Drag Safari ’55

Wally Parks and the boys of the NHRA had a great idea starting in 1954 and continuing on into the 1955 season featured below… A Safari that would see 19 cities from coast to coast and ending up with a ‘National Championship’ event in Great Bend, Kansas in late September and early October. The idea was to promote, and more importantly organize, safe and standardized drag racing that would help get speed-hungry hot rodders off the street and burning rubber in the right direction! I’ve scanned the Sep. 1955 issue of Hot Rod featuring 4 stops on the Safari Tour after it left California heading north, then east: Portland, Ore., Spokane, Wash., Pocatello, Idaho, and Denver Colorado. Its fun to compare the top speed results by class between the states, and marvel at what the locals brought to each event. Just imagine if you had to run this many events like this leading up to the HAMB Drags, Ryan!