Drag Surfing In Canada

Some folks do some weird shit to relax. I am one of them. I live land locked in the middle of Central Texas, but I like to escape the horrors of life (yeah, right) by laying on my couch and watching surf movies. I like the old ones, the news, the bad ones, the good ones… I like them all. I think it’s the visuals of the ocean combined with my favorite genre of music (I call it ocean music) that does it for me. It puts me in a trance and makes me happy. Damned happy.

Recently another land locked buddy of mine, Neil Candy, sent over some vintage drag racing footage. One particular clip was shot at Mohawk Dragway – a strip located on an indian reservation just outside of Deseronto, Ontario. The track saw action throughout the 1950’s and into the 1960’s, but was shut down once the Canadian government started asking for lease money. Those were good ole days I guess…

Anyway, the footage was really grainy after being transferred from the original 8mm film to VHS to DVD and finally to my dear computer. Grainy in a good way… It reminded me of some of the vintage surf footage I have and that thought flicked on a dusty old lightbulb in my head. Drag racing has always kind of ran parallel to surfing to me. It’s solitary. It’s passionate. It’s the taming of violence.

“Hey Ryan, lets the make the world a better place today!”

Easy enough to do, right? There’s no sound on these old 8mm flicks, so I might as well put my own graffiti on it – ocean music! And then… Make people watch this potion of chill in an effort  to bring happiness and glory. Done.

I know a lot of guys read the daily post on The Jalopy Journal before heading out to work. I see them sitting there with coffee in hand and underwear uncovered. This is the guy I’m looking to reach. If you are already at work, don’t watch this video yet. Rather, wait until you get home and can truly kick back.

Ready? Be happy.