Gordie’s First Ride
By Gordie Bonin with Herman Marchetti
It was through Russell Stevenson, now Drag Racing Manager at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington, that I personally met Gordie in 2000. Russell and I are "brothers". His older sister is married to my older brother. Russell came to Spokane to run the AHRA World Finals and I went to the track for my first ever day working on the starting line. Russell and Gordie used to hang out together. I was introduced to Gordie at the track and in the course of conversation he mentioned to someone the word "diabetes". I had to ask because I am diabetic too. Gordie’s son has diabetes. We talked a long time about diabetes, not racing. We exchanged a few emails over the next couple years and chatted when he came to Spokane to race. Now Gordie has moved to Spokane and he doesn’t know it yet but he has become my newest best buddy. Some may read this story and laugh, but to hear Gordie tell this story in person is priceless. I had to write it all down and call him to fill in a lot of blanks because I was laughing too hard to remember it all as he told this story in a bench race session over breakfast at a local pub. Those of you, who know Gordie, feel free to laugh out loud. I know everyone at the table did! Enjoy! Herman
My first real serious racecar was a brand new1968 Chevelle 396 that my father cosigned for me. Thank You, Dad! I won my first drag racing trophy, a two-foot plastic one, with that car. It had 1004 miles on it when I won that trophy. (My dad still has those first trophies) I also lost my virginity in that very car! I raced at Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Mission, & Seattle for about 5 years in every thing from my Chevelle to a friend’s A Fuel dragster.
Early in 1972 I had just married and was working as a loan officer for Beneficial Finance. It was around midnight when I received a call from Gordon Jenner. In his gruff voice he said. "I’ve been down here in California with a new funny car for a month. I have already used three drums of fuel and this guy can’t drive this car. He’s scared to death of it. How would you like to drive a funny car?" Hmmm. Funny car? Opportunity knocking. I said "Yeah, I could do that." And he replies "Good! Call me in the morning." Click! Oh yeah, like I’ll be able to sleep now!
So I get hold of Jenner the next day and he supplies airfare from Calgary, with a return trip. Gotta have that return trip! I fly to Los Angeles on Wednesday in my suit and tie carrying my briefcase. Jenner shows up dressed in T-shirt & jeans with a half-ton Chevy pickup & pull along trailer. We pile in the truck and it is off to Lion’s for the Wednesday night show. In the pits I climb into the seat and check out the controls. This is cool but the seat is about three sizes too big for me. We start the car with me in the seat. Now this is beginning to get cooler! You have to remember that this is before everyone on the team wore gas masks.
NHRA rules require two half-track passes and a full pass to up grade my license from an A Fuel car to a Funny Car license. "Two half-track passes and a full pass, that’s all you gotta do other than the burnouts." Jenner says. Burnouts! This was getting cooler by the minute. I borrow a fire suit from Murray Dyma (the guy that owned the car but was afraid to floor it) that would fit the Pillsbury doughboy. We start the car for our first pass and the body comes down. I move toward the burnout box and hit it. Smoke in the cockpit, I proceed to do a half-track burnout. How cool is that! They didn't tell me I didn't have to burnout to half-track. I back her up and Jenner's already got this shit eating grin going on. Move forward, stage, hit it! The car leaves clean, I reach for the shifter and I’m about a foot short! Can’t reach the handle. After returning to the pits, we borrow a torch and heat the shift handle to try and bend it so I can reach the thing.
On the second pass I can just barely reach the shifter, so I step off the
throttle, grab high gear, and hit it again. We decide I need a pillow behind me
so I can reach everything just right; no pillow, but a borrowed fire suit jacket
from a friend in the pits suffices.
The final pass I run a 7.02 at 202mph. Steve Evans, who was running Lion’s at
the time, comes up and says "You guys should go to Seattle next weekend. I’ll
call Bill Doner." I get a promise that Evans will sign my license
application when I get one, and off we go. Evans gave Jenner a phone number to
contact Doner in Seattle. We packed up our stuff and headed to the motel. It's
past midnight, but WHO can sleep??
In the morning, we head for Mike Libey's shop to work on the car. Jenner says
to me, "You get to do the bottom end because if there is a fire it's your
ass out there." He went to call Bill Doner. As we tear down the motor
Jenner comes back in and says "We're going to Seattle." Okay, How cool
is that! I asked Gordon if we got the big guarantee money, he says no, but Doner
gave us "four in free!" On the way to Seattle I'm in the middle of
bench seat sandwiched between two guys each way over 200lbs; NOT very cool. As
we're going over the Grapevine, I ask to stop so I can get in the bed of the
pickup and stretch out WITH my fire suit on; it was April you know.
We run Seattle that weekend and I was runner up. How cool is that! I thought
"This is easy." And the rest is history.
"GB in Liplock"
Gordie first win, at Spokane with Murray Dyma & Gordon Jenner with Bill Lee
Doner in the tower doing Race results
Unloading the car at the Seattle Race mentioned in the above story
Special Thanks to Gordie Bonin and Herman Marchetti for this great story
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