attention! John started spinning and sliding, and came across the grass just inches from us (race had been rain-plagued, he was cutting quite a rooster tail of mud). We run over … "Are you OK?" He climbs out …"Are YOU OK?" He commented to someone that he was fumbling to get the car into neutral but caught a gear instead, and the tires re-grabbing is what set him akimbo.

And, of COURSE, the microphone stylings of Mister Ron Leek himself! They don't haul that guy out to the California Hot Rod Reunion for NOTHING. The man is old-school fun and a bag of chips. Whether speculating on the presence of a dead body at the finish (large birds were circling) or stopping in mid-hype to chastise a wayward fan, ("Today, we have some of the finest.... YOU, in the BLUE SHIRT!") He is a one of a kind. It's all just another "day at the track", which at one point in 1989 seemed as if it was going away, but thankfully came back.

So, "life and stuff" can be like that sometimes. Sometimes everything just cruises along effortlessly, sometimes there are hiccups along the way, sometimes there are out and out roadblocks. You have to dig in and fight the good fight, and sometimes you win, and yet there are times that despite all your work and passion and commitment and love, in the end things simply do not go your way. Maybe it's the closing of your local dragstrip, or the bulldozing of the drive-in that you went to during high school. Or maybe, it's one of your best friends, who becomes sick, and despite all the doctors and treatments and whatever, the metaphorical "closed sign" is going to be hung on the door. At that point, you become aware of the fact that sometimes, life can just suck sometimes.

Well, at least on this particular day at the house that Ron Leek built, the legendary 'Playground of POWER!', life did not suck at all, and it was nice to know that sometimes odds can be overcome, there will fun and excitement, and the peasants will rejoice.

That's all for this month. Til next time, I AM Chicago Jon, time to say....C-YAAA!!!