I got the idea that we don't know much about the fellow corvette owners that we race with, so why not let them tell us about themselves. So this section will be dedicated to all you racers to tell us of your successes and your failures, that .499 light to that big eliminator win. I'm hoping this becomes a popular feature. So let me know what you think.

When I started to think whom I would want to profile first, I only had one choice, ME. I thought after me the only way it could go is up.

So here it goes, please don't fall asleep.

Featured Racer: John Mackey 

I started my racing in 1967 with a '64 Chevy Impala SS. E-town was brand new, the pits were on the current spectator side and the timing tower was the one that is now used on the motto-x track. No racing back then on Fridays or Saturdays and on Sunday they only ran an NHRA class eliminator. Even pure stock (and that's what it was pure stock) was based on a NHRA eliminator. It was $4.50 to get in, and if you won class you got $10 or a trophy. I still have those early trophies today.

In '69 and '70 I ran a '57 Chevy, 283/245hp as an LiStocker running class. Now remember you may have only had a few cars in your class each week, so you would run the same cars every week. In 1971 I joined forces with my fellow schoolmate Norman Mayersohn. We built a NHRA legal 1965 Chevelle station wagon, with a 283ci, 220 hp. At our first divisional points race we set the national records. This car was very competitive both on a local and national level. In 1972 Norm moved to California after accepting a staff position as technical editor of Car Craft magazine. It was with the help of Car Craft we were able to build an all new but low dollar project car that was a recurrent story in the magazine. So Norm used his contacts to get parts while I found just the right 4 door, 65 Chevelle, 300 Deluxe for $5.00 to use as the body. The car proved to be the hot combination to compete with the 340 Dusters. One of these Dusters that we had to race at almost every race was another Jersey racer that I knew because he was the service manager at the VW dealership just down the street from my gas station. That racer is now the owner and founder of SLP, and Corvette Challenge sponsor, Ed Hamburger.

I built a 65 Chevelle SS car and had one on the right coast and one on the left and we raced that way till 1977 when business and family priorities took over my life. We were very lucky to have made some great friends along the way and I have many fond memories. Of course today looking back at the racing then, the cars were faster, the competitions tougher and it was all new and a very exciting time to have raced.

Thanks for listening. I'll be back with more soon. Click on this link to see pictures of these cars.

Recently John had a rollbar installed by Neverlift Motorsports.  Click here to see photos of this fine work.

johnmackey@corvettechallenge.info