Register now to get rid of these ads!

Hot Rods Lewistown, Montana... Drag Racing in 1959.

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Ryan, Jul 28, 2010.

  1. Ryan
    Joined: Jan 2, 1995
    Posts: 21,633

    Ryan
    ADMINISTRATOR
    Staff Member

  2. That is the worst cover of johnny B good. Being that Lewistown is fairly close to Sheridan wyo, I bet there was members of the Conquistadors there.
     
  3. I was at those races. Those were the days. And saterday night on main street was wild!
     

  4. Thats pretty cool! Wonder if any of those cars are still up in that area.
     
  5. S.F.
    Joined: Oct 19, 2006
    Posts: 2,895

    S.F.
    Member

    Man, that silver or light lavender model A coupe looked like he was blowing everyone's doors off until that 57 pontiac with no hub caps came along....must of had a good mill under the hood.
     
  6. Rolleiflex
    Joined: Oct 25, 2007
    Posts: 1,243

    Rolleiflex
    Member

  7. 8flat
    Joined: Apr 2, 2006
    Posts: 1,392

    8flat
    Member

    I live about 100miles West of Lewistown. (Great fly-fishing there) Went snowmobiling with Erlandson once, really sharp guy. At the time he was all pissed because Polaris stole his invention for a better centrifugal clutch....that Cat is into all sorts of things.

    For a while, the Lewistown track was the only 1/4 mile track in Montana. Lots of history out there.
     

  8. I am spoiled, my first Flies came from Dan Bailys fly shop!@ I made a pilgrimmage there on a business trip with my dad about 25 years ago.

    He said Erlandson was up to a ton of things, they shot the shit as two old drag racers would for quite some time. All our company trucks have his intake cones and such.
     
  9. 8flat
    Joined: Apr 2, 2006
    Posts: 1,392

    8flat
    Member

    Cool, if you ever get up here, go through Lewistown and I'll tell you exactly where to go fly-fishing on Spring Creek. Beautiful country.

    SO, those intake/exhaust cones really work?
     
  10. Great Videos, I like the Channeled Blue 32 Coupe with the Olds motor!
    <input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">
     

  11. They see a difference in the pickups they are in.
     
  12. That first video is pretty cool. The ADHD Camera work on the others made me dizzy.
     
  13. My father grew up in Beach, North Dakota (a Montana border town) ... and ran the Coupe at both the Lewistown & Bozeman (Belgrade) Air/Drag Strips (circa 1958).

    I don't have any photos of our Coupe @ Lewistown ... but here's a few historical Drag Racing images culled from the Lewistown Raceway website:

    Lewistown Drag Strip 1958 or 1959.jpg
    'Woody' Woodford's '32 Tudor @ Lewistown Drag Strip 1959.jpg
    'Woody' Woodford's '57 Pontiac @ Lewistown Drag Strip 1958.jpg
    Gene Burkland (1936-2009) Dragster @ Lewistown Drag Strip.jpg
    Early '60s Dragster @ Lewistown Drag Strip.jpg
    Lewistown Drag Strip 1958 (no tower yet).jpg
    images from the Phil Woodford (@portage) collection
     
    Last edited: Nov 21, 2014
    Sart156 likes this.
  14. JeffreyJames
    Joined: Jun 13, 2007
    Posts: 16,628

    JeffreyJames
    Member
    from SUGAR CITY

    My god this is a sweet coupe!!! 1:37 into the 1959 video!!!
     

    Attached Files:

  15. oldskoolflyer13
    Joined: Mar 29, 2009
    Posts: 274

    oldskoolflyer13
    Member

    sad part is that im from Montana (Hamilton)...spent 20 years growin up there and never new the track history. Yup, i grew up under a rock...i do remember the no speed limit of "reasonable and prudent" though
     
  16. Pigiron
    Joined: Jan 21, 2002
    Posts: 309

    Pigiron
    Member

    Lewistown was not the only 1/4 mile track in Montana in the late 50' early 60's. I raced at Lewistown then and at Glendive, Red Lodge, Belgrade, Fort Benton, Billings, and Greybull, Wyo.
     
  17. deucemanab
    Joined: Apr 19, 2006
    Posts: 238

    deucemanab
    Member

    If you guys are interested,lewiston was right in the middle of a minuteman
    missle base.i helped install some of it.
     
  18. 8flat
    Joined: Apr 2, 2006
    Posts: 1,392

    8flat
    Member

    Cool pics.. BTW, my wife is from Beach. What a small world, considering the population is about what..800?

    That's cool, do you have any pics? I went to high school in Glendive, we used to go out to the old racetrack by the fairgrounds for burnout contests. By then it was already chopped up in half. Now it's completely gone. By the late '80s, all the tracks in Montana had closed except Lewistown's 1/4 mile, and there was an 1/8th mile track that was in Anaconda if I remember right. That was it for the whole state. Now there's a couple new 1/4 mile tracks that have opened, Billings, Malta, etc.

    That was a cool project. We had 250 missiles until last year, they decommisioned 50 of them, now we have the same amount as ND and WY IIRC. Each one is topped with 3 warheads nowadays, so we're literally surrounded by 600 nuclear bombs in Central MT. We'd be a world nuclear power if we succeeded..haha..
     
  19. And don't ride your motorcycle up the gravel road leading to said missile locations---even out of curiosity---one (or more) of those black Suburbans will come down to greet you:eek: Don't ask me how I know:eek:

    I've been to Lewistown 3 times, and never had a clue about the strip:confused: Last time out, I went to the Game & Fish office with my friend Al to renew his hunting license. I was literally standing on hallowed hot-rod ground :cool:

    And here all this time I thought the Empire Cafe was the local hot spot......;)
     
  20. portage
    Joined: Nov 1, 2009
    Posts: 14

    portage
    Member
    from Montana

    As I recall, that coupe was from Billings, Mt. The 57 Pontiac in the movie was mine. The coupe had a small block Chevy with three-two's and it did run pretty well. We ran against each other on more than one occasion-----once was a late night challenge on the streets of West Yellowstone in 1958 or 59 while there for an annual "takeover" of the town during one of the Holiday weekends---probably Memorial Day. But that's another story!!!! The next time we ran into each other was in Lewistown at the drags--as seen in the movie---where we ran off for the 'B'-Gas trophy. As I mentioned, the little coupe ran well----but the 57 Pontiac went home with the trophy. Great times--great memories!!!
    PS.--- I still have the trophy.
     
  21. Pigiron
    Joined: Jan 21, 2002
    Posts: 309

    Pigiron
    Member

    Glendive had a very short shutdown which included a slag pile and a barbwire fence. If your car was faster than 135 mph you really had your hands full. (and your shorts!)
     
  22. 39cent
    Joined: Apr 4, 2006
    Posts: 1,569

    39cent
    Member
    from socal

    In the early 80,s a buddy lived in Ennis, and while visiting he mentioned that there might be jobs in Lewiston, it was a railroad town and had some RR shops up there. The employment office said they werent hiring but they gave me an app. [I was an ex Santa Fe fireman, and locomotive electrician] later when my buddy was talking to a friend [ from San Diego] the friend mentioned he got an injury to his hand the last winter when it got stuck to a tool!! Lewiston seemed like a nice place, was quaint little town with many turn of the century homes and bldgs. I figured mebbe I should visit in the winter to see if I could adapt to Montana. There were tons of old iron up there though. gggg
     

  23. WOW! Thanks for chiming in! The HAMB is a wonderfull place!:) This just blows me away! Please tell more!?
     
  24. flamingokid
    Joined: Jan 5, 2005
    Posts: 2,200

    flamingokid
    Member

    The first video was great!
     
  25. barslazyr
    Joined: May 30, 2009
    Posts: 339

    barslazyr
    Member

    When I get my scanner hooked up I will post some pics from the Lewistown drags. My stepdad raced there and the 57 chevy that he drives used to be a b/gas I think. I will try to get some pics from him to post as well.
     
  26. Tony Montana
    Joined: Oct 16, 2007
    Posts: 23

    Tony Montana
    Member

    They're still racing at that track, but I haven't made it out there to watch yet this year. I know a few guys that raced there in the 70's. Still lots of fun hot rod stuff going on out here in the middle of nowhere - you just have to know where to look.

    I'd love to see more pictures of racing here in the early days.
     
  27. pacman
    Joined: Feb 10, 2007
    Posts: 98

    pacman
    Member

    .45 seconds into the 2nd video - the chopped white 34 5w was my uncles. Stock olds mill, 4bbl and stock manifolds. Only one picture of it exists in the family, but there is no mistaking it. I'm really glad these videos came up.
    My uncle took my dad on the cars first test drive sittin on buckets, no floor boards and a wire through the firewall for the throttle. Sure enough they got caught out in the rain and drenched.
    My uncle would flat tow the "hotrod" behind his 62 fulie vette with a homemade ford wishbone towbar and race both cars.
    The car was built and chopped by a man who still ranches around here. It originally had a flathead in it, but was sold to my uncle as a rolling chassis.
    My uncle cannot seem to remember who he sold the car to or where it went...

    Thanks again.
    - Paxton
     
  28. 64ss409
    Joined: Oct 17, 2010
    Posts: 3

    64ss409
    Member

    Hi everyone
    I just joined after reading the Lewistown thread. I also have raced at some of the MT track in the mid to late 60's, Lewistown, Fort Benton, Superior, Anaconda (was still 1/4 mile), and Greybull. I am still racing the car I raced then.

    Anyway if anyone has more old vintage photos of racing in Lewistown, I would sure like to see them. Please send them to [email protected]

    Thanks
    Ron
     
    Last edited: Oct 19, 2010
  29. 296ardun
    Joined: Feb 11, 2009
    Posts: 4,673

    296ardun
    Member

    These pictures fill in some gaps from the videos...according to the caption the dragster, which I think is the one in the first video, was Gene Burkland's, the late land speed racer...indicates what a pioneer he was. Thanks for posting, and thanks for the videos!
     

Share This Page

Register now to get rid of these ads!

Archive

Copyright © 1995-2021 The Jalopy Journal: Steal our stuff, we'll kick your teeth in. Terms of Service. Privacy Policy.

Atomic Industry
Forum software by XenForo™ ©2010-2014 XenForo Ltd.