Screaming Yellow Zonker

We named our cycles.  My cycle was "The Quarter Hawg". It was for, I drag race, each run 1/4 mile. 1320 feet. Hawg was slang for Harley Davidson Hogs. The early flat trackers riding Harleys had baby pigs as mascots.

My 400 horsepower Pontiac was "convertible?" it was a hardtop, but the roof looked like a convertible roof. You said it as a question, everyone said, thought it was "convertible?" Then there was a white Corvette Stingray Fast Back with an extra back light on each side. He was Snowbank. I never got to ask him why. And of course Alvin's 55 Chevy hardtop. It was bright red, on front fender close to the door was a big cherry painted with an ax splitting it in half. Alvin told everyone the officer that stopped him said angrily, "Everyone knows what it means!" A lot of people don't like anything about sex paraded on cars.

The Screaming Yellow Zonker! A Corvette Stingray, too. Of course Yellow, the owner owned a car wash on the way to Willow Street.People drove to Willow Street just to stop and talk with him. Birth names were not used much. The owner of the Zonker was racing one night on back roads, lost control and slammed into something solid. I don't remember what, but the steering column and steering wheel was pushed thru his chest. That is what I was told. I did not look at wrecks in the junk yard like some people. I had two of my own.

I would drive the loop with just the center two barrel carb linkage hooked up. With the bored out engine and modified carb I would only get about 12 miles per gallon. Gas was about 30 to 50 cents a gallon, I was spending $150 a month for gas. With all three carburetors hooked up, I got about 2 to 3 miles per gallon. Now you see why I rode the bike a lot. About 35 to 45 miles per gallon if I took it easy.

One night there was a Black Stingray running the loop. When trawling for a race you hooked the linkage to all three carbs up, and drove slow. At 3500 RPM I had my linkage set for maximum power. I had special tires on back. They were over 10 inches wide and very soft rubber. Great for traction, bad for the pocket book. Better grip, soft, lousy mileage, I was lucky if I got 5,000 miles on the tires.

When I got the car it had new Sears tires, the good ones. They lasted six weeks. Lesson learned, but I was a sucker for a person in another hot car. I just had to show mine was faster.

I took the bike home and got the Pontiac.I only lived about 4 miles from the start of the loop. I made two laps thru the loop. I parked in one of the spots when you are looking for a race. After about 10 moments I heard the two cars coming. Three blocks back they both caught a red light and were tormenting each other. I was about a 1 1/2  blocks from the railroad tracks crossing  the street at an angle. They stuck up  above the road about 2 or 3 inches. Everyone local knew this and slowed down to go over them.

The black Corvette evidently was accustomed to cruising over them slow, and did not realize at speed they would throw him. I heard tires screech. When they passed me they were close to 100 MPH. The road slightly went down right after the tracks. The Corvette in the far lane braked hard when entering the fatal block. The Black Corvette kept his petal to the metal. Hitting the tracks over 100 MPH, the angle of the tracks threw his car to the right and airborne. The road going down meant he would stay airborne till he slammed into a Stone corner of a jewelry store.

I pulled out and left, no flames from the black Corvette yet, but the way the front  looked I knew he did not survive. About 10 other cars left when passing the accident! Rest in PEACE Brother.