Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
It’s been decades in the making, but Tim Theodoroff finally got his chance this summer to get back on the drag strip, even if it was the tail end of the season.
After more than 30 years on the sideline, Theodoroff, a local contractor, had an opportunity to get back into a race car and, with the help of a number of friends, make the last three weekends of the drag-racing season in Woodburn in late September and early October.
He runs under the name “Spider,” a nickname he has had since junior high.
Racing in the Amateur Sportsman Class, he improved his times from 15.73 seconds to a 13.18. When he raced a ’55 Chevy from 1966 to 1970 in Southern California, he reached a time of 12.88 in the quarter mile. Anything faster than 12.79 requires movement up a class, which costs much more money to be competitive.
“I loved it,” Theodoroff said. “I just couldn’t afford it.”
His car was stolen twice, he said. The first time, he got it back in pieces. The second time, he didn’t get it back.
“It takes a lot of money,” he said, costing at least $5,000 to go up a class.
But he has had a number of people step up and help get his car set up, including Bill Lovik, Brian Puskarich, Sweet Home Choppers, Shawn Anderson with Anderson Auto Body. Lovik and Puskarich have served as his pit crew.
He got the car from Bobby Helms of Sweet Home, he said. Helms had three cars and two trailers but no driver for the third car. He asked Theodoroff if he was interested in it.
“Bobby turned around and said, ‘Would you like to drive?'” Thoeodoroff said. “I said, ‘Sure, I’ve got the fever again.'”
The Chevy Nova needed some work, he said, and he had a week to come up with a new engine.
“When he actually brought the car over, we found out we had a bad cylinder,” Theodoroff said. “We were just scrambling.”
After the first week of races and times above 15 seconds, he and his friends started installing improvements, getting rid of the column shifter for a floor-mounted shifter, an electric fan and new water pump.
“We’re still learning from everybody out there,” Theodoroff said. Other drivers have offered plenty of advice, and he has had a lot of help in particular from Steve Williams, a Woodburn vet.
With no money, he and his team managed to shave 2.5 seconds off his time, he said.
In drag racing, drivers square off in a single-elimination system, he said.
Drivers have to win to move on to the next race. Theodoroff won his first race his third week of racing, with 50 to 60 drivers in his class, the final week of the season but was eliminated in the next race. He is looking forward to racing a full season beginning when the season opens at the end of March.
“You get excited,” he said. “It’s just an adrenaline rush.”
The biggest changes since he raced in the late ’60s, he said, relate to safety.
The hobby is much more restrictive, he said. “It takes you more time and money, but what they’re doing is making it safer.”
After earning enough points racing, he said, drivers can begin traveling and racing in different series.
That’s something he’d like to do if possible, he said.