Definitely living on an island has benefits, besides the wealth of beaches. You can't get lost easily, right?
Photography by David S. Wallens
Road trips are too easy these days: “Phone, take me there.” Half the time, you don’t even need the full address.
Problem or question along the way? We can call or text, often without lifting a finger.
Slowed traffic due to construction or an incident? A new alternate route is immediately computed. I might still enjoy windup windows, but Apple CarPlay has been a game changer.
Back in the day, to find a new destination, you had to carry a paper map and some directions.
And sometimes you didn’t even get that much.
I remember it was a summer home on Long Island. Maybe I was home from school, maybe it was before leaving for college. Anyway, a friend and I decided that we wanted to check out the drag racing out east at the Westhampton drag strip.
My dad knew the area’s motorsports scene.
His instructions for us: Find Old Country Road out in Westhampton and drive until you see it. (Worst case, I’d always joke: If you get lost on Long Island, eventually you’ll hit water–or, if going west, the City.)
We didn’t pause to ponder the details. We simply got in the car and started on our little afternoon adventure. Quarter for a pay phone? I doubt we were even that prepared. Just the two of us plus a roll or two of Kodak’s finest.
Reality hit us as we got farther from home: Was there even a sign? Would we find the track in time? Or was this going to be a failed mission?
Eventually, though, we found hope. Not a sign on the side of the road, but something just as handy: skinny tires wrapped around spoked bicycle wheels, a chromed beam axle between them, and just a bit of blood-red bodywork.
We had come upon a front-engine dragster strapped atop an open trailer. It was loaded rear wheels first.
So we did the only logical thing: followed it under the assumption that it was heading to the strip.
So, here’s this menacing dragster followed by two dorks in a Honda Accord. Surely this plan held water, right?
Finally, eventually, after a bit of wondering if we were indeed heading in the right direction, we saw it: the sign welcoming race fans. And with that, we followed the rig right into the paddock entrance.
Definitely living on an island has benefits, besides the wealth of beaches. You can't get lost easily, right?
"Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!" The radio ad would blare encouraging us to go to Center Moriches, LI to watch drag racing. This famous track was NY National Speedway. It was a 4 lane dragstrip with two Xmas trees! In the early 1970s I was running my SS/I Boss 302 at Dover Dragstrip in the Hudson Valley (best time was 12.09 at 114 mph, against an 11.70 national record ). I never made it to NY National Speedway until after it closed in the 1980s to become a retirement community. I did get to race at Bridgehampton in my SSB and ITB Scirocco, as well as SSGT Firebird Formula, in both SCCA and EMRA events. Oh, the memories!
In reply to FRANDANCE :
For college graduation, my parents sent me to Skip Barber at the Bridge. This was 1992.
I see that Long Island had several drag strips. I believe they’re all gone now, right?
And somewhere I have photos from EMRA at Bridgehampton. I need to go through them and scan a few. I believe David Donohue and I were there at the same time. I remember his 944.
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