May 2015
When I think of “Hot Rods” I am taken back to
my days as a young boy hearing my Uncles, Brothers and Cousins talk about
“souped-up” referring to the process of making a car go faster by modifying or
adding of parts. In those days I was
introduced to the terminology headers, cams, manifolds, intakes and a host of
others that became normal conversation growing up in the then rural Ewing
Township NJ.
I spent a great deal of time at 2 local drag
strips; Englishtown New Jersey’s “Raceway Park” and Atco New Jersey’s “Atco
Dragway” or “Dragstrip.” Many a weekend
was spent listening to conversations about cars, dragsters and dragbikes all in
the context of speed and how fast these vehicles could travel a ¼ of a
mile. The smell of the burning rubber,
oil and gasoline will perk me up and take me back to the 70’s with the
quickness!
Recently one of my childhood hero’s Don “Snake”
Prudhomme celebrated his 74th birthday, (I am still waiting to hear
back from his camp about an interview.) and I remember meeting him as a young
boy in the “pits” at the annual Englishtown Summer Nationals. He was very cordial, friendly and a nice
guy. He chatted with my Uncles about
some technical stuff and gave me some time as I asked just general questions
and showed interest in his craft. He was
probably my first 1 on 1 encounter with a celebrity and it went very good, so
much so that he is an all time favorite.
http://www.snakeracing.com
Fast forward to the current Hot Rod or Hot Rodz
scene, please except my invitation to meet my friend Betty Barbagallo, a Mom,
Wife, Model (Scarlett Raye), Entrepreneur (Dead Rodz Revival) and self described “unapologetically honest and real woman.”
We met a few years ago at Artworks Trenton and
stayed in touch via social media. We
reconnected in person a few weeks back at an event she coordinated through her
business Dead Rodz Revival, have a listen to our “on location” chat.
https://soundcloud.com/trenton365/dead-rodz-revival-barry-betty
In June, Dead Rodz Revival will be a part of another
event showcasing and sharing the passion she and Husband John as well as many
friends have for “Hot Rods” I hope to see you there!
No comments:
Post a Comment