For all Ford guys that think the premise behind Speed Channel’s PINKS is too far-fetched to be entertaining, this season is going to contain at least one episode that’ll get the cynics amongst us thinking twice. The FordMuscle Galaxie Forum has been paid a few humble visits by Tracy Popham of Clarkston, Washington. First, Tracy announced to fellow members he had been selected for the show. A few months later he calmly mentioned that he won! Tracy was invited by the producers at <a ‘href=http://www.pinks.tv/’>PINKS to race his 1965 Galaxie within the show’s stiff format of “Lose The Race, Lose Your Ride” for the 2006 season.
We’ve heard some buzz here and there that losers do not really forfeit their vehicles when participating on PINKS . However, Tracy’s testimony about the show proves that the rumormill is non-op, in fact, when Tracy raced during a 9 episode filming this past January, he came home with three cars. His own, a 1966 Mercury Comet, and a 1979 Mercury Capri. Yeah, they really mean it when they say “Lose The Race, Lose Your Ride” at PINKS. Without even making a pass, Tracy already won the Comet. You see, if you are selected for Pinks and your car isn’t ready on raceday, then you lose without racing. The owner of the 1966 Comet was screwed when his engine builder backed out and left him with a rolling chassis on the day of filming. So, after acquiring the Comet, Tracy took on the the next available competitor. Here’s what he had to say about it:
“My 2nd race was the Capri, I underestimated the car a bit. It was faster than I thought it would be. After I won, the old owner told me it runs 10.3 in the 1/4 mile. We had to run all 5 races for the win, the last race was heads up. We were on motor while he got a 250 shot of nitrous. I just barely beat the Capri at the finish line on the 5th race. A little too close for comfort. He pulled the front tires 2-3 feet, I pulled the front tires on the Galaxie 6-9 inches. We did not have time to tub the car and we we’re only running 28×9 MT slicks.”
Dying to see the episode? We certainly are. The 2006 season of PINKS begins February 22nd on the Speed Channel. Since all 9 episodes were filmed on the same day back in January, there’s no telling at this point which episode is going to air first. We’ll update this entry as soon as we find out. Nice work Tracy.