Cody Enterprise
THURSDAY, June 11, 2015
Life’s a drag
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Pam Peterson does a burnout in her 1989 Mustang at the start of a race. She has been drag racing for 12 years. (Courtesy photos)
Visit to dragstrip leads Peterson to successful racing career By AMBER PEABODY Special sections editor When Pam Peterson and her husband Brian were first married, he took her to a drag race. Watching the cars roar down the track, she knew it was something she wanted to try at least once in her lifetime. In 2002 she bought a 1997 Dodge Neon to be a show car and grew interested in street racing. The following year a drag strip was build in Acton, Mont., and she decided to give it a try. “I wanted to see what my car could do so I ended up taking it to Acton,” she said. “I was surprised with how fast the car was. Things ballooned from there. Now we work six days a week so we can race. It’s eat, sleep, race.” She gradually began learning the ins and outs of racing, which isn’t as easy as it seems (See related story.). “Drag racing is so much a mental game it’s not even funny,” she said. “There’s a 1,000 ways to win or lose a drag race and you don’t even know all the ways to lose until they’ve happened to you.” After a few years she decided to
convert the Neon to a complete race car. “I was a lot more successful when I made it a full drag racing car,” she said. “Then you don’t have to think about things like needing the car to go to work with the next day. You can give it your all.” Competing in the heads up class (both cars leave at the same time and the first across the finish line wins), her front-wheel car could run a nine second quarter mile at 148 mph. “You’re going so fast it’s very much an adrenaline rush,” she said. “It’s just 10 seconds and you think you’d remember everything, but I’d get back to the pits and couldn’t remember a thing. On race day it’s yourself against the other car and you have tunnel vision.” That’s why they have software to log the run. “It will let you know if you didn’t have your foot all the way to the floor and anything else you need to know,” she said. “It always tells on me.” She raced in the class for nine years, chasing races all across the country including 15 tracks on the west side of U.S.
Pam Peterson has won three “Wally” trophies throughout her career. It is the highest prize given in drag racing. “You’re always pushing,” she said. “My car was nationally known by the end of my racing with it. At one time it was the fastest stock chassis Dodge Neon.”
Pushing a car to the limit doesn’t come without consequences though. She blew up at least one engine each season. Even when the car was running great there were still things that needed worked on constantly. “Between runs it was frantic,” she said. “You’d be pulling spark plugs and checking data logs. There’s so much that goes on.” Three years ago she made her debut in rear-wheel drive races when she was asked to drive someone else’s car. “Rear-wheel drive cars handle better at those fast speeds,” she said. “With a front-wheel car you’re always fighting it and it’s physically exhausting.” In her current races, the focus is more on consistency than all out speed. At each race, cars take two qualifying passes to get dialed in. “When racing starts you have to run as close to that number as possible without going too fast,” she said. “The car that runs closest to that number and has a good reaction time is always going to win. You want a consistent car.” Following the first round half
the cars will be eliminated. There’s usually three to four rounds with as many as six depending on how many cars are entered. “In bracket racing you can bring out any car whether its grandma’s car or whatever,” she said. “My car is a 10-second car so if I’m racing a 13-second car they get a head start and ideally you should finish at the same time.” After two years of racing in rearwheel, she bought an ’89 Mustang and built it from ground up in four and a half months. “I wouldn’t recommend that to anyone,” she said. “You’re working on it every waking moment.” Even though she’s raced the car for a year, Peterson is still trying to learn the best way to drive the car. “My reaction times were all over the place last season because I was trying different approaches,” she said. “With a new car every time you change something it might help or hurt depending if it’s a good change or bad change.” Recently she switched to alcohol injection, which seems to be a good Please see PETERSON, page C-3
Wolff’s restorations like ‘high performance art’ By AMBER PEABODY Special sections editor When he was 15, Bruce Wolff restored his first car – a 1953 Ford. He’s come along way since that first restoration, having fixed up 10 vehicles and acquired a lifetime of skills and knowledge. “In 1966 I fixed up the 1953 Ford,” he said. “I didn’t have much money then, but it turned out all right. I like seeing something that’s a pile junk become a beautiful car when it’s done.” Other projects have included a 1941 Buick, 1954 Skyline, 1956 Dodge and 1951 Ford truck. He also redid a 1994 Plymouth Laser for his daughter’s high school car and a 1966 Mustang for his son’s. When each is finished, he said they’re more impressive than the day they rolled off the assembly line. “I think they need to be driven and used,” Wolff said. “I usually sell them so I have money for my project, but it’s not about making money for me. I just enjoy the hobby.” He still owns two of his restoration projects though – a 1936 and ’57 Chevy. He purchased the ’36 back in 1983 and turned it into a street rod. It has a Chevy 350 V8 he put in just last year, along with modern drivetrain suspension. Wolff did all the work on the car excluding the interior and engine. He purchased the ’57 Chevy in 1995 and also converted it into a street rod with a Chevy 454 big block. “It was a basket case when I bought it,” he said. “It was in pieces. It needed a lot of body work and even a few bullet holes in it.” The car required extensive body work. “I replaced all floors in the
It was a basket case when I bought it. It was in pieces. It needed a lot of body work and even had a few bullet holes in it. Bruce Wolff, restored 1957 Chevy front,” he said. “I had to cut out the rusted pieces and weld new ones on.” He also lowered the front end on the ’57, giving the street rod an aggressive, sleeker appearance. Neither car had the original transmission, which is why he decided to make updates and add the more powerful engines. Both also have air conditioning so they’re more comfortable to drive in the summer. “The ’57 is probably my favorite,” he said. “I’ve driven it all over. It’s the most fun to drive and has a lot of power.” Wolff has learned mostly by doing, including painting his cars. “I painted that first car when I was 15,” he said. “I pulled it out in the driveway on a non windy day. I’d worked at my uncle’s farm spray painting some of his buildings so I knew how to use the spray gun.” That first paint job was less
photo by AMBER PEABODY
Bruce Wolff transformed this 1957 Chevy into a street rod. The lowered front end and bright red paint give the car an aggressive, sleek look. than perfect, but it wasn’t terrible. Gradually with more practice and some auto body classes in Rapid City, S.D., and later at Laramie County Community College he improved his skills. “You have to stay on top of what’s out there because there’s it so many products and different kinds of paint,” he said. Both the ’36 and ’57 are a testament to how far his painting skills have come, looking more like high
performance works of art than just old cars. Wolff could definitely be considered a fine artist in his medium. “Red is my favorite color for hot rods,” he said. Along with his own vehicles he’s also done paint and body jobs for a handful of other car owners. His current project is a 1967 Ford Ranchero, and he also has a ’33 Ford truck waiting in the wings.
“It’s somewhat rare with big 390 engine,” Wolff said of the Ranchero. “It’s different and that’s what attracted me to it when I bought it.” Wolff usually finds his projects through word of mouth. “The guy I bought the 1957 from had it sitting on his property and wanted it gone so I got it for $400,” he said. “A guy in Wheatland asked me to come look at the
Please see WOLFF, page C-2