BILOXI DRAGWAY RESULTS JUNE 12, 1965

From DRAG NEWS

Drag Racing USA

By Bud De Boer

BILOXI, MISS. - June 12 Saturday - This is the home of Biloxi Dragway. The track itself is located just outside Biloxi on Hwy 57 and attracts some of the souths best cars. This week the track was featuring an all Gas Coupe and Sedan Meet. With some $750 up for grabs the meet was hard fought all the way. The track itself is managed by Charles Meek. The program started early Saturday afternoon and ran until 12:00 PM Saturday night. There were alot of the souths best gassers in attendance. Ron Hassel who is from Miramar, Fla. was the most outstanding car in competition. His Chevy powered 40 Willys 4 dr Reilly lead the crowd going. It ran 11.26 - 120.00 which is real close to the national record of 11.20 - 123.00. Ron is a salesman for Crane Cams and really knows his stuff.

A surprise appearance was made by Tom Sturm of Huntington Beach, Calif. and his - Chevelle. The car is made up of many fiberglass pieces with that work being done by Fibercraft. Larry Reyes of Santa Ana handles the driving chores. Tom told us that the main thing that was hurting the cars performance was lack of carburation. He expects to have a pair of 4 BBI's strapped oil as soon as the manifold is done. Tom also said the car cost some $10,000 to put on the track. He said that he had to lay off Impala just to get the engine. The car has run at 11.03 at Long Beach and did manage an 11.19 that night. Another car that ran real well was Riley Gibson's "Mississippi Rebel". This was the first time in a year for him. He ran a 12.60 - 104.65 in the C Gas Class. The car is a Chevy.

When we left the track at midnight the show was not over. They had to call the meet however until the next morning. How that ended you can read that in the "Biloxi" report elsewhere in this paper.

My personal thanks to Charles Meek for all his help and hospitality. Chuck gave us a guided tour of the town and showed us some of the shipyards where many of our Navy vessels of today are built including the Atomics. Shipbuilding and resorts are the main source of income for these people. They call Biloxi the "Riviera of the South". With its beautiful beaches and women it is no wonder.

Biloxi Dragway Newsletter

The Gassers really put on a show Saturday night. Twenty-two gassers answered the call for first round and when the tire smoke had cleared Ron Hassel had won the first round with a best E.T. of 11.26 at 120.00 mph in his B/G '40 Willys. "Col Reb" took the second round when the C/G of Billy Holt couldn't answer the call to run because of clutch problems. Third round winner was the C/Gasser of Billy Holt. Holt coupe really turned some good times, 11.95 and 11.98 and he was also lifting the front wheels on both the second and third shifts!! Jim Van Norman, a private Gasser. David Beeson from Baton Rouge came through for the fourth round win with Rocky Stone from New Orleans runner-up.

On the final run-off for over-all winner it was Ron Hassel against Billy Holt. The C/Gasser lead for almost 3/4 of the track before Hassel could catch him. But the strain was too much on Ron Hassel's engine because it let go just as he went through the lights the winner.

Sources: Drag News, Biloxi Dragway Newsletter, Copyright BiloxiDragway.com