The plan for Team Northwind prior to the NHRA Schuck’s Auto Supply Nationals at Pacific Raceways was to have Jack Coonrod stay at my house in Issaquah, which is about 20 minutes from the racetrack. He would bring the Northwind to the track from Vancouver, Washington, and I’d meet him there Thursday, a day before the event began, to help set up of the display.

I thought I’d beat Jack there and scope out the display area, pick up the credentials, and then wait for him on the entrance road. After spending most of my adult life there I knew the place pretty well. I also knew that there had been some major changes since I left at the end of 2001 and I wanted make sure where everything was to make it easy for Jack.

There was a special area set aside for the dozen or so nostalgia cars that were scheduled to be on display. The weather that day was pretty decent, but there was a huge threat looming in the form of a “Pineapple Express” where the jet stream from Hawaii takes aim at Seattle, picks up water the whole way and then dumps it on Western Washington for days. It certainly sounded like the weekend was not going to be too conducive for racing events. After all my years at the track I knew that the track employees and the NHRA race crew were in for trouble.

Bringing out the prize for all to see

The plan for Team Northwind prior to the NHRA Schuck’s Auto Supply Nationals at Pacific Raceways was to have Jack Coonrod stay at my house in Issaquah, which is about 20 minutes from the racetrack. He would bring the Northwind to the track from Vancouver, Washington, and I’d meet him there Thursday, a day before the event began, to help set up of the display.

I thought I’d beat Jack there and scope out the display area, pick up the credentials, and then wait for him on the entrance road. After spending most of my adult life there I knew the place pretty well. I also knew that there had been some major changes since I left at the end of 2001 and I wanted make sure where everything was to make it easy for Jack.

There was a special area set aside for the dozen or so nostalgia cars that were scheduled to be on display. The weather that day was pretty decent, but there was a huge threat looming in the form of a “Pineapple Express” where the jet stream from Hawaii takes aim at Seattle, picks up water the whole way and then dumps it on Western Washington for days. It certainly sounded like the weekend was not going to be too conducive for racing events. After all my years at the track I knew that the track employees and the NHRA race crew were in for trouble.

We set up a canopy to keep the car protected from the rain along with another cover that engulfed the whole car. It wouldn’t keep the car completely dry but we could gather underneath the canopy for a good old ‘jaw’ session. Most of the other nostalgia cars would be arriving the next day but we wanted to get everything in order so we could be ready to display early the next morning.

Friday morning we headed to the track and it was rain, rain, and more rain. We kept somewhat dry under the canopy but the day was solid rain…from morning to dark. It was either pouring, mist, showers, or even drizzle (all names for water falling in Seattle.) There were some race fans walking with their umbrellas, so we talked with those who stopped by the display and offered them a dry area to look at the legendary Northwind. Ed McCulloch had put together some wonderful handouts that outlined his life with a “Then and Now” approach. Ed attempted to sit in the car that started his career back in 1965 and he did fit nicely……….boy, was I surprised!! I never thought he’d drop right in there but it still fit him like a glove. He laughed about how uncomfortable it was in the cockpit and compared to the modern day top fuelers there isn’t much room. Sitting with your legs up and over the rear end housing is not easy, period. He even got out of the car without any help. We all knew that he was ready for the California Hot Rod Reunion at Bakersfield this fall. The “Ace” is the Grand Marshall there in October and a little fire-up with him at the controls is certainly in order.    

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Unfortunately, the day was pretty much “a wash,” so we moved on to Saturday. Jack stayed busy on his cell phone informing members of our group to not even show up as we watched the weather forecasts closely. It really looked like the rain was going to be solid right through the weekend, and that “dampened” everyone’s plans. Many stayed home, as they would have to travel a long way to get to Pacific Raceways. Earl Floyd and Jim Albrich stayed back, which sounded like a good move. With Friday a complete washout we knew the NHRA would really be fortunate to get the scheduled races completed, and the nostalgia cars would not be able to push start, as planned. That’s the way it works with a tight schedule and the complications of rain. With the exception of a few showers Saturday, however, it ended up being a good day for racing and displaying cars.

All the local weather gurus were forecasting 1-2-inches of rain for Sunday. We knew that the original race schedule had already been changed so much that the last thing NHRA needed was to have more cars to run. They needed to somehow get the pro part of the event done by Monday afternoon at the latest, so the cars could make it to Sonoma. Any later would cause a mess at the next weekend’s race in California. They need to start parking the cars in the pits by Wednesday morning. It really looked bleak for Sunday, so we chose to give it up that afternoon. Jack loaded the car and headed back to Vancouver, which was unfortunate, but there really was no other choice available.                                       

Steve Gibbs, the organizer of the group for the NHRA, felt that made the most sense for us as Jack had come so far just to sit around in the rain on Sunday. The rest of the nostalgia group was going to stay overnight and then head out in the morning as they were mostly in motor homes and trailers. Wayne King had fired up his 1964 dragster several times during the day and we all enjoyed the “thunder in the pipes” and sweet nitro smell. He gave me some delicious crab for my wife, Mo, and I headed out late Saturday.

With a 100% rain chance in Sunday’s forecast, the day actually started out with just a few showers, which let up early. The track was dried and racing kicked off at noon instead of the scheduled 11 am. After 25 years of managing that facility and dealing with the rain, it’s hard for me to believe that they ran the entire event that day. Yes, a few showers came along and slowed things down and a lot of spectators stayed home (as I did) but low and behold the event was completed that day.

Some of the sportsman racing had to be completed the next day, but it was downright astounding to me that the event took place at all. It goes to show you that the weather folks do not know everything and certainly can be wrong. This weekend was a perfect example!

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We had a wonderful Saturday night, going to dinner with Ed. There was lots of discussion about the sport and his everyday pressures. The crew chief job is not an easy one and this back-to-back-to-back, 6 events in a row has made life exceptionally hard for the teams. I heard Ed’s son, Jason, who crews on the U.S. Army Top Fuel team, say he had not been home in eleven weeks. That certainly is a little tough on the home life. Back when I was 22 years old and a crewmember on the Northwind we’d be gone for a week or two, but eleven weeks is really a stretch. We had a lot of laughs during the meal. As usual, we talked about the old days of the sport. The pressures were certainly a lot different in those days, mostly dealing with money. Everyone was broke and trying to survive, a big difference than what goes on today with these teams. If you had a spare motor back then you were really big time. Back then there weren’t a couple of UPS trailers full of racing equipment sitting at the track as there is now. A couple of cylinder heads and, just maybe, a spare blower but that was about it for spares. To keep racing, borrowing parts was what kept most of the racers in business from week to week. A lot of times, if it broke you’d just go home. It certainly is on a different plain these days.

The debut of the Northwind was a huge hit to a lot of people. Mostly on Saturday when the sun was out, literally hundreds of fans stopped by to see the “golden lady” at her finest. Of course, the stories flowed hot and heavy as this car made such an impact in so many lives back then. I met quite a few people that were there on June 13^th of 1965 for the match race with “Sneaky” Pete Robinson for the number 1 spot in the nation. It was a huge moment back then and really the beginning of big-league drag racing here in the Northwest.

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The weekend at Pacific Raceways didn’t turn out exactly as we wanted it to but rain and drag racing never ever mixes too well anyway. Through it all, it was fun to see old friends and hear some stories that my 64-year-old brain had long forgotten. It was special interacting with the nostalgia group and planning on future events. The importance of bringing these old cars back was never any clearer to me as when I witnessed the huge crowds around Wayne King’s fuel dragster as his Chrysler motor was thundering away. Once he clicked off the motor a huge cheer went up from the crowd. They loved it!

Our trip to Southern California is not too far in the future. The 16^th annual California Hot Rod Reunion is October 12-14^th. The interesting part is that Jack and I will be towing the Northwind down Interstate 5 to arrive early in Bakersfield for the pre-race activities. I’ve been thinking about that and the last time I was in a car heading to California was in the early 70s when I went with Ed McCulloch to Indy. That’s like 35 or so years ago. My only mode of transportation since has been airplane, so this will be a real education for me. I’m sure I’ll get a real appreciation for all those race teams that have had so many weeks in a row on the road. (yeah, but they are younger guys!!) You know, maybe I should rethink this thing of towing from the Northwest all the way to Bakersfield. Airplanes sound so much better!

NORTHWIND Project, Part#10 Destination: The NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion as part of the cackle cars where the “thunder in the pipes” is music to our ears!! Be there!!