Question of the Week: What’s Your Drag Racer Nickname?—WINNER’S UPDATE: A Practical Look
WINNER’S ANNOUNCEMENT:
We’re back to announce the winner for our Question of the Week, where our victor will accept a $25 credit for a hat or T-shirt from the BaT Gear Store and the acclaim of their peers.
This week, we asked: What’s your drag racer nickname?
Thanks to everyone who wrote in! We broke out our roster and got to work reading the list of nicknames—many meant business, few were self-deprecating, and plenty landed somewhere in between. We’re picking our favorite nickname (Editorial Privilege!) as this week’s winner, which was submitted by BaT member @ChunkyLover75:
Image: Hot Rod Magazine
A name like that certainly means business, and it’s got a nice ring to it, too. Congratulations, ChunkyLove75—be sure to check your email to claim the prize.
Now, let’s take a look at some other popular nominations from this week’s discussion thread:
“Was racing my bike at Westhampton Dragway in the 80’s.
Had a .01 light in the quarter finals.
.01 in the semis and a .02 in the final round. The next weekend, I pulled into the pits and while I was taking my helmet off… I heard someone say “hiya Tree!” That was my name for the rest of the summer!”
That looked like a great hang out spot, for sure. Photo credits can be found here.
“My nickname was actually given to me in the Air Force where the culture works with nicks, likely an evolution of radio call signs. Sometimes the dubbing is a burden to the recipient, especially as you have to live with it for years. I feel like I was fortunate as being Jim Holt, I got tagged as “Jolt”, and that has been fun both professionally and in the car hobby.”
Well, a sudden Jolt can certainly cause quite a pandemonium…
BaT member @SteveIOMTT defied death and writes:
“Get Off” to emphasize four major motorcycle crashes: chronologically and arguably most severe to most benign:
1. Head run over by a ‘68 teal Nova, The bike, a ‘71 /5 BMW, washed out, and I nose dived headfirst, face down into the rocker panel, punching in a soup bowl-sized dent. Teal paint can be seen under the tire track, which followed when the right rear tire of the Nova spit me out like a bean, spinning me heels first into the right rear quarter panel. I could have walked away, but I was aware of what had occurred-I never lost consciousness-and thought from the explosion in my head that I might have broken my neck. The nurse who was following me thought the same thing as she put her hand on my helmet and said, “Don’t move”.
2. Brought down by night crawlers at Putnam Park Road Course. Hit them at turn 10, coming onto the front straight. They were sunning themselves on the tar snakes. During the high side, I recall thinking I shouldn’t be seeing the bottom of my ‘90 BMW K1. Then Wham! Three other riders went down at other locations on the track.
3. Tank slapped off trying to zip my sleeves. Bad idea. The John Deere yellow o-ring, which was just the right size to fit in the gap between the bar end weight and the throttle grip, didn’t. It never made it off the grip when I rolled it. The decel put the ‘90 Concours into a viscous speed wobble. I grabbed for the blur but got nothing. I slid down the road following the bike. It slid to a stop in front of an oncoming sedan. I ran to the bike. It was against the curb. I wondered how I was going to pick it up when I heard “Are you alright?!” I turned to see the driver of the sedan. I said, “Are there any marks on my helmet?” He said there weren’t. I said then I’m ok. I was still wondering how I was going to right the bike before the cops showed up. I noticed the sedan’s driver’s eyes were the size of saucers, and though of mild stature, he must have some serious adrenaline flowing at the moment.
I asked him if he could help me pick up my bike. He handed it to me.
Image: Museum of American Speed
4. Low side. About 180 miles from home, traveling through Shades State Park, Indiana, I hit spilled antifreeze. I didn’t know I was off the bike until I heard the scraping. Sliding on my back, I watched, between my feet, my ‘04 BMW R1100S, sparks flying, sliding in front of me. I was wearing my leather race-suit and was slowing faster than the bike. As I trailed it, I thought to myself, “Don’t go into the ditch.” As it went into the ditch, I thought, “Don’t go in upside down.”
As I came to rest, the bike came to rest, upside down. I got up and ran to the bike. It was in the middle of the week. There wasn’t a soul around. Once again, I was wondering how I was going to pick up my bike when I heard, “Are you alright?!”
There had been another car behind me. The guy must have seen the get off because his eyes were the size of saucers. You know how this ends: me “Marks on helmet”, Saucers: “No”. “Help me pick it up?”
Saucers one hands it, I rode away.
“My drag racing name is “Pontiac John”. I’ve got a tribute 1961 Super Stock Pontiac Catalina with an authentic tri-power 389 Super Duty engine and a four speed manual transmission. It was painted up to duplicate the 1961 Packer Pontiac drag race car, number 7-11.”
And we’ll wrap up this week’s discussion with @PerpendicularBisector‘s nickname:
Regarding nicknames, I’m sticking with my suggestion last week: Bi-polar. I think that there might be a tactical advantage to this name, potentially psyching out competing racers. If I was racing against someone called Bi-polar, I might wonder if that guy would stay in his lane.
That’s it for this week’s Question of the Week! Thanks to everyone who participated, and congratulations once again to our winner, ChunkyLover75. We’ll be back with a new question soon.
ORIGINAL POST:
We’re back with another Question of the Week! For those unfamiliar, here are the rules: we ask an automotive-themed question, and the author of our favorite answer from the comments is awarded a $25 credit to the BaT Gear Store.
A mighty BaT hat tip to @PerpendicularBisector, whose comment inspired this week’s question:
What’s your drag racer nickname?
Drag racing was as much about the personalities behind the wheel as it was about their cars, and nicknames quickly became synonymous with the sport. From the 1960s through the 1970s, cool nicknames were on the rise, and legends were born—”Big Daddy” Don Garlits, Bill “Grumpy Jenkins, “The Snake” Don Prudhomme, and “The Mongoose” Tom McEwen, among many others. These names were a glimpse into each racer’s personality, and made each man seem larger-than-life when barked by the track announcers firing up the crowd.
Now, imagine yourself queueing up in a plume of tire smoke, and tell us:
What’s your drag racer nickname?
Give us your answer it in the comments, and leave a thumbs-up to any nominations that grab your attention. We’ll announce the winner on Monday.
“Gordon Heavyfoot”
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ChunkyLover75 commented on Question of the Week: What's Your Drag Racer Nickname?—WINNER’S UPDATE