roddingandracing
roddingandracing
.PHOTOS
2015 HOT ROD POWER TOUR
CAR SHOW COVERAGE
roddingandracing.photos
After a few years of not covering the event, we started back up again visiting the Pearland, Texas Friday Night Cruise. I live in Pearland so it's a "No Brainer". The images below are from our latest visit and the image on the left I submitted to a Tri-Five Facebook Group.
This good-looking Chevy pickup with a service bed showed up at a car show we covered this past Friday in Alvin (TX). I hope we get to see it on the road soon. Coverage from the event will be posted on our next update.
We started going to the weekly Friday Night Cruise here in Pearland (TX) again but last Friday we covered a monthly gathering in Alvin. We decided to swing by the Pearland event afterwards and
there were just a few vehicles still there including this nice, early Chevy pickup (right). One of the advantages of living outside of the Metropolitan Houston Area (Pearland), is seeing vehicles in rural areas. All the vehicles below were taken on Highway 6 between Manvel and Alvin.
.....DIECAST, PLASTIC MODELING, ARTWORK, ETC.
I got back into the hobby of model building after a thirty-year hiatus. I had planned on getting back in once I retired but even then, it took me five years. I started a little over a year ago and this kit (left) was my first project. The kit was almost complete except for the front axle and body and as my wife was building
shelves for me at my "station", one fell and put a stop to the build. I've never tried to rebuild it and went on to build several more kits since then. Well, I just picked up another one of the same Nova kits and above right is my current progress.
This build has really been fun. I covered up large holes on the roof (turret) and on the rear (vault). The engine is
from another kit and the wheels and tires are resin. They're both 1/24 scale Alcoa rims; the rears for a Big Rig and the fronts for a Dually Pickup and they fit perfectly. I had to modify the chassis and axles, more so on the rear, to make them fit snug under the body but I got the look I was after.
I preordered the CAR TUNED Series 11 set and it should get here sometime in July. If my son sees something he thinks I don't have, he usually picks it up for me. He just brought me a Pro Street Cadillac
(above) to go along with the two Cadillacs I already have (right), a pink Cadillac and another Pro Street version in red.
...photographer's choice!
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.
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.
I've been retired seven years now and I still cover car shows on the weekends. I've been doing it for over fifty years and it wasn't until I retired that I realized that it's actually therapeutic for me! While I'm at the car shows, I record most racing events on cable TV that I can watch during the week. I also spend a lot of time here, on my website. On top of that, if you've noticed further above, I got back into the hobby of plastic model car building after a thirty-year hiatus. So I guess I've "RETIRED HAPPY!".
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.