Simonsen's was on 89th and Stony Island on the south side. Our first race car shop was at 50th and Damen in an old gas station. Our last one was at 67th and Pulaski in what had once been a warehouse. Paul On Jan 17, 2008, at 11:58 PM, Christine Aguila wrote:
> Paul: Great story!!! Really enjoyed reading it. Fun to see the > car pic as > well. Cheers, Christine > P.S. I asked my husband if he'd heard of Simonsen, but no joy. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Paul Stenquist" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "Pentax-Discuss Mail List" <[email protected]> > Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2008 9:17 PM > Subject: PESO: Sort of. My first love. > > >> Thirty-two years ago I packed a negative away in a big cardboard box >> and tried to forget it. It was a picture of my first love: a 235 mph >> monster of a Corvette funny car that was in real danger of ruining my >> marriage and maybe my life. >> >> In those carefree years between college and responsibility I worked >> as a crew chief for a professional drag racing team. I had grown up >> with a wrench in my hand. My grandfather was a mechanic, and I built >> my first race car, a Pontiac-powered '34 Ford when I was fifteen, >> followed by a little digger at eighteen. During college I worked >> building racing engines at Simonsen's in Chicago. By the time I >> graduated, I could build motors in my sleep, and a local racing team >> recruited me to wrench their car. I loved being alone in the shop >> with a fresh engine, turning it and listening to the new piston rings >> scrape the freshly honed cylinder walls. Feeling the drag on the >> wrench that was locked onto the front pulley. Checking cylinder >> leakdown and working hour after hour to get it to three percent. I >> fell in love with the smell of nitro and tire smoke, and the thrill >> of watching something I put together streak to over 200 mph in around >> six seconds. Burning that motor down, only to build another one for >> the next race. It was an incredible rush. In the interim I discovered >> women, fell in love all over again and got married, but the race car >> remained my focus. Seventy hours a week. From Miami to Maine, Texas >> to Indiana, Minnesota, North Dakota, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Toronto. >> We toured the continent, made some money and had the time of our >> lives. We were on the radio: Sunday, Sunday, Screaming Yellow Fever, >> the world's fastest Corvette. And at 6.35, 237 mph, we were just >> that. And my wife was at home. She wanted no part of it, so it just >> didn't work. And I gave it up, and put the negative in a box along >> with the memories and the addiction. >> >> Over the years I forgot where that negative was, but today, while >> looking for something else, I rdiscovered it. The track photographer >> at US 30 dragstrip in Gary, Indiana shot the pic at a Wednesday night >> event thirty-two and a half years ago. I think he used a C2 Mamiya >> TLR. His name was Sundberg. I know because his name is written on the >> envelope that holds the negative. I just now scanned it and made >> myself a 13 x 19 print for the wall. I can look at it now without >> wishing I was back there. >> >> It's here: http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=6849463&size=lg >> >> Paul >> >> -- >> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >> [email protected] >> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above >> and >> follow the directions. >> > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above > and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
