South Mountain Raceway – There you are, you find yourself watching Vintage Eliminator near the starting line when a distinctive, bright red hot rod pulls to the line. The turned-metal design of the wheel covers, firewall, and seat almost put you into a trance. Then you notice the name on the side, “Glory Daze III” and realize you’re just in a daze. Well, no, not really, but the design certainly does catch your eye. And the 1927 Oakland of Kevin Johnson, much like the entire Vintage Eliminator field, is not something you see every day.

When asked, Kevin was more than happy to share some details on the car. “This is a 1927 Oakland that was built by E.J. [Kowalski]. He and Liz [Leggett] had been building it when I took notice of it. She [Liz] had run it down here last year, the last event that they had and I’d seen somebody that raced with the group maybe a couple years ago and he had his for sale. I asked E.J., ‘You think this is worth it?’ and he’s like, ‘You want me to build you one?’ so they finished that Oakland and this one became mine.”

Of course, right next to the name of the car (Always like to see cars with their own names at the track. Who doesn’t?) there’s also a big “133” on the side there with it.  Johnson goes on to explain how the name and number came about, “133, after my dad’s competition number in homage to him, and Glory Daze is my funny car. We’re building a front-motor dragster they’re going to race with the guys and this basically is the 3^rd Glory Daze.”

Performance isn’t prime focus on these cars, but it is still important. As to the performance of the car, Johnson points out, “We just put in a standard stock drivetrain, it’s just ‘let’s see what it can do.’ We’re running 15.6s in the eighth at about 45 miles an hour, so over the winter I’m sure I’ll be able to bolt some parts on and do some stuff to make it go a little faster.”

The guys and gals in Vintage Eliminator definitely lead all drag racing classes in “smiles-per-mile” and it’s no different for Kevin. In the event prior to this one, he, and some of the other vintage racers, took to the dirt tracks with their cars, something you’d never dream of in a funny car or dragster. He laughed as he pointed out a spot on his right rear tire where he missed cleaning the dirt off. He also pointed out one of the biggest factors that make this racing series attractive as a racer, “You know, it’s the most fun I’ve ever had drag racing honestly, because the pressure is low, with the amount of fun you get to have and the people, are like second to none. I can spend the money on the car, which my wife loved to hear that I was spending money on a car that went slower than all my cars, so it’s safer. I’m 56 this year so I’m starting to realize how much sweat equity you put into some of these things, and I’d like to spend a little less equity and real money in equity and sweat too.”

This car isn’t Kevin’s first stop on his racing journey, but it may be the one that grabs the most attention (and fun). He fondly recounts what his current experience is like, “It’s a topless car so I get a nice breeze and I couldn’t think about a better way to get back into racing. I stepped out for about five years with the funny cars and then I just sold my blown alcohol funny car to a guy in Texas who’s in his 70s and wants to drive it. So we’ll see what happens with that and we’ll see what happens with this and then the dragster, E.J.’s finishing up the dragster this year. Hopefully we’ll have it out later this year or first thing next year and that’ll have a flathead in it. This is not quite as exciting as doing the burnouts and the wheelstands but that’s all right. We’ll do that sometimes and we’ll do this sometimes. This is all new to me the 4-bangers, the flatheads, I don’t know the first thing about ‘em and I’m happy about that because I love to learn. I’m not saying that I wasn’t still learning with the blown stuff and with the big blocks and small blocks and things, but this is just, you know, the amount of money you have to pour into these is a hundredth, maybe, of what we would be with the funny cars so it’s great.

On the back of the car the line “They’ll Pass You By” is displayed prominently. Kevin Johnson seems to take this serious to make sure his “Glory Daze” don’t pass him by, as he shares some details of his next automotive adventure, “E.J. and Liz are just wonderful people and I just really want to support them and what they’re doing more than anything. They got me hooked on Bonneville last year we went, Rick [Sturz] and I, went to Bonneville. It was our first year. He took his coupe out there and then E.J. set all those records so the bug got me. I’m going back out this year. Rick and EJ and I are fielding a truck and are going to race that ‘49 F1 and try to set a record in the vintage fuel category with a flathead that’s going to go in my dragster. We’ve got a lot going on.”

Take a hint from “Glory Daze III” and don’t let any more of this vintage action pass you by! Check your schedules and calendars and make sure you carve out time for the next Vintage Eliminator race! Be there!

DF Motorsports Magazine is a Summit Racing Equipment affiliate. Please use the links below to place your Summit order and support this site! Thank you for your support!