Old Northstar racer

[Rick_Nelson]

Hello all, just found this site and recognize a few of my buddies. I am trying to track down some history so hopefully this site will help.

About me;
I raced a 68 and 69 Dart at North Star Drag Strip from around 1977 till it's close. The car was owned by Troy Harris of Spring Lake Park and was a dark green. From there we went to another Dart that was yellow, orange and red. Unfortunately I have no photos of either. After North Star closed I was out of racing until about 1981 when I joined the Purferst and Prince Pro Stock 1981 Camaro team and raced with them for a few years.

I now own a restoration shop and restore muscle cars from the 60's and 70's. I just recently restored a Fathom Blue 68 Yenko Camaro that was sold new at Kline Chev and been trying to find information regarding the original owner on that car. From what I was told this car raced at MN Dragways in the early 70's.

Hoping to meet some of my old racing friends and pick peoples brains here.
Rick

[MR.hp]

Welcome, that car is one of the best restorations I have ever seen. I would love to do that to the 409 Biscayne that my son now owns but I am sure it would be spendy with labor rate today compaired to when I was doing some body work years ago.

[Z28SSMAN]

Glad to have you join us, Rick.

I can only imagine what a resto like that would cost. Of course, that'd be like asking a doctor to diagnose you over the phone. lol

[Rick_Nelson]

Thank you for the comments. My restorations are not cheap but as I always tell people, you get what you pay for. I study these cars intimately BEFORE I start the restoration to insure that they are restored exactly how they were originally assembled and learn as much as I can about each plant. As an example, there were 7 assembly plants for the 1970 Chevelle, 6 of those producing the LS6. I can usually tell you what plant your car was built at just by looking at an underhood shot as each plant had subtle differences. If you look at the 70 Chevelle restorations on my website you will see that no two are restored the same. I am not a cookie cutter shop like so many are and I specialize in High Perf Chevrolets and rarely go outside those boundries to insure that they are restored correctly. Of the few cars that I have restored and gotten sold at later dates, all of them brought considerably more than the current market value and there is a reason why. Also a reason why we are currently slammed so I must be doing something right. Guess my dad taught me well. Be honest with people and you will succeed.

[Z28SSMAN]

Rick, looks like you run your business with logic and honesty. Quite a concept-- unfortunately one that appears to be lacking in today's business world.

[Rick_Nelson]

Fortunately for me, a lot of the other shops do not run theirs with honesty and integrity which just helps my business even more.

[Alleyoop2]

Nice work, Rick!

[Rick_Nelson]

Thank you Alleyoop2. When I saw your signon it rang a bell. After seeing your original posts I see why. I remember your dads cars VERY well and am sure I likely met him at least once or twice especially when I was racing the Darts that Troy Harris owned. Sorry to hear of your dad's passing some time ago but glad that I got to see him run back in the day. He had some beautiful cars!

[Alleyoop2]

Thank you for the kind words, Rick. Not a day goes by that I don't think about him.

[fast toys]

Hello

[Guest]

Very Nice resto!! My dad ran out at Minnsota and Northstar. Raced a Brown Cuda with a white hockey stripes and a White Duster with black stripes. He quit racing until about 2005, now he bracket races a '67 Fairlane occasionally. He still has some Trophys and lots of pictures from back then.

[Rick_Nelson]

Thank you!

I remember the brown Cuda but can't say I remember the Duster. I will have to check my photos. I would love seeing the photos that your dad has if he is willing to share. You can email them if easier and that info is in my bio. I would love to see how many cars I recognize in the photos.
Rick

[Guest]

Thank you!

I remember the brown Cuda but can't say I remember the Duster. I will have to check my photos. I would love seeing the photos that your dad has if he is willing to share. You can email them if easier and that info is in my bio. I would love to see how many cars I recognize in the photos.
Rick

Next time I get down to his place ill scan a bunch of the pictures ( he is not to internet savvy lol ) and post them on here. Has some early 80s Bir pictures too.

[bbcmalibu]

Welcome Rick
My dad raced at northstar in a 65 convert. I have the car now with the stickers still in the window!

And I am still racing the car

All tho i've been told it was pretty rusty when he raced it. Wish i had some old pics of it when he was running it back in the day.

[Rick_Nelson]

I don't remember a rusty 65 but do remember one with the license plates that read "TOPLESS". Same car? It was too many years ago to remember for sure.