Sorry Munji but it happens all the time. Here in Georgia, the half mile Rome Speedway regularly offers sprint speeds topping 150 (dirt) though averages are a bit slower than the 12.7's of Eldora. And don't let that "dirt" thing get in your way. A well prepared dirt track is actually harder than asphalt and quite sticky with the meats these guys run on. I'm sure that ANB will correct me but the right rear tire of these things is something like 24" across and with the low tire pressures these cars will pull you so hard you'll swallow your teeth fillings!
When I've seen the USAC boys (410 CI, no wings!) on asphalt, they were only accelerating for about 1 second before having to shut it down in corners. Their actual times were slower than on dirt because of the slower corner speeds. By the end of the features they were actually spinning the RR to point of smoking as they came out 2 and 4. Since I was used to being around small block cars on these tracks the big block sprinters were something to behold. The damn ground literally shook when they fired up and the smell of methanol was positively intoxicating!
lneal - Were Kalitta's cars named the "The Flying Dutchman" ?? Somehow that name has been stuck in my head but I'm probably not remembering right.
Getting back to the drags - My wife has very fond memories of going to races in NJ. I can't remember the name of the track but her favorite driver back then was "Jungle Jim" Lieberman. Now of course it's John Force in the drag arena and Tony Stewart on the ovals. I'm sure that I would have ranked in there somewhere if I had been as good looking as either one.
