Fast Fords at Dragway 42 in June of 2021 was my first experience in legal drag racing be it Y Block or otherwise. I was privileged to rub shoulders with some of the finest drivers and mechanics in the world, many of whom are on this forum. When the time came for the Y Block Shootout I wondered who I would be paired against in the first round - Correnti? Burnette? Bauer? I had no idea but thought to myself. I'm at a handicap here - this will be only my 3rd run in legal drag racing.

As the Y block cars are called to the lanes my name and car number was also called to announce that I had a bye. "Great!" I says to myself. "I'm gonna get another run in to make sure I am hitting it consistently before I go up against someone for real." 

Welp, I got to the staging lines and get told, "Uh, we miscounted, looks like you are going to go up against that guy in the altered..."

"Say what?"  





My son, who could not attend because of his work schedule, texted me later on in the day to say, "Ummm, Dad, you got gapped!" 

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

Daniel.  Great job on the video.  You could have been a film director in another life.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Ted, you are too kind my friend! Thank you for the interest you take in Y Block Fords and for spending time with the "new guys" to the Y Block shootouts. I know that I speak for Soffian as well - we enjoyed it immensely! My schedule should take to me the Dallas/Fort Worth area again in late February of 2022. I am going to try to arrange an early arrival for myself, sending the rest of my staff along later for that particular trip. This should give me time to visit your shop for a day or two if that's alright - I promise I won't get in the way! 

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

ALL HAIL, The "reverend" LOL
 Is this the beginning of an attempt by the religious right to take control of Y-Blocks Forever, Y-Block Magazine and the Y-Block Shootout? Just asking.

"FREE SAMPLE"

If it is it couldn't be from a nicer guy. After chatting here with Danial for years I finally got to meet him this weekend. He's one of the good guys for sure and an avid Y's guy on top of it. His dad ain't too shabby either. Definitely Ford blue bloods!

Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

My hat's off to anyone completing a Y-block powered car and then finally able to run it at the strip is awesome. Thanks for sharing.............

64F100 57FAIRLANE500

HRR, great job on the video, and also on the build. If you had taken credit for the work you’ve done and lowered your time, you wouldn’t have broken out. Great to see Ted run, too. Those events are a long ways from Seattle (ok, I should drive more).

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

Ted,

You could have eased up on the throttle a bit so as not to cause the pain to the Reverend ...

____________________________

If the time slip above isn't a record of comparing a Rookie to a Veteran racer I don't know what is. I just thought it laughable that Ted was my first draw in the round of eliminations. To say I had a "great time" meeting everyone and spending the weekend with all of the Y Block guys would be an understatement. It was humbling to say the least to be around so many of you (and others not frequenting the forum) to speak Y Blocks for a few days, examine the rides, and gain more information. I even ended up buying a few parts from Bill Myrand.

The greatest part of all this was that my dad (who lives in NC) got to come up and it was Father's Day weekend - that meant quite a bit to me. You guys were an encouragement to him in reaching out and spending some time with him. Since his knee surgery he has not been able to go to any events related to cars. You would not be surprised to find that he has talked to me EVERY day on the phone since then to talk about the weekend he had, meeting you guys, and all the rest. I am indebted to you men that made him a part of the group during the Y Block shootout.

As far as taking anything over - I've got no plans for any of that. While I do believe I am on a mission from God, I stay out of the "religious right" and the "liberal left" - I'd just as soon be left alone from government and have my freedom to live my life and worship God as I choose. Label me as you will (I think it was John Harding who actually coined "Hot Rod Reverend" one day as we were laughing on the phone together a number of years ago...) but in this crazy world in which we live the time spent in the Y Block world is very refreshing. I cannot wait to do it again and I do hope more of you can attend next year. 




Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

Actually that run against Daniel was the result of some back pedaling on my end.  Having a better light than he had, I was able to catch Daniel before the finish line and ease up on the throttle.  Hence the lower than normal mph through the traps than usual.  As Daniel mentions, he was new at this and his reaction time will improve as he gets more runs under his belt.  Here’s the time slip for my roadster showing a more representative pass for that weekend.



Keep in mind that when trimming down the reaction time, red lights do come into play.  I had a couple of those during the weekend.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)