Sweet tow rig..

Here is a couple of shots of pops 55 a few years later. You can see its painted instead of just primmered.. also check out the hole cut in the grill for easy cam changing. I think there is a color shot of the car in front of Mom's in my Grandmothers photo album. I'll get more info on the paint and Mom's Speed Shop history up soon.

"This photo shows me towing Ray Alley in his Engine Masters funny car. A heavy hitter back then. These photos were taken at Fremont by Ted Stewart. In later years Kenny Bernstein drove this car, and still later Ray became NHRA's Director of Fuel Dragster and Funny Car Competition (or some such title)."

The 55 Sedan Delivery Chevy.

You know that iconic tri five that is burned into your mind from childhood? Most people have some sort of two tone 57 convertible or maybe something a little more raw like the American Graffiti 55, but for me its this car. I love it. My pops style comes through in every incarnation of it. He'd tell ya "We just did what we did..."shrug his shoulders.

"This was a fun car to drive on the street. The photo was taken in front of our house in S.F. Those are real magnesium wheels on the front. A pain to keep polished in San Francisco's climate. I had multiple engines and every concievable combination of intakes on there, but the most fun of all for me was the Bill Thomas Injection. That's Les' 63 SS Impala I'm parked behind. I don't know when this photo was taken. At one point I even used an Offy 6-71 blower manifold, fashioned carb intake holes in a 1/4" aluminum plate to cover the plenium chamber and ran an AFB inside a 6-71 blower case. Terrible bottom-end response. Too much time on my hands? Maybe so. Had a lot of fun with that 55 and learned a bunch. Bought it for $175 from a car lot on Valencia Street. I even ran a Paxton supercharger on that car for some time. That was pretty cool because it had good response and horsepower... but like I said I liked the Bill Thomas competition injection the best."

My Father.

I would like to introduce you to my father, Rich Welch. During this project I want to try and use his words instead of my clouded interpretation of stories i've heard since childhood. To help with keeping stories straight i will always be in red type and pops will be black. Hope this thing is on.. check... check..

"This photo was taken at Fremont as a promotional shot for DRAG WORLD, a weekly drag racing newspaper. That shirt is a red Fremont Drag Strip track official shirt. It was embroidered on the back exactly the same as the now-famous Fremont jackets. I was the official track photographer at the time."

Father Son Race Day.

This page is about the man behind this stamp.
Its about a passion of mechanics, speed, and competition.
I hope anyone who stumbles on this appreciates my Fathers past as much as I do.