I was a serious weekend racer who always relied on traction, chassis reaction, exact driving and mid-range torque. Again, I don't recall my class elimination wins at two regional championships. Competition was not that great. But both of the final round runs were against the same car, a '62 Galaxie with a deep sounding, wedge big-block. In the Union Grove class final, I won by three-quarters of a car length at 12.37 at 112 mph.
Get this: As life goes, I ended up being 1 of 20 taken by the U.S. Marines. A week later, I flunked their boot camp physical exam at Parris Island, South Carolina. I was actually mad! They gave me a free train ticket back to Chicago and Nickey Chevrolet. My friend was then killed while letting someone else drive his GTO. I was supposed to be with them, but I did not go. A few months later, I special-ordered my only new Chevy, a '66 L79 Chevy II. I sure liked that '62 SS 409.
What you've read here is just an inkling of Chevy's overall big-car performance heritage. There were thousands of other Chevy guys in every state doing the very same thing from 1958 through 1970 and beyond. Many are still at it today. Thumbs up to every one.