...Chris Karamesines Set To Retire...

[Willie B]

...Going to hang it up at the end of the season and his granddaughter Krista Baldwin will take over the wheel of his Top Fuel car...(NHRA records say that he is 89 but the truth is he was born in 1928 and this coming November 11 he will be 92)...you’ve got ti hand it to the guy..

 

[4Waters]

Wow, 89 great career. "The Greek" is a great guy and definitely 1 of a kind.

 

[shueman]

I remember going Sat nights at Irwindale to watch him Tommy Ivo etc ...

 

[monkeyswrench]

Good for him! He's had the chance to do what some of us dream about, and done it for a literal lifetime.

I'd be curious as to how many miles he's clocked in a fuel car, and how many gallons of nitro he's burned

 

[Willie B]

Wow, 89 great career. "The Greek" is a great guy and definitely 1 of a kind.

According to a good friend of his and one of his crew guys from the 60s Jack Weimer who was the original upholstery guy on full custom garage on TV ...the Greek was born in 1928 and the Greek actually is actually 91 and will be 92 Nov 11...???
...

 

[Willie B]

I remember going Sat nights at Irwindale to watch him Tommy Ivo etc ...

...Funny you should mention Ivo... I called a friend yesterday to find out if another mutual friend of ours was a bullshitter about having a Learjet???...he didn’t know about the Learjet deal but he told me that he had just bought from his friend Ivo ...his Poison Ivo helmet and jacket..
....Ivo put peanut shells in the seat of the Fueler I drove... that was his indoctrination to...so you want to drive a fuel car...

 

[Willie B]

 

[Gramps]

...Funny you should mention Ivo... I called a friend yesterday to find out if another mutual friend of ours was a bullshitter about having a Learjet???...he didn’t know about the Learjet deal but he told me that he had just bought from his friend Ivo ...his Poison Ivo helmet and jacket..
....Ivo put peanut shells in the seat of the Fueler I drove... that was his indoctrination to...so you want to drive a fuel car...

what fueler did you drive?

 

[Willie B]

what fueler did you drive?

...Injected small block ...Vanover & Bryden...Later driven by Jeep Hampshire then sold to Glaspy Viery and Brandy where it held the NHRA...A/FD record...I think 1966...

 

[4Waters]

what fueler did you drive?

What about you?

 

[Willie B]

...I am wondering... if Krista is a good fit in top fuel...whether Schumaker will throw money at her team ...the chassis is a Schumacher given to the Greek by Don Schumacher... The parts and pieces are the Greeks... I have talked to Krysta on the phone..,she is a sweetheart and smart as a whip...(Jack Weimer the original upholsterer from Full Custom Garage... had gone missing for a few weeks ...he was not answering texts or emails from Chicago and I can’t remember exactly how it happened but somehow I was given her phone number as they are friends).., I just remembered ...a female bartender in Burbank and myself were talking about dragracing...it turns out that I think she is related to Don Schumaker possibly stepdaughter or something like that and she told me that if anybody would know where Jack Weimer was it would be Krista... and gave me her phone number... I think she lives in Upland???... turns out Jack was fine he was just tired of our bullshit on the West Coast for a while...
... I wish her nothing but the best In her new endeavor...

 

[Gramps]

What about you?

I didn't drive......built the motors/crew chief Skinner Brothers TF Gary Southern, Billy Tidwell (Mr. Linda Vaughn) then Denver Schutz were our drivers

 

[HydroSkreamin]

View attachment 930703

This is awesome! You guys were livin’ it...

How many people are wearing ties in their licensing pics these days

Thanks for sharing