The 348/409 event at RockNRace was the first time I raced in that event. I remember hearing about the 348/409 events and always wanted to participate. W motors are in my bones. It’s the only motors that my father ever raced. He retired from racing in ‘88. Up until then my father, brother and I would wrench on them. It’s all we knew. As I got older, I moved on to traditional big blocks. We put together a 62 Impala with a big block Chevy. But the bones were still there. I started a family and kept racing big blocks and the occasional small block.
My father passed away a year ago, my brother passed away 2 months ago. This forced me to do what I always wanted to do, put a W in my ‘62 Impala. The car had been sitting in various states, outside, in the corner of the garage, shuffled around, etc. In may of this year it had a 6,0 LS sitting in it. It was a project we were determined to do. It made the most sense.
After losing my brother, I really got to thinking about the car. It had to have a W. During all this time, my son has been racing. He’s had a few cars, nice cars. Firebird, Malibu, Nova, currently a dragster. He’s a successful bracket racer. He’s never experienced a W motor. I wanted to change that. Life is too short to not experience a W motor. So it begun. It would have never been possible without my wife. She’s the true gearhead in the family.lol She took on extra shifts while we were working in the shop so we could afford to take this on. She is phenomenal.
We started this project to participate in the W race at Rock N Race. We ended up winning the W event. When I got the time slip after the finals and saw the Win, I broke down. I felt like my lost loved ones were there and pushing the car. Even now I get emotional.
I could keep going but I’ve bored you enough(Lol)
I want to thank my wife and son, and all the friends that showed up to help slam this thing together.
I especially want to thank all the W racers and especially Bryan for making us feel welcome.
I have ideas for next year. It includes maybe my son racing and my ‘59 Imp. I can’t wait.
Thank you all for everything.