Drag Illustrated Issue 148, September 2019 | Page 54

D.I. COLUMNIST On the Road with Van Abernethy T he fact that Byron Drag- way is 12.5 hours from my home in North Carolina probably explains why I haven’t been there since 2015 – that is, until a few months ago when I returned on the exact same weekend as I had four years earlier. Byron Dragway honors America’s independence by throwing a spectacular gathering known as the Firecracker Bracket Nationals, paying $100,000 to win in recent years. Several memories stick in my head from my first visit in 2015, not the least of which was meeting long- time track owner and announcer Ron Leek, who had just been in- ducted into the NHRA Hall of Fame that same year. Ron was very much vibrant and engaging in 2015, although the ensuing years would take its toll on his health. By the time I made it back to Byron a few months ago, Ron was no lon- ger on the micro- phone in the tower and had sold his ownership inter- est in the track. Even though he was on oxygen, he dropped by on Saturday to visit the folks who meant so much to him. Only a week later news reached me that he had died on July 10. Ron was a dynamic figure in drag racing and will be missed by so many. Another memory from my 2015 trip was a number of radical displays of sportsman race cars. I had never seen a big-motored American Mo- tors AMX with a manually shifted Lenco, but leave it to Byron Drag- way to produce such a car! I looked intently for it upon my return with no luck. Another racer, Bill Bu- tusov, has this gorgeous Opel, and it was great to see him still out racing it. Walking through the staging lanes at Byron of- ten resembles a car show, but when these guys roll to the line and take a tree they let it all hang out! My single most vivid memory from Byron 2015 was meeting Rick Karker, who owns the most beauti- ful example of a 1963 Ford Falcon convertible I’ve ever seen. The car is deep red in color – “House of Kolor Candy” to be precise. He’s owned the car since he was 14 years old! through the convertible top. “I had to cut the tree down before I could even move the car!” laughs Rick. Karker grew up to become a paint and body man, with his Fal- con serving as the very first car he ever painted 40 years ago, after much practice painting the bicycles of the neigh- borhood children. I spent hours with the Karker family at Byron during that first visit and struck up a bonafide friendship. Sure, our homes are over 16 hours apart, with the Karkers residing in northwest Wisconsin, but through Rick’s brother gave the Falcon to him in exchange for merely scrap- ing and painting the windows of his house! The Falcon wasn’t exactly a show piece back then and in fact, it was sitting in the woods behind his brother’s house. A tree had even found its way through the floor pan and eventually poked its way the marvel of the internet, particu- larly Facebook, we’re able to keep in touch. When I met the Karkers in 2015, Rick and his wife, Denise, were expecting their first grandchild. Upon my return in 2019, they now have a pair of grandkids. Rick has his whole life in picture stored on his iPhone and he had lots to show me from the four years since we’d seen each other. On Saturday evening they grilled steaks and Rick introduced me to his favorite cut. “It’s called a chuck eye,” he says. “Cheaper than a rib- eye and tastes better!” he insists. I don’t know if he’s right or if Rick just knows how to grill ‘em, but they have my vote for steak of the year! Rick also fried up some potatoes, and we all fought over the burnt ones that were stuck to the bottom of the pan. The racers next door were also cooking out and brought a sam- pling to us. Someone brought over a cake and we also gorged on Fourth of July cupcakes. Rick’s friend, Mel Knott, came over for the cookout and afterwards smoked a fat ci- gar and told rac- ing stories, while I sipped black cof- fee, my drink of choice any time of day. We laughed, we ate, we looked at more pictures. Rick talked about the cold Wiscon- sin winters and I reminded him of the long sum- mers and 18 drag strips we have in North Carolina. “You should move there!” I insisted. I’m forever invit- ing someone to relocate to the Tar Heel state. After consum- ing every morsel of food in sight the party disbanded. Another beautiful day of racing en- sued at sunrise. Moments before we all went our separate ways, some- one snapped a pic of me and Rick standing beside his Falcon. Drag racing is responsible for cultivating friendships both near and far, and I’ll always appreciate its unparal- leled impact toward bringing people together. DI DI DI DI DI DI DI 54 | D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com DI DI DI Issue 148