747: The first Vahsholtz racer

If you know me, you know Pikes Peak is in my blood. I have experienced it 12 years. Some have experienced it much more. The Vahsholtz family the most along with the most wins. I first met son Clint Vahshotlz at my first year or two. He was a Nascar cup racer, Pikes Peak region local, and former motorcycle class champion. His stock car had duct tape holding make shift brake vent ducting and Coors beer cans keeping the throttle body intake protected. He was fast and I liked him. He was fastest overall racer this year in his homebuilt open wheel car. After my first few years on the hill, grandson Cody Vahsholtz started to race and he wore old hagard flattrack leathers. Like his father he was all go and not concerned with a super clean image. We became friends. We have had many a tight battle on the dirt CHCA hill climbs. We swapped wins this year in the two CHCA hill climb races (I edged him by a few points by winning qualifying). We never were classed together at Pikes Peak. He won the 250 class when I won the 450 class and then he won the middle weight class when I was on the heavy weight bikes and when I had my first year not racing he was on the factory Ducati big bike team with Carlin and Carlin died marking the end of the bikes. But the beginning of Vahsholtz racing is with grandfather Leonard or actually his wife, she was keeping the books for his mechanic shop and was skimming 10% without telling anybody and when he wanted to buy a brand new 1976 Ford Torino race car she surprised him with the available funds. He raced that car "The Red Sled" for three years at Pikes Peak(1977,78,79), gaining Factory Ford Motor Co sponsorship, and then became the most winning racer of all time on the hill; a record he would then loose to his son. Leonard has built some very special hill climb cars and still builds some fast as fuck Nascar engines. He is a legend amoung the dirt CHCA scene. One of my customers kept on telling me that he had a Vahsholtz car. I finally got him to show me a picture of it. I showed the picture to Cody and as I suspected he verified that it was not a Vahsholtz car. But than a week later he messaged me back and said that it was in fact his grandpa's first race car... So I kept nipping the ear of the owner until he finally said I could come take a look at it. So I brought a trailer. It was under a few fiberglass semi truck body panels rotting into a field of sage brush. I waited until he became frustrated with an old pick up truck of his that wouldn't start. After the 4th cup of gas poured down the carb throat didn't do the trick I pulled out my Benjamin bills and asked if these would make him feel better. We dug the car out with a back-hoe and on to my trailer, home to my shop it went. It has sat for 40 years, It's 427 big block had been robbed. It had spent a cruel spell on the circle tracks doing roundy round smash and crash and it shows a lot of wear and tear. It is in rough shape but I can see some potential. Maybe a long term restoration back to The Red Sled's former glory. Maybe Leonard wants it back and has a spare Nascar small block chevy engine to spare...