Mystery: The Night Drags of 1957

Hank Walker of Life magazine took this series of photos sometime in 1957, and as cool as they are, it leaves me with some big questions. First, why is the flag starter wearing a NASCAR jacket at a drag race? Wouldn’t this be an NHRA event? Also, I really dig the night racing thing, but it looks like they are using two WWII surplus carbon arc anti-aircraft searchlights to illuminate the track, which seems, uh, pretty difficult to guide by and not very efficient. Imagine 8 million candle power shining up your backside, another twitchy kid racing along side you who is equally blinded, pitch black on the track sides, and a fading light in distance to find the finish line by… Yeah, what could possibly go wrong?