For all you guys, Friday morning I met one of my first true heroes of motor
sports. I picked up Karol Miller at his daughters home in Huntington Beach and
took him over to "Jacks Garage" where 15 gearheads were waiting to meet him.
(I'm just lucky our grandsons play on the same little league team) He is true
gentleman in my best words. He was a little taken back over all the attention
as he felt no one remembered what he did in the mid fifties at Bonneville with
his Red and White 56 Ford Victoria. ( Ford guys have never forgot) He's been
asked many times if he still has it, it's long gone, but he has 4 more 56's to
take its place. We learned he was the national champion in '59 with his gas
dragster along with Singer. He always wears the ring. Jack brought out a
copy of the Bakersfield March meet results with him in it. Obviously he went
home with a copy. After a few hours we left with a smile on his face and he
will be back when he comes to visit his daughter. When I dropped him off, he
gave me 3 pictures of his '56 and a copy of a Daytona Beach Century Club
Certificate for going 155.844 in the Daytona Flying Mile in 1958. He did it in
the '56 with a 272 ci y-block and a Latham Blower. It's something I'll
treasure for the rest of my life. You might wonder why I feel this way, when
Karol was speeding on the salt; I was in the 7th grade, my parents drove a
black 56 Ford Victoria, I reading about Karol and seeing pictures of his car
in Isky ads. What's a kid to dream about? A 150 mph Ford Victoria with a
Y-Block. It's a small world and ain't it grand. I hope you all can have great
days too and share them with us. J.D.
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