Jeff Gordon & Darrell Gwynn in the Batcave !!

[STORMCAT]

The week before the 24-hours of Daytona I attended the " Race of Champions " in Miami. Sporting my Ford GT racing team apparel a gentleman spotted the Chip Ganassi racing logo on the shirt and that struck up a conversation.
The gentleman introduced himself as Jeff Gordon. Not the Jeff Gordon we know from the NASCAR circuit but an earlier version from the world of drag racing..

He told me he was friends with Chip Ganassi and would be seeing him next weekend in Daytona. A lengthy discussion continued about the new Ford GT and the team excetera. I told him I was going up to the race to watch the fun and support of the Ford GT race team and if I had the chance to see Chip I would saw hello.. I did have a moment with Chip G. I had him sign my "The big ask " book and said hello from Jeff Gordon and he got a big chuckle..


The conversation with Jeff included discussions of the new GT road car and then I was fortunate enough to get one.

I told him what Ford dealer I was using and he said funny ,, my good friend's daughter is engaged to the owner of the dealership son . .
Turns out his good friend is famous drag racing Legend Darrell Gwynn. Darell is nationally known and locally very well known for his racing career and his post career after his sad and tragic accident..

Recently Jeff Gordon contacted me and said they would be interested in coming by to see the GT's and the Batcave... they came by on Sunday.
After a great couple of hours of talking I think they got bored of me babbling all things Ford GT and the day concluded.
I've had the opportunity to attend some of the local Darrell Gwynn charity car events before but I never had a chance to meet him one on one..
It was really great to have some one-on-one time and get to know him personally. What a great and giving person. He left me with the few small parting gifts. .

Oh.. and of course fellow drag racer and fellow Ford GT owner Eddie Hill's name came up in a conversation... Darrell used to compete against Eddie back in the day.

Eddie ..Darrell is looking for you !! He said he did enjoy to having a phone conversation with you. if you want to PM. me I will share his information.. it's always great to meet someone who is truly a car guy. And it sounds like he'll be back when the new GT arrives in the Batcave!!

A picture of me Jeff , Darrell and Helenor. The other picture is of Jeff Gordon, Darrell G, Chip Ganassi , friends and family.


If you're not familiar with Darrell check this out! His Dad was also a National Champion !! Before his tragic 1990 accident, Gwynn won an NHRA World Championship in 1983 (Top Alcohol Dragster).
In 2001, he was voted one of NHRA’s “50 Greatest Drivers All-Time”.

In 2002, he was inducted into the prestigious International Drag Racing Hall of Fame.


http://www.darrellgwynn.com/

 

[soroush]

very cool Story and a chance meeting indeed

 

[Sinovac]

Thanks for sharing that great story Brian.

 

[twobjshelbys]

I was at the Barrett Jackson when they auctioned a replica of Darrell's Coors Gold dragster I think three times for his foundation. I spotted him in the exit area alone and sort of teary, shook his hand and said "you done good". He nodded and I left him alone in his moment.

 

[DakotaGT]

How cool. Thanks for sharing with us!

 

[STORMCAT]

And the moral of the story is,, wearing your Ford Team gear can be a great segue for meeting some interesting people !! :biggrin

 

[pe2unia]

Great story B!!

 

[STORMCAT]

very cool Story and a chance meeting indeed

Thanks for sharing that great story Brian.

How cool. Thanks for sharing with us!

Great story B!!

Thanks guys,, a really great guy who is making the best what happened to him doing what he loved.. I knew I would not impress him when we discussed 0-60, 1/4 mile or mile run speeds.. but he did say with a smile " it's all relative,, "

 

[FourFather]

Thanks for the post and the message that Darrell wants to talk. I'll get in touch with him.

He and I had a great relationship, and lots of good races between us.

One story is the "First in the Fours" weekend at the Texas Motorplex.

Darrell was directly in front of me in the staging lanes, in the qualifying session where a lot of us thought the first four might happen. Quite a few folks, (me included), knew that he had an excellent chance to be first in the fours. You would probably have a hard time believing just how badly all of us in top fuel, especially me, wanted that first four, and watching Darrell fire up in front of me was gut wrenching. At that time, a practice leave/launch after the burnout, and before the actual run, was legal and allowed, and we called that a dry hop. They had his car set on "kill", naturally, but they had a tad too much initial clutch tuned in, and he smoked the tires at the throttle hit. His dad Jerry just shut him off on the line and they pulled back to the pits.

Then it was my turn, and I had Gene Snow in the other lane. Gene also had an excellent chance at the first four, and no one knew that better than I did. My fire up, burnout, back up, pre-stage and finally stage, seemed to me to go in super slow motion, like it took five times longer than it did in real time. Gene had a bit too much initial clutch and smoked the tires right away and shut off. My Nuclear Banana felt perfect through 60 feet, then quarter track, still perfect at the eighth mile, then just before the 1000 foot mark, I pushed the "magic button" on the steering wheel, and she just kept on pulling to the finish line. Gene in the other lane rolled through slow enough to read my 4.990 and 288.55.

I have led an incredibly blessed life so far, but that day and that feeling is right at the top of my all time best feelings, thank you Lord!

And it feels almost that good again, just remembering and telling about it.

Again thanks for passing me the word.

Eddie FourFather Hill

 

[DakotaGT]

So fun reading that, Eddie. I had actually been looking recently at Gene Snow's 1968 LO23 Hurst Hemi Dart for sale, but ended up buying a different LO23 instead. Factory drag cars that would do 9-sec quarters back in 1968 seems pretty awesome, but sure sounds slow when talking about breaking into the 4's!

 

[roketman]

Very cool ! I never get sick of the bat cave!

 

[STORMCAT]

Thanks for the post and the message that Darrell wants to talk. I'll get in touch with him.

He and I had a great relationship, and lots of good races between us.

One story is the "First in the Fours" weekend at the Texas Motorplex.

Darrell was directly in front of me in the staging lanes, in the qualifying session where a lot of us thought the first four might happen. Quite a few folks, (me included), knew that he had an excellent chance to be first in the fours. You would probably have a hard time believing just how badly all of us in top fuel, especially me, wanted that first four, and watching Darrell fire up in front of me was gut wrenching. At that time, a practice leave/launch after the burnout, and before the actual run, was legal and allowed, and we called that a dry hop. They had his car set on "kill", naturally, but they had a tad too much initial clutch tuned in, and he smoked the tires at the throttle hit. His dad Jerry just shut him off on the line and they pulled back to the pits.

Then it was my turn, and I had Gene Snow in the other lane. Gene also had an excellent chance at the first four, and no one knew that better than I did. My fire up, burnout, back up, pre-stage and finally stage, seemed to me to go in super slow motion, like it took five times longer than it did in real time. Gene had a bit too much initial clutch and smoked the tires right away and shut off. My Nuclear Banana felt perfect through 60 feet, then quarter track, still perfect at the eighth mile, then just before the 1000 foot mark, I pushed the "magic button" on the steering wheel, and she just kept on pulling to the finish line. Gene in the other lane rolled through slow enough to read my 4.990 and 288.55.

I have led an incredibly blessed life so far, but that day and that feeling is right at the top of my all time best feelings, thank you Lord!

And it feels almost that good again, just remembering and telling about it.

Again thanks for passing me the word.

Eddie FourFather Hill

Hey Eddie, Thanks for the post, great stuff !! I know Darrell would love to hear from you !! Best regards, Brian