Forward Into The Past...

After "Parenthood" I went into the movie making biz pretty much full time. I worked a lot during the 90's on films like "Days Of Thunder", Lethal Weapon 3" and numerous TV shows...I also got the acting bug and pursued that with some success.

In the early 90's I met and became engaged to a wonderful lady, Kyle Anne Collins who was a truly an amazing person, mainly because she could put up with me. That alone should have qualified her for sainthood. Heck, I even got her to go to the Gatornationals a couple of times.....I rarely even went to the races because I was so busy with the other stuff going on.

But, in early 1996, Kyle passed away from Pneumonia and a few weeks after that my Mom also passed. It was a real difficult time as one can imagine. I soon found myself hiding in my racing magazines.

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Drag Racing for me, was always a more than a passing diversion...It was a friend. One that was always there for me. And as fulfilling as my work could be, there was always something missing. Especially then....I took a generous inheritance from my moms estate and paid off all my bills, started a printing business and had a few bucks left over for a project....

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I found the Gary Cochran "Mr. C" AA/FD in an ad in National Dragster on (October 4th, 1996) and started on restoring it..The car was in amazing shape. I got the ID confirmed and even bought a 392 long block. It was a great project for me. I reconnected with old friends, made a lot of new friends and got a great education along the way.

While the car was coming along nicely, once again I found myself over in my head...Those 392's and all the necessary accessories are EXPENSIVE!!! It forced me to really take a look at my budget, my abilities and my goals.

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Since I knew the car had a pedigree and I couldnt bear wrecking it, I decided to sell it. I was very picky about selling it. I wasn't about to sell it to someone who would end up butchering it up to be a bracket car or anyone I didn't think was capable of restoring it properly.

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I dealt with a buyer from Washington who was the biggest asshole I have ever spoken to, I dealt with a drunk from Michigan who never sober enough to have a coherent conversation with. In 2003, we struck a deal with Don Garlits who has the car restored in his museum. While I dont think the restoration is perfect, I know it's safe and will be appreciated. It is where it belongs. Thank You "Big Daddy"!!

Motorsports Or Movies?

In the fall of 1988, My friend John Wiser asked me to help locate a couple of dragsters for a movie being shot in Orlando. Long story short, it was the Ron Howard directed film "Parenthood" While my partcipation was limited to helping find the cars and watching over them at the track while filming, it was great fun to be involved in such a project. In fact, it changed my life and my life's direction.

We needed 2 cars for the film, 1 to use as a "picture car" or "hero car" and the other to crash. We even got Keanu Reeves, who played the driver of the car, to the dragstrip and let him make a lap in another racers S/C dragster. We pointed him down the track and basically told him..."Go that way...really fast. Having never driven a dragster before , we figured he would limp it through....He limped to a low 8 second 170 mph pass.....The cars owner (who shall remain nameless) damn near soiled his Simpson SFI 5's watching his car go as quick as it ever had gone....It was pretty funny actually.

Anyhoo....we got the 2 cars together and naturally, we needed to test them. I got to make a few easy laps on them. High 9's were about all these crate motored hot rods would do. It was lotsa fun, but it would be almost 20 years before I got to do that again.

Next Chapter: "Forward Into The Past" *

* All due apologies to The Firesign Theater

My Racing History: Part 2

In late summer 1980 we ended up trading our car (less motor) to a local racer who in turn gave us a really sweet turnkey 1969 Don Long FED. It was a neat car that ran low 9's with its small block Chevy. While I really liked driving the car, Bob was a much better racer than I was. I just like going to the races and running the car up & down the track. Bob wanted to RACE.

Shortly after vacating the seat I moved to Florida. Skip ahead a few years and while working at a speed shop, I met a guy who built cars for movies. He asked me to help find a couple of dragsters for an upcoming film. While I thought it would be a great way to be around racing again, I fell in love with film making instead. Go figure.

Welcome To The ItsJustDave Racing Website

First off, here's a little bit about me and how I ended up here.

Like many, I kind of grew up at the dragstrip. In my case it was Martin US 131 Dragway in Michigan. I also spent time at Central Michigan Dragway & Onondaga Dragway. I attended my first race in 1972...and was never the same after watching the Nitro cars run.

I was lucky enought to have an opportunity to help a local guy with his Chevy powered TF car in 1975 & 76. We ran at Onondaga and never really got it down the track very well. It was a great learning experience. Not so much for HOW to race as it was how NOT to race and treat people.

In 1979, My friend Bobby Kelly & I decided to build our own TF car. We purhased a roller from Dick LaHaie in early 1979 & later a complete 426 steel motor from him. We got the car 90% percent done we we ran out of money. Not to mention we were really in over our heads talent wise. It was a another one of those "Character Building, Learning Experiences" that Dad always lectured me about.