Old history about getting started,some may remember or add some of your own.

[Dana Barlow]

I'll leave out a ton,but if your board at home like me,can ask some thing or add;
First stock car I got with a buddy,we got in 1958 was a used white kind of messy,40 Ply Coupe with a flathead 6,pretty ruff,likely had been built in early 50s, Bob an I traded a gocart to get it from W.T.Price Crain Sev.. It didn't run,so part of trade was for them to drop it off at Bob's Mom's house,9 house's down the block from my home.
We were teens with Madcar disease ! My Uncle Irv had raced stock cars in the late 40s,an my Dad raced a home built sports car in the mid 50s,so Rob Bean an I, riding our pedal bikes over to Mel Payne's house to get in his way,as he worked on #30 mod,my hero still. Rod Perry's nephews lived just around the block from us also, and so talking about Rod "The black Bandit" Perry always hot.
Bob William an I got the 40 coupe running again. Our first race car had zero EX headers/pipes, an fire came right out of the side EX ports' Bloop Bloop bang Bloop. Now we thought that cool as hell. Our big race bucks came from turning in bottles an our paper routes that were side by side an we did them together on Cushman scooter over loaded with papers plus both of us. To get going when fully loaded with papers ,I'd push as Bob gunned it an I'd jump on,just before braking the sound barrier.
Our unlimited race $ was not enough for a battery,so we'd steal the bat. out of Bob's Mom's Desoto an put in our race car for testing around the block.
As timing would have it,Bob's Mom some time would try to go some were in her car=Well it would not start at all ! She'd ask us to fix it"Sure Mom"
After a time we'd tell her we fix it,an she'd tell us what good boys we were for fixing her car! { Never did know we were taking the battery out to run our terror of the neighborhood race car LOL}
The real of that old racer,was it had a chest belt/not a seat belt and a raggy old pillow on top of a milk crate inside of a boomer seat that had no bottom other then the metal milk crate,an all was baling wired to a SQ roll bar. The roll bar welds were broken to the frame on left side bottom behind seat an held to frame by two or 3 hole rolls of baling wire also.
Truth is we never did get up enough courage to take that super car to Hialeah or Medley race tracks. But we'd go to see races.
By the early 1960s,Rob Bean,Steve Reep an I built a Hudson racer for Hialeah Speedway. We though it was super fast around the block,an we did race it at Hialeah. With us three brave drivers egging each other on,we played "rock paper scissors" the loser had to drive. After a few times,we did all like driving and that Hudson bounced off other car well. It took those guys some time too know,better get out of the way !!! LOL
I kept on racing a lot of class's up in to 2001
https://scontent-mia3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...0b&oe=5EC0F134

[Dana Barlow]

though about writing a book more then a few times,have any of you ?

Posting on here is kind of odd,in that this site will not let me copy an paste,from other stuff I wrote,,or I have no idea how to work it.? What is keeping me from copying my own note for my use.
This will be my last post,if this is the set up !!!!

[Dana Barlow]

How about first race you every saw????

Was up north for summer,Dad built homes in NY state in summer,and soon as it got cold,we'd go back to Miami Fla.
Dad took me too a dirt track race,it was about 48 or 9s ,in mid state NY out side of Syracuse ,as kid never having been,but hearing racing stroy's from my Uncle Irv. Did have an idea!
Dad, had gone to same track before ,I don't know how far back,and said he had his own spot= We drove around a number of farm roads,climbed over a cow fence an over a little hill. Looking out for cow paddy's.
The view of dirt track was pretty good from that hill side,were Dad said sit here,but not on a cow paddy. I say how bad this hill was stinky smell! Dad said,then you go buy your self a ticket for the front gate !
Was fun seeing the jalopy's and roadsters sliding around the track,too races I liked bast were a #4 and #X,4 was after all my fav. #=the first # as a baby I could say! The #X sedan won his race an #4 roadster won one too. Point is #4 has been my race # on my own cars for 50+ years.