roddingandracing
roddingandracing
.PHOTOS
2015 HOT ROD POWER TOUR
CAR SHOW COVERAGE
Here's our latest images taken "on the ROAD". As always, most are taken on our way to or from covering a local Houston area car show.
We covered the Detroit Autorama ten straight years in the 2000's. The Detroit Autorama is the home of the prestigious "Ridler Award". Every so often, we get lucky and the winner of the award decides to also show here at the Houston Autorama. That was the case in 2025 when the Kindig built "TwelveAir" showed up (above). Last week, the custom, hand-built Corvette went across the block at a Georgia auction and sold for $930,000!
Since the Pandemic, I don't go all over the country, or even the state like I used to, but I still have two major events in the Houston area that draws participants and enthusiasts from all over the country. One is up in Conroe (February), and the other is just two weeks away in nearby Galveston (fifty miles). The four-day "LONE STAR RALLY" on Galveston Island is scheduled for November 5 - 8 and we'll be there. (2025 images above)
.....DIECAST, PLASTIC MODELING, ARTWORK, ETC.
I've gotten a few autographs over the years, mostly on racing photos that I took or on diecast vehicles. I do have a few signed, non-racing diecast like this
1/18 scale, "Milner's '32 Ford" from the 1973 movie "American Graffiti". I got it signed by actor Paul LeMat during a car show quite a few years back.
On my current projects, I'm doing body work on a Corvette dragster and waiting on a 3D resin engine for a 4x4 Chevy Blazer. Next on my list though​
is a 1/32 scale VW and a 1/24 scale 1965 Mustang Modified (both above). Like I usually do, I'll be using oversize engines or engine parts and oversize tires. It's fun be retired!
...photographer's choice! (Exotics +)
Since I didn't cover any car shows in 2020 and very few in 2021, I decided to join several private and public Facebook Groups to share my old pictures, some going back 50 years! Below are the latest images I shared.
I mentioned previously that I had just joined the Facebook Group "Texas Drag Racers and Drag Strips". I also mentioned that I'm trying to organize my thousands and thousands of old rodding and racing images to make it easier for me to post them. Since most of my old drag racing images were taken here in Texas (99%), I'll be posting quite of few of them to the new Facebook Group for a while.
Before heading out to cover the NHRA Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green (KY) back in 2018, I made some prints of a handful of pictures that I had taken of "Big Daddy" Don Garlits. He had made surprise appearances in the past so I was hoping that he would show and I could get the pictures
autographed. As you can see above and right, he did and so did I. My old images, now autographed, were taken years ago at Alamo Dragway in San Antonio and Green Valley Race City in Fort Worth (top row). Both bottom images were taken at Eastex Dragway in Porter just north of Houston. Now as far as the political bumper sticker above, Garlits ran for Congress in Florida back in 1994.
After a couple of years with a two-door 1962 Chevy Bel Air which I wish I still had, I bought my first brand new vehicle; a 1972 Datsun pickup (left). Once I got used to working the manual shift, I slapped on some big-meat Goodyears on Ansen wheels. It got plenty of attention
whenever I picked up my younger siblings at Junior High and High School.
Check out my admission ticket from Houston International Speedway (above). Not sure of the year but only $3.00, it had to be from quite a while back.
Right after the Pandemic shut everything down, I joined several Private Facebook Groups to share my old images. As I share, usually 8-16 per week, I also post them further above. Before the Pandemic, I
also had a "RACING" page where I posted my old racing images. I've decided to post a condensed version of that page below. What I'm trying to show is the variety of motorsports that I frequented back then and as you can see, it was quite a few!
Yes, all the images above were taken by me over the years but this image was not. It's the only image I've ever seen posted that actually has me on it!
Although I never use my camera's motor-drive feature, I do get lucky enough sometimes to get an action sequence.
That's me on the right side (w/beard) leaning on the trailer at Eastex Dragway when Don Garlits was there.
GREEN VALLEY RACEWAY HISTORICAL AREA
Several years ago, I received an email from someone on the North Richland Hills (TX) City Council concerning a Green Valley Race City Historical site that was in the planning stages. They were asking permission to use several
of the images that I had taken at the track back in the '80s. I of course told them that it wouldn't be a problem. Below are the latest images of the site that were posted on a Green Valley Race City Facebook Page.
A quick check of the three information boards that are already put up (top, right) shows eleven of my images! I posted those images below and I hope I can make it up one day to check it out. (On the right image, you can see some of the original track that's still there)
It was a lot more fun to be 20 in the '70s than to be 70 in the '20s!
Time is precious,
Don't waste it.
2018 NHRA
HOT ROD REUNION
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Before heading to the NHRA Hot Rod Reunion in 2018 (Bowling Green, Ky), I decided to make some enlargements of images I had taken over the years including some of "Big Daddy" Don Garlits and Tom "the Mongoose" McEwen in hopes of getting them autographed. They had both showed up in previous years so I decided to give it a shot. As you can see above (left) and below, Garlits did show up and I was able to get some of my personal images signed. Not sure if he had planned on showing up or not but sadly, McEwen passed away three days prior at the age of 81.
All the images above were taken at Texas tracks that I frequented when I was a lot younger. Left to right...Alamo Dragway in San Antonio, Green Valley Race City in Fort Worth and the final two were taken here (Houston) at Eastex Dragway in Porter. The tracks have been closed for years.