--Bringing It All Back~
-Motoring Memories ~~

--MY ONLY DRAG RACE
-From: Donald Sires/ Reminisce Mag. (Feb/ Mar 2016) ~

--WHEN I WAS 19, my cousin Bob came to visit me in Bellingham, Washington. My folks had just bought a brand-new 1949 Pontiac with a straight-eight engine and an automatic transmission. It was dark green with chrome stripes down the back, and it was as beautiful as it was powerful.

My dad let me borrow the car so I could show Bob around town. We drove down the main street to see if anyone I knew was out and, truth be told, to look for girls.

When we got to a stoplight, a couple of guys in a '36 Ford pulled up alongside us. Both the driver and passenger smiled, and the driver revved the engine, signaling that he wanted to race. Bob sat there, twiddling his thumbs, saying, "Do it, Don; do it." I had never raced before, but Bob's encouragement was all I needed.

I had my foot on the brake, pulled the shift down, and was ready to go. There was one big problem, though; I was used to driving my car-- a manual-shift '40 Pontiac. Putting that car in low gear with the manual transmission was the same movement as putting my dad's automatic in Reverse. As soon as the light changed, I stomped on the gas, the tires squealed, and we really burned rubber. In my excitement. though, I hadn't put the car into first; I had thrown it into Reverse.

Fortunately, there were no cars behind us. But years later, I can still see the look on the face of the other car's driver. He had no trouble winning that race! ~~