It's all in the Family

I don't think it would be fair to jump into talking about Andy and I without acknowledging the people who got us into drag racing to begin with, our dads.

Drag racing is one of those things where 90% of us start because our families are involved in it. We grew up going to the races with our dads, but some grow going with their entire family. Sometimes racing can be an all-out family affair, where they all work together to help their driver, or maybe even they all race their own cars. One of the things that's cool about local race tracks is you can literally see generations of families and their passion for racing. We all grow up together.

Oddly enough, Andy and I never crossed paths until we ended up racing in the same class. Race tracks are big places...

However we managed to have a lot of things in common even before we met.

Both of our dads are small business owners. This had a huge impact on our upbringing. I know personally, you get to see just how hard your parents work to make ends meet. Knowing what both of our dads sacrificed to work for themselves always made me feel the deepest respect and love for them both.

My dad has had his business, Kuskie Automotive for over 30 years. It's your typical small town auto repair shop, where he also builds his racing engines and works on the race cars. My dad started racing at age 17 when he was still in the Navy, and began bracket racing at Keystone Raceway when he moved back to Pennsylvania. He had a good bit of success with his old Firebird back in the 70's but took a hiatus to raise my brother's and I. When he made his comeback in the late 90's, racing was a whole new game.

This is my dad's 1991 Mustang. It currently has a 532 cubic inch Ford engine in it, running 9.10's at about 147mph in the quarter mile.

This is his newest addition, a 2007 S&W dragster powered with a 434 smallbock Chevy engine. It runs 8.20's at about 160 mph in the quarter mile.

Andy's dad has had his own business, HardMetal Tooling for over 13 years. They are a small business that primarily grinds preformed carbide pieces using various machinery. He has been involved in racing for nearly as long as my dad, and made his comeback also in the 90's.

This is Jim's 1970 Challenger called "The Bismarck." It's power plant consists of a 528 cubic inch Hemi. Yep that's right, it has a Hemi. Like the mustang it also runs 9.20's at around 147mph.

 

 

And this is the newest addition to the family. The 1970 Challenger pro mod. After 7 years in the making this car was completed in October 2013. It is currently powered with 528 lowdeck, which will change sometime in the future. The maiden voyage has yet to be made in this car, but I will be updating on that in the near future!

 

So that's the men who brought us into racing. We race all the time to make them proud. I felt they deserved a post all their own to begin things. Being that racing is such a family oriented sport, starting with our families just felt right.