b'RACERPROFILES entimen al Ride Carriearries s Sen timenttal Ride CS oucek tSouc ek to Vo VictictorieoriessThe Chevrolet Nova which Joe Soucekto and from the track where I wouldpromising to get the original Nova out Jr. used in his International Hot Rodchange it to the slicks where I wouldof the garage before he would take a Association (IHRA) Summit Sportsmancarry in the trunk. trip to the race track at IHRA member Spectacular win at Dragway 42 isfacility Quaker City Motorsports Park. much more than a race car. NamedThe car proved to be both valuableThat trip and another to a national Bessie, its truly part of the family. on and off the race track. That wasevent and he was hooked on the sport.before it got smashed on its way toSoucek, a 42-year-old constructiona race. These days, he mainly races at company owner from Rittman, Ohio,Dragway 42, but still goes to Quaker drove the 1970 Nova with a 388 cubic- It was actually street legal, and ICity and some of the others for inch motor to one of the biggest winsdrove the car from my wedding to thebig events. At the IHRA Summit of the season and to another marqueereception. About 10 years ago, I wasSportsman Sportsman Spectacular, he victory at the track in July. But histowing it to the race track and somewon the $5,000 top prize in the Mod story starts with another classic Nova. kid comes flying up and hit my truck,division race on Moser Engineering trailer and destroyed that race carSaturday and also made it to the final My parents bought a 70 Nova withwhich had been in the family so long,round of the Top division.their wedding money. For years, it wasSoucek said. We took the parts kept in the garage with 30,000 mileswhich were salvageable, and I boughtI was a bottom bulber for 18 years on it, Soucek explained. When dadanother Nova which we put them on.and then decided I wanted to try some started drag racing, he used anotherThe car is named Bessie and thatsoff the top, Soucek said, At that car because he babied the Nova. Afterwhat everybody knows it as. A lot oftime, all the big money racing was top it sat in the garage about four yearspieces came from the original car andbulb. Not that you cant go to a top collecting dust, my 22nd birthday, heit will probably be in my family untilbulb race with a bottom bulb and do threw me the keys to it and said, TurnIm gone. well. To show up once a year with a it into a race car.Box car against guys who do it all the Ironically, Soucek wasnt into dragtime, I think a bottom bulber is better I pulled the motor and decided to goracing at all when he was younger. Heoff to go off the bottom.a bigger motor in it. I started driving itwas a skateboarder. It took his dad 32'