I remember back in the seventies when tough guys tattooed swallows on their hands to show the world that they were top bluer’s with “flying fists” of steel…
… Those guys got picked on a lot to prove it, I reckon, by my experience.
At the track “Willowbank” during the “Winter Nationals 2006” I saw quite a few forearms tattooed with FIRE... the guy from “Johnny’s Hog Shop” seems to have flying fists alright while Adam Nicholls from the Macarthur Dragracers is another.
A different order of business without swallows but gee I’d rather pick a fight than scream down that track in one of their machines...
I was lucky to find a spot on the “Skips Fire Service” bus up to Willowbank, their quest for “Junior” Australian titles. Good conversation with Joe Princi all the way while I co-drove his truck full of kids dragsters.
‘Salt of the earth’ describes the company on that trip and the friends we made during the entire event.
Connie Princi cooked great pasta despite the pouring rain all Saturday and night… quite a few people turned up with empty plates for her to fill. There’s something about a sauce made by an Italian woman god bless her.
I wanted to experience the Winter Nationals from a travelling team’s point of view and at a grass roots level… So I was cool to hook up with Ronnie Palumbo for his quest.
There’s nothing like travelling across this great country. It’s been a long time since I took the time to travel. I saw a few friends from Sydney including Daryl Stephen from the Macarthur Drag Racers, Mark Flowers…
I’m curious, Daryl told me about a potential sponsor asking to place a sticker on his door for two hundred bucks… Daryl invited the money but when the sticker appeared, it was almost as big as the door. “Westend Performance” Sam Fenech is a great friend of all the Macarthur Drag Racers. Sam helps a lot and many cars carry his logo… so the door is Westend’s spot on Daryl’s car and its worth much more than two hundred bucks so Daryl told the wankers to buzz off.
I spoke to Mark Flowers about his sponsorship… Mark waits for word about whether it will continue.
Mark reckons that five hundred bucks a meeting should be the basic sponsorship level and I agree.
I have a lot of work to do… me and Dave Saunders from “Skips Fire Service” we’ve got a lot of work to do and a lot of support.
We all wait eagerly for the next issue of Dragster Australia.
In the mean time, a few photos I took at Willowbank.
