THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 18, 1994 TAG: 9411170205
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 24 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, BEACON SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
THE NEXT COUPLE of months are going to be a real drag for Gary Humphreys.
Longing for the roar of a muffler-less engine and the vibrations of raw power, he'll have to settle for the humming of an air compressor and the whining of pneumatic tools.
Gone is the thrill of speed and present is the slow pace of day-to-day life without his beloved drag races.
For all the most primitive reasons, Humphreys loves the age-old thrill of racing someone down a straight road.
It's a hobby that is embedded in him from his days as a Detroit youth - when cars often were how men were measured, when his auto-worker father had a couple of street cars, when he learned the thrill of blurred scenery.
But until the Virginia Motorsports Park just south of Petersburg opens up for the 1995 season in March, Humphreys will have to relive those quick moments of excitement in his mind.
``A lot of the appeal is to be successful knowing that you put the car together yourself. You're doing this and trying to beat the guy next to you. He might have done his himself, or he might have big money backing and a crew that works on his car,'' Humphreys said.
The 14-year Navy man doesn't have the high-dollar backing of sponsors and he doesn't have a big pit crew to do his dirty work.
All he has is fellow sailor Randy Johnson helping him work on the engine, the few spare dollars the two can scrape together from previous winnings or savings and - luckily - the blessing of Humphreys' family.
In fact, the family tags along. They set up shop at a campground across a picturesque lake behind the race track and make a weekend of it.
If he is real lucky and the car is real good, it sometimes becomes an entire weekend.
Like Humphreys' last race - the Super Chevy Show - where he managed to keep racing until late Sunday afternoon. He advanced to the quarterfinals before a bad spark plug fouled his chances of making the final four in his class.
``I've finished in the money three of the last four times out,'' Humphreys said the night after time trials, just hours before moving into the elimination rounds. ``I finished second once. I try to race twice a month if I can afford it.''
Humphreys drives a 1966 Chevelle SS 396 that motored him to a personal best of 12.92 seconds in the quarter-mile. That's a top speed of 104 miles per hour.
He hopes to move up from the Pro Eliminator class next year.
``It would be nice to have the big bucks to do what ever you want,'' he said. ``I'm confident about my driving abilities. We've done pretty well with this car given our situation.
``But I want to go faster.''
While having sponsors pave the road sounds nice, Humphreys concedes that there is considerable appeal to owning the car outright.
``I enjoy knowing that it's all mine, me and Randy do it all, we don't have to answer to anybody but ourselves,'' he said. ``I've got about $5,000 in the car right now and we haven't had any major problems. Finishing in the money usually just pays expenses for the weekend.
``But this is a hobby right now, like fishing is for someone else.''
A loud and fast one that is for now suffering a red light. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by LEE TOLLIVER
Humphreys drives a 1966 Chevelle SS 396 he works on without the
benefit of big-time backing.
by CNB