Bob Walker's birthday fun day

[rstreet]

How many of us get to spend a day racing plus have a birthday party. Bob Walker did at Capital today!!! Here is a couple of photos from this afternoon. If we can have another Norwalk Bob's car will perk things up with his one hand on the wheel driving. He turned good times but I'll let him fill in those important racing details. Paint John and I were part of his cheerleaders
robert

 

[walkerheaders]

It sure was good to meet you Robert, sorry i could'nt spend more time with you and Max
and good to see PaintJohn again. thanx for the pics and kind words.
I had probably the best weekend of my life. lots of friends and family showed up at the track. I wound up going a few rounds until i paired up with the '65 AWB HEMI Dodge who dialed 10.77 to my 10.48 dial. he left on me, but i ran that Hemi down right at the stripe. he went .003 underand 124 trying to get away. i ran .009 under and dang near 133 trying to catch-up. game over for me, but the old whalebarge did go a 10.39 on that pass. we ran footbrake only on a .400 pro-tree. jeez, that happens a little too fast for me. (bring back the flagman )

PS: we almost did not get to race. the big washer that holds the upper control arm bushing in decided to exit the vehicle on the way to tech. (it passed :eek i saw the urethane part laying by the trailer
Jimmy's 9 year old eyes spotted the washer (and the bolt) laying about a half mile away as we walked . he saved the day.

 

[rstreet]

Bob: Max turned out to be a true "country" golden retriever. The noise from the cars wasn't the same as deer, geese, foxes etc. He settled down quite a bit as we were leaving Actually he slept the 2.5 hours back!!!!!!
robert

That .400 tree and no electronics was giving some others a fit also I think just from my observations but that is one strong hustler:eek::eek: you have down at the "long" end of the track.

 

[TomO]

Happy B-day Bob!!!! I would say that you had a great day with your family and freinds at the track.

A .400 pro tree and foot braking does take some getting used to - I have been racing that way for 5 years. Screw a brake pressure switch into your brake master cylinder and use it in place of your finger switch that your pratice tree came with.

TomO

 

[walkerheaders]

Screw a brake pressure switch into your brake master cylinder and use it in place of your finger switch that your pratice tree came with.

TomO

please tell me more about this....... :?

i dont have any kinda practice tree. is that on my XMas list?

PS: after subtracting .400 from my reaction time numbers......i dont feel as bad as i did when i thought i cut a .590 light.
(not that .190 is good..........) no wonder the racer behind me was beeping his horn yelling "go on man....... go"

 

[TomO]

Bob - The basic principal is that the finger trigger switch supplied with the reaction time practice box is replaced with a simple mechanical brake pressure switch. They are both monentary switches that just complete a circut. I purchased a brake pressure switch from my local auto parts store. Plumbed it into the brake line. The switch will only pass current when it sees 60-100 psi which is a fairly light pedal pressure. I could have used the brake light switch under the dash but I did not want to mess with the factory wiring so I chose to go the brake pressure switch route. This also allows disconnection of the battery so I can practice w/o running the brake lights. When I ordered my box thru Biondo Racing Products, I added a finger switch lead w/o the switch. Simply, I crimped a blue female round connector to each end of some scrap speaker wire, the blue connectors fit perfectly onto the posts on brake pressure switch, barrel connectors beween the end of the speaker wire to the lank end of the finger switch lead and pulg it into the reaction time box. Set the reaction time box on the tool bench in front of my car, get in the car and press the brake pedal to activate the reaction time practice box.

My 63' has manual brakes and th350. It is key to get a feel how much pedal pressure it takes to hold your car at the line so that your practice mirrors race day conditions.

This has worked very well for me due to the fact that I do not have to go to the track to practice the MOST IMPORTANT part of a drag race.

On a .400 pro tree, my foot brake lights are .150-.100 depending on how deep I pull into the staging beams. Not the best BUT are much better most in my class.

TomO

 

[walkerheaders]

I wanna show you a pic. A guy came up to me in the staging lanes and said he found some slides in a house attic. So he pulled out an 11x17 on nice photo paper and gave it to me. Cost him plenty but wouldn’t take a penny. my dad (in the middle) and my 2 uncles with the racecar in the fall of 63. then we noticed the little boy in the truck……..it’s me. Can you imagine how strange that felt? And on my BDay? The boy in the photo was dreaming of the day he would race with his family. (which I did) but 45 years later. Strange huh?

 

[Ronnie Russell]

I have heard many "neat" stories in my life, but this one moves to the top of the list. Fantastic history. Absolutely priceless !! Congratulations Bob. You are a lucky man who was in the right place at the right time. Imagine.... A cute little Bob Walker Jr. peeking out of a tow truck window so many years ago. Thanks for sharing..........

 

[Speed]

I wanna show you a pic. A guy came up to me in the staging lanes and said he found some slides in a house attic. So he pulled out an 11x17 on nice photo paper and gave it to me. Cost him plenty but wouldn’t take a penny. my dad (in the middle) and my 2 uncles with the racecar in the fall of 63. then we noticed the little boy in the truck……..it’s me. Can you imagine how strange that felt? And on my BDay? The boy in the photo was dreaming of the day he would race with his family. (which I did) but 45 years later. Strange huh?

Belated Happy Birthday Bob...
The picture is priceless..........

 

[Fathead Racing]

"A cute little Bob Walker Jr. peeking out of a tow truck window so many years ago". I wouldn't go that far : Hey Bob, what are you wearing, Xray glasses in that picture? Or are they cool sun glasses? Great story, musta been your day

 

[skipxt4]

Nice picture. Fast car. So tell us, Bob, what made you change from the Mopar camp, to the Chevy side.

 

[Dick MacKenzie]

That is really great! What a cool picture!

 

[DonSSDD]

Nice story- after the GM-Chrysler deal closes, that will be a 63 Chevy too.

Don

 

[walkerheaders]

Nice picture. Fast car. So tell us, Bob, what made you change from the Mopar camp, to the Chevy side.

i think i have written this before........as a kid i wanted a 65 'cuda....bad. but who could have afforded that? and my stepdad is a chevy man. I started working at age 8 but everytime i made some money to save....i would buy a switchblade, cigarettes, beer or some reefer. (or both) our neighbor was selling his sons 57 belair for $75. so at age 12 i paid him the $65 that i had then mowed his little yard for the summer. (my mom made me pull the motor and learn about it. now i know she just did'nt want me driving it) i sat out in the driveway doing imaginary (engine off and 4speed) 1/4 mile passes with the old 3speed hurst "mystery shifter" the guys son at the local gas station had a 409 powered brown 60 elcamino that i pulled into the bay one night for the night manager. i was 14 by then and starstruck by it. have had my 409 car since i was 17. 33 years now. still in awe of it.

 

[Quickshift409]

Birthday Bob

Bob if a picture is worth a thousand words that one is worth ten thousand. Great birthday present. Hey Bob you still have the sun glasses, there priceless.

 

[JimKwiatkowski]

Bob,Great looking photo,do you remember when they took that picture

 

[walkerheaders]

Bob,Great looking photo,do you remember when they took that picture

no sir i do not. judgeing by the jackets worn and the leaves on the trees, it was late year and i had just turned 5 years old and moved away shortly after. i did'nt see my father again till i was about 25-30. the picture i have is way better than the scan. the "xray glasses" are just a shadow from the mirror frame on the right door. i do certainly remember the racecars, the hotel in the backround and "stay in the truck" orders from the men.
the pic does help me put some missing pieces of my life together. i never once saw my parents together and until i was 5-6 years, i did'nt know i HAD a MOTHER.
the guy who gave me the pic came to the track on nostalgia race day looking for my uncles (and found them) they told the man i was there too and he gave all of us the pics he had made. very very cool. (and emotional) day for me. got to re-connect with some long lost family members who are racers. even my old uncle Tommy Sneden the funny car racer (and guy on left) had a compliment for me and my car. (those are rare) when he saw me run down that old hemi altered wheelbase 65 dodge, (and my family raced the bounty hunters) he started to call me "the Hemi hunter".
anyway thanx to Robert for starting this thread.....and all the replies from u guys.

 

[walkerheaders]

this is the beautiful Hemi car i referred to: I raced him a couple times. a fine man Dan Householder indeed. my wife bought me the next pic from the track photog. i wanted to see the scan in B&W here it is.

 

[walkerheaders]

can i show one more pic since i am on a roll? it's just a shot of the racecar the day i bought it. bought 2 63's the same day for $1000. may 4 2002
so many "other things" came up afterward to distract me, but i never lost the dream since age 5. my racer is'nt much of a car, but when my friends and family were having fun, i was home sandblasting, painting, welding and turning wrenches. this is what i have to show for my time. simple as that.

 

[walkerheaders]

Belated Happy Birthday Bob...
The picture is priceless..........

hey speed.........how was your time in henderson? i sure would like to get down there one year. you know the guys in the 63 truck / trailer photo. Left to Right: Tom Sneden, Bob Walker, Dave Reitz and me.