Karl has some, I will try to get them. Yeah, we are lucky to be allowed to carry on the tradition and name, that is fer sure Texas has far more hot rod history than many realize. One of the craziest things I have seen is that roadster that ended up on Ozzy Nelsons show (the so called Ricky Nelson car) was photographed in Texas at one of the strips. I saw the picture and could not believe it. I can not for the life of me remember what strip Karl thought it was at.
There's a Texas fella named Olin Davis. If you can hook up with Olin, he was there at the beginning and has a good memory. He knows where all the bodies are buried regarding Caddo Mills and Green valley. Be polite, he doesn't tolerate fools, at all. Beep, here on the HAMB, should know him. His pop, Travis raced with Olin. Anyway, he's a hell of a good story teller. And a gentleman of the old school. Come to think of it, John Raven would be a good guy to talk to also. I know that Texas is sort of like a small town, so this should be easy, right? P
I believe Beeps a she, not a he. Isn't she the current driver of the Gizzle Hopper. Wayne Calvert can probably fill you in on some Caddo Mills history. And you couldn't talk to a nicer guy. And you might catch Eddie Hill at Eddie Hill Fun Cycles in Wichita Falls. Larry T
"And you might catch Eddie Hill at Eddie Hill Fun Cycles in Wichita Falls" Uhhhh . . . not hold your breath for that to happen methinks. K <!-- / message --><!-- attachments -->
I know its not the oldest or the first, BUT, Bandimere opened in 1958-59 and is still operating in the same location.
As is Bremerton Raceway......since mid '50's. Supposedly the longest, continuously operating NHRA sanctioned track.... And it's setup @ every weekend, as it's still available as an "emergency" landing for Sea-Tac airport. Cool thread!
Buggs Threadgill and Bobby Knighton can also shead a little lite on Caddo Mills as they ran many of the old Texas drag strips. I have seen both of these gentlemen this year at various car meets.
Caddo Mills was the first drag strip to have a 200 MPH side by side race. The Chitown Hustler( first 200+mph dragster and The Scorpion. Chris karamesines(sp) and Bobby Langley. Early 60's time frame. I was there with the Quarter Milers Drag Club. Buffalotrux Keeping 'em inline since 1953
I looked up caddo mills a year ago and it`s a public air port now http://www.airnav.com/airport/7F3 my dad raced there in 54-55 I have a bunch of negatives I need to scan it would shure be neat to make a pass or two where my dad went 103 on nitro with a flathed built by Johnny Adams and Eddie hill and my dad both lived in Wichita falls they went to school together I miss the storys any one know where this one is ?
I have been wanting to do a story about Don C. Breithaupt on the HAMB for years now . Don C. Breithaupt is a Texas drag racer and owned a famous Texas Deuce coupe named the " The DCB Coupe". Don is a friend of mine. His dad which was also his crew chief was named Erle Breithaupt . Erle designed and built the car. Earle took these great pictures of him in the 1950's, most of these color ones are from slides. His crew consisted of Cecil Lawrence which never missed a race. Jay Fater helped at several races then later Butch Brundage also helped out. Don started racing the coupe in 1955 when he was 15 years old!!!!!!!!!, it was a very light green with a Mercury flathead, but it really looks white in these pictures. When he started out He ran C altered at Caddo Mills. In 1956 they went to a Chevy bored & Stroked 306 while the car was light green/ white and then they painted it black in 1957. In 1957 the car was completely rebuilt with center steering, quick change rearend, lincoln zephyr transmission. They also lightened the car a whole lot and started running it in the B Altered class. In 1958 the car was basically the same but they went to a 318 cubic inch Chevy. In 1959 the car was painted RED and once again they made MAJOR changes to the car and went to a 265 with a 471 GMC supercharger, with Hilborn injectors. He told me that They had installed a few other engines here and there. The Texas Deuce coupe was also on the cover of rodding and restyling in 1959 in all of it's Red glory. Don was also in the center of an issue of hot rod magazine in 1960. Don raced all over the US from 1955 to 1961, they were racing full time in 59-60. Maybe someone will recreate this coupe one day??? I think now is the time to share some of the pictures that i have of Don at Caddo Mills and other pictures of Hot rods racing there as well. These pictures are labelled caddo mills but a couple could be wrong but most likely they are Right ...! Don is around but the coupe isn't . sadly enough he sold it around 1961 -62 ? and the new owner raced for a little while and on the way back from a race the truck and trailer rolled or just the trailer with the car ?? and it was totalled and ended up in the junkyard. I hope you guys and gals enjoy this story and pictures ! John Watkins -Houston TX
Beep is very much a HE...Brian Perrenot. Very nice fella...probably the one wearing that hat in the pic. Great thread with some very cool pictures, thanks all.
more AMAZING Pictures.. The last one is Cecil, Erle, Don and Butch at Amarillo 1959 !!!!!!!!!!!!! Awesome....
There's a thread about whitewalls on mag wheels--wondering if guys really ran them in the old days. Well, this just about perfectly demonstrates that 1, they did, and 2, it looked damn good when done right.
Many old race tracks were built on or around old USAAF bases and field. The Talledega Superspeedway in Alabama is one of them.
And you can still see the concrete runways and ramp of what was Anniston AFB. The newer runway is at right.
Ah, what the hell (while I'm at it), here's the former Great Bend AAF (Army Air Field) from WWII, still there and site of the inaugural NHRA Nationals in 1955.
I haven't been on this site in a while but it is full of pictures of Drag Racing, There some picx of Caddo, Green valley and other Texas DragStrips there for those who are interested. http://www.wediditforlove.com/
Bttp Keep the Caddo Mills stories and pictures coming Thanks to all for the contributions! 1940 Willys Coupe
My dad took me to Caddo Mills in '59 or '60. I was 9 years old. There were lots of cars racing but the one I rmembered all of these years was the Scorpion.
A buddy of mine who was born and raised in Dallas claims to have been a member of the Chaparrels back in the 50's. He's not "into" cars any more - he's in his 70's - but he's got gtreat stories about racing at Caddo Mills in his '40 Ford coupe with a bored, stroked, ported and relieved flatty. He says he can't remember how many old "toploader" Ford transmissions he put in it.
What a trip this 1961 Caddo Mills article was for me! I got to be there then. I was checking out the sponsors advertising on the Caddo program backside and my boss at the time had an advertisement on there. J & J Auto parts,touting block milling. The business was owned by T.E. (Jr.) Howell (the engine builder partner) and Jack Spillman (the accountant type partner). It was a complete engine rebuilding machine shop attached to a full service auto parts sales service with delivery to local garages. I had the good fortune to be the guy who ran the Storm-Vulcan BlockMaster milling machine. We did much of the performance head & block maching in Dallas then. Joe Athey (east Texas B/G fame) was building engines there as was Tinker (F.F.) for a few months. Mr. Beach ran the boring bar and Richard Herd did the valve jobs. I was 20 at the time and trying to build a D/A Model A cpe. w/flathead. Those were truly the days my friends! MickeyD
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