Joe Graham

A lot of years ago in the sixties, I used to run at Atco dragway in NJ. We would go all the way in the back
of the pits to tune the car and have a few. One afternoon this guy pulls in towing a trailer with a
motorcycle on it. It was EJ & his girlfriend (or wife). we helped him get the bike off and by then we had
already noticed the Hillborn injection on the “sideways” Chevy engine. He said that he had gone through
the traps at 100mph. I told him that I didn’t think that was so hot figuring a Chevy engine on a bike! He
said “no, you misunderstand, I went through the traps at 100.” After watching the show I believed him. It
had to be a few years later, and as hard as it may be to believe, here comes this raggedly looking trailer
with that 1957 four door Plymouth Belvedere on it. It was him again. He gets that thing started on the line,
takes off, and I don’t know if the supercharger on that engine burped or what, but as he goes through the
traps he keeps going. As I remember, Atco had about a half mile shutdown area. EJ went beyond the end
and into the woods. All we saw was a cloud of dust. Nothing but silence, the ambulance took off, and the
mumbling in the stands started. About ten minutes later the ambulance with its lights on came slowly back
down the center of the strip. There he was laying on the stretcher in the back of the ambulance giving all
of us the thumbs up. Forever the showman. I have told that same story a few times, and I never thought to
check that guy out on the internet till today while we were talking story about the old days on the East
Coast.

Thanks for the memories.