DISCLAIMER.......Being the type of person that speaks his mind I gave this thread the 24 hour rule (x3). I see some very positive in this thread and also some negative.
First off I believe that spending time with our kids is THE MOST IMPORTANT ACTIVITY WE AS PARENTS CAN DO !!!! So I think it is great that the boys were included at the track. I am sure it was a perfect time and probably one the boys will remember. I would also be willing to bet that when the boys get older they will want their own mustang to drive. IMO this type of activity sure the hell beats sitting on the couch playing dungeons and dragons etc. Hats off to Bill for including them !!
I also understand that not everybody has trailer queens that they baby and keep covered as some of our members drive them and enjoy them which is great. In a perfect world all us would have a big garage, with "extra" mustangs to exercise at the track, but that just isn't the case. In the big picture your car is yours to do what you want. While everyone recognises this, I believe the majority here would rather our members give these old cars a quality "after duty" life and not work them to hard. I am not saying they shouldn't be driven agressively from time to time, but I disagree with someone that mods and thrashes an SSP. I don't believe that is what was done here though. In reading the original post though it sounds as if the car was NOT thrashed off the line and NOT redlined / speed shifted.
I know I would hate to blow up an original drivetrain car or total one like Gregg did. I have some of the parts off that car and have had several conversations with Gregg about the incident, plus seen all the pictures. The car was destroyed and the last time I saw the car it was sitting in the weeds in a junkyard in central Georgia. A sad ending for a great old car. I am also pretty sure that Gregg will NEVER take his Missouri, or South Carolina cars to the drag strip. It was a just one pass, just to see what she would run like, and it happened. Thankfully Gregg survived it.
All this said I would add that my focus on these cars is saving them and restoring them. For me personaly I would rather read about the guy that found one being raced, bought it and took off all the mods and put the car back orginal.
As for "shunning" members I believe that it is ok to disagree from time to time. If it becomes obvious that someone is trying to stir discontent, or purposely engaging in some sort of negative rhetoric to inflame and incite members here, then the mods step in and do what needs to be done. Here recently things have been fairly quiet. I think that is a testament to the changes made over the past 6 months.
Lastly I will say that I hope these types of threads are kept to a minimum based on the purpose and focus of this website in it's entirety. My blood pressure gets elevated when I log on and read about drag racing ssp cars. It reminds me of other web sites where they openly post about "beating on" the cars, and members are allowed to post up videos of SSP cars doing donuts on public streets (with e-lights flashing), or engaging in fake pursuits in parking lots etc.
as always I want to thank everyone for their positive contributions here. I hope I havn't offended anyone with my post.
Long Live the UASSP.