Faith and Memory Lane
“Never, never forget…” - Larry Pritchett
Want to reminisce about the last days of muscle car Americana? Or recall the last years before government mandated detuning? Or convince a youngster there was a day fuel economy wasn’t on a window sticker? Find a drag racer who’s been around for a while, maybe a long while, and ask for stories. Watch their eyes as memory lanes turn into rural roads and forgotten dragstrips
Meet Larry Pritchett, Competition Eliminator two-time U.S. Nationals Champion. Larry has over 30 National Event wins, has held over 32 national records, and won multiple NHRA awards. He has been featured multiple times in National Dragster and in USA Today. However, if you are doing your reminiscing with Larry, the U.S. Nationals won’t be the first championship story you get. First, you hear about the “Rinnie Stretch” champion.
Rinnie Stretch is a relatively straight three-mile patch of highway 127 in northern Cumberland County Tennessee. Some of you may know it from the world's longest yard sale, but that's another story.
Larry recalls, “In the early 70’s, I went to vocational school during the day and went straight to my second shift jobs afterward. There would only be a few of us on the road when I drove home. So, every night, we’d go across Rinnie Stretch about 100, 150.”
Back then Larry drove a 1968 Dodge Super Bee with Joie Chitwood tires. If you are old enough to remember Joie Chitwood, you probably have a few memory lanes of your own. Larry and his Chitwoods quickly became a target for anyone wanting to prove themselves on the stretch.
“One night a Chevy II rolled up on my back bumper and passed me smoking the tires. We flipped through the gears, and I run him down about 140 and let him go. We pulled over down there about where the lawn mower shop is. He had a dirt track motor in that thing that he claimed went so fast the windshield wipers worked by themselves going down the interstate.”
I pause here to let our readers know we do not endorse or encourage street racing. There are many local tracks available today that host nights dedicated to grudge racing, streetcar racing, and test-n-tune. Don’t risk your life or the life of someone else. Take advantage of these venues and keep it safe.
My favorite story from Larry isn’t a racing story at all. Larry and a friend dropped his mom off at the laundromat while they (as he put it) cruised for girls. Seeing two girls walking down the sidewalk, Larry drew up alongside racing the engine.
“I dropped the clutch and punched it. It broke the lug bolts right off, sat that thing down on the axles, and the wheels went rolling down the street. I jumped out chasing the tires. I finally caught em’ and had to carry them back, right past those laughing girls. Then worse, I had to run to the parts store for lug bolts and finally face Mom waiting at the laundromat and explain what happened to us.” You have to feel for Cynthia Pritchett!
Eunice exclaims, “he wouldn’t do this just once! He would drive by three times before actually stopping. My dad would ask ‘what is wrong with that boy?’” Eunice has been asking the same question now for 52 years. By the way, they spent their honeymoon at Bowling Green’s very first Sports Nationals. Race fans make great wives!
If you ask Larry specifically for race stories, he will tell you about the Super Bee, a 71 Duster, a 68 Camaro, Dave McConnell’s race truck, and countless other hotrods he’s piloted down rural roads or drag racing's biggest stages. He can tell you the history of all the alphabet classes and being an NHRA record holder in several of them for the greater part of two decades.
But If you have a little extra time, ask Larry about his relationship with the Lord Jesus. Larry said, “I can’t tell you how old I was when I got saved, but I can tell you about the place. None of us had anything to drive in those days, so we walked up to the little church. I had a burden I could not get rid of, so one time I prayed and asked the Lord to save me. I tell you I could have floated all the way back home”.
I asked Larry what being a Christian is like. His answer, “I don’t want to sound like everything is roses, but life is so much easier. I mess up, and I have a Father that is right there to forgive me. I am not saying God gives you a free pass. People will ask me about that sometimes, and I tell them that Jesus paid for my sins, and we can’t pay more than He did”.
Larry has taken his faith to the track as well. “I try to thank God every place I’ve been. I attend Racers for Christ services, and even sang at a few of them. And I hope that I have set an example at the track”
I asked Larry what advice he might give to a new believer. “You always depend on God. Okay. And never, never forget what he did on the cross for you. He gave more than you can ever give. He loves you and cares for you”.
I also asked what advice he would give a new racer. “Give God thanks for sure for everything that you do. And it's only by the grace of God that you get to do these things. And it's only by the grace of God we've been blessed to live in a place we live. God put us here for a reason. And if you accept him as your Lord and Savior, he's got something for you to do”.
Larry continues to race a limited schedule and serves as a deacon at the same church he walked to as a kid. He recalled the elderly deacon committee asking him to serve, and he told them he didn’t feel worthy to be a deacon. Their response, “if you felt worthy, you wouldn’t be qualified”. That’s wisdom.
Larry is the mission director for his association of churches and serves on mission teams yearly. But his daily mission field is his family, his garage, and of course the racetrack. If you find him there, have a conversation.
Memory lanes … great streets to cruise and embarrass yourself all over again, or build courage to face your best girl's daddy, or make a winning pass in the U.S. Nationals. But best of all, to float back to the time you first met Jesus. My hope is that all of you can stroll that lane as well.
Race On
Dean
