Back when men were men and knew how to drive a manual transmission. All while smoking a cigar. I remember seeing him in the 60-70s in eastern Ohio. One of my heroes back in the day.
Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins
- Thread starter Danjet500
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Mine too. I saw him in summer of '68 at Cecil County Dragway, along with numerous other Super Stock superstars, He was driving Grumpy's Toy III and IV, '67 and '68 Camaros, respectively. Later that fall, he'd introduce Grumpy's Toy V, a '68 Nova, at the NHRA Nationals.
Back in January the brain doc was telling me to stop smoking cigars and drinking bourbon ..... I guess he could be right, two weeks ago I attended my uncle's funeral and he smoked cigars and drank bourbon every night just about all his life well until he died ... at age 96.
That guy is pounding that gear shift for sure.....
That guy is pounding that gear shift for sure.....
They didn't call him Grumpy for nuthin. I was in the pits at the US Nationals in Indy,,, about '74. Saw Grumpy sitting in the door of his car carrier with a carb in his lap. I could tell the wheels were turning about what he needed to do to that carb & just wanted to watch.
He reached behind him, grabbed a photo of his car, autographed it & handed it to me without looking up. I said no thanks & he just pitched it behind him, all while still studying the carb.
Not really grumpy, just intense with his job.
He reached behind him, grabbed a photo of his car, autographed it & handed it to me without looking up. I said no thanks & he just pitched it behind him, all while still studying the carb.
Not really grumpy, just intense with his job.
Grumpy Jenkins, Smokey Yunick, Carroll Shelby, Fireball Roberts, Big Daddy Don Garlits, those guys sure could drive and were pure geniuses for finding ways to get more speed out of their cars. Nobody in Motorsports today can hold a candle to those men.
Our friend races this. Now this is when men are men
Not bad for a 100HP flathead
Well it's official. We have set a new record for the shop. May I introduce the new HRH Racing Flathead Ford record holder Skot Ingram with Skotz Flathead Fever coming in at 553.9 HP! Make sure to come out to Little River Dragway Vintage Drags this Saturday to watch Skot and the crew pilot this beast down the track. And while you're there make sure to stop in and see us, we'll be in the pits with the Vega and the Renegade Performance Corvair
Not bad for a 100HP flatheadWell it's official. We have set a new record for the shop. May I introduce the new HRH Racing Flathead Ford record holder Skot Ingram with Skotz Flathead Fever coming in at 553.9 HP! Make sure to come out to Little River Dragway Vintage Drags this Saturday to watch Skot and the crew pilot this beast down the track. And while you're there make sure to stop in and see us, we'll be in the pits with the Vega and the Renegade Performance Corvair
2Late45
Single-Sixer
Loved those Hurst "T" shifter handles...
black1970
Blackhawk
Saw him at the Jackson Dragway in the early 70's. He was in a match race with Herb McCandless. That's when he was racing a 66 Chevy II with a 327. He beat the hemi 2 out of 3.
In the early 1970's, I was standing next to the starting line at Kil Kare Drag strip with the original Grumpy's Toy Vega against Sox & Martin's Barracuda! It was awesome when they launched at the go light!! There were a lot of us there and I don't think that would be allowed today! The sounds and the sights of those two cars was awesome. Don't even remember who won the race??
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Similar story, they told my great aunt that snuff would kill her. It finally did, at 99.5
I saw Johnny Carson interview George Burns. Burn said he smoked 10 to 15 cigars a day. Carson asked him what his doctor thought about that. Burns looked him in the eye and said, My doctor is dead.
My neighbor was a Valvoline rep when I was in high school in New Orleans. Part of his job was delivering cases of Valvoline oil to sponsored racers at local events. He often invited me and I had the chance to watch Ronnie Sox, "Dandy"Dick Landy, "Grumpy" Jenkins and others race at Southland drag strip in Houma, Louisiana. I also saw Shirley "Cha Cha" Muldowney beat Don Garlits in 2 out of 3 top fuel match races on one very memorable day.
Side note - When Dodge introduced the Super Bee Six Pack, it ran a commercial with Dick Landy advising viewers to buy the car and "Take it to the strip. Where the men are!". That probably fueled Shirley Muldowney as much as the nitro in her pink top fuel dragster.
Side note - When Dodge introduced the Super Bee Six Pack, it ran a commercial with Dick Landy advising viewers to buy the car and "Take it to the strip. Where the men are!". That probably fueled Shirley Muldowney as much as the nitro in her pink top fuel dragster.
akbluz
Blackhawk
Great stories y'all. The only racing I did was trying to get home before my 12midnight curfew.
My favorite back then was Bob Glidden. It was fun watching them compete against one another.
If you've never been to a nitro race...
That's awesome
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RC44Mag
Buckeye
Summer Nationals Englishtown late 70's early 80's we went most years and camped out for the entire time. Pit passes every time and met all the big names in the game at the time including my personal favorite Prudhomme got his autograph also. Cha-Cha, LaHaie, Force, Glidden…..
Great times. Been too long since I've been to the drags
Great times. Been too long since I've been to the drags
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I will have to give him a shout. This is a new digger and I'm not sure he has run it at the track yet. Even thou the pictures are at the track
As a side note Son and I were at the Baytown track when Eddie Hill broke the 5 sec time at the Ennis track. Quite the feat back then.
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