History Places - Where did you guys Street Race when you were a kid ?..... Could be interesting

Parthenia in the 80's the rest in the 50's-60's also Art St in Sun Valley in the 50's

 

A couple of other places in San Diego back in the late 50’s-60’s was Miramar Rd. North of the base and the 5 freeway in down town while they were building it.

 

Growing up in Sydney, Australia in the 1960's thru to early 80's the place to go was called Brickies" which was the road into the western Sydney brick pits at Homebush just about any night of the week.......it was a straight stretch of 6 lane wide road out a quarter mile long that was in the middle of an industrial estate and was generally very quite at night apart from tyres getting shredded, only drawback was that there was only one way in and the same road out so the Police if they decided to raid the place could make it very difficult to escape.........another place was the roads around the Bunnerong Power Station, an out of commission coal power station on the northern shores of Botany Bay, again more or less in an industrial estate that had few if any "visitors" at night .......it had its use thru to the late 70's I recall............and then of course there was Castlereagh Road from Penrith out along to the Castlereagh Drag Strip where many a leadfoot lost their licence to the Police waiting at the side of the road....................lol..........fun and games ........andyd

 

In the U.P. of Michigan we raced on Sunday afternoon on US 2 from in front my dad's shop down to the old township ball park. It was a 1/4 mile and we would wait until the state cops made their twice a day to the county line. The only cops that patrolled the rural highway. That was in the 60's.
While stationed at Ft.Carson,Co. We raced at the Garden of the Gods before the county put in speed bumps. We had to find other race places. Towed down to Pueblo to race some guys. The cops met us coming into town and said if they saw my O/T Camaro off the trailer I was going to jail.

 

Yeah that's the same place Rankin was right off of West road , if you timed it right after the cops would bust the place
you could score tons of beer that every one threw out of their cars we did that a couple of times almost fill up the bed of our trucks . LOL

 

Grew up in Mustang. Hung out at Al and Dub's Drive In and the HideAway on SW 44th. Did a lot of racing on Eastern Avenue in OKC and Cemetery Road, now known as Garth Brooks Blvd, south of Yukon.

 

Chances are good we crossed paths, though as many times as I cruised a certain cruise spot or attended street races, there was always a car or two I'd never seen. That added to the excitement of the game, sizing up a car and the owner. Rumors, guys refusing to open their hood, etc.
I had a dark grey primer 55 Chevy 2 dr. Sedan, SBC/Muncie/12 bolt posi, 411's. Not real competitive with the serious big boys, so I'd usually race w/o a bet or carefully pick my shots negotiating for car lengths. I was in it for the thrill. Good times.
I do recall hearing about Morena though never went. Never heard about Blossom Valley Rd., though I can see how that would be a good power strip even today.

 

Any place somebody looked over at you while at a stop light. That was 1954-56

 

Same for me, Tweedy Blvd then to Santa Fe (GM plant). My dad worked in the plant. Around '67 to '74 for me.

 

I grew up and still live on Long Island, NY. We had route 231 that was put in around 1971 or 1972. The southern extension towards Babylon had a stretch of maybe 3/4 mile and was perfect for racing. I marked out the OG 1/4 mile using a can of white spray paint and my dad's 100' tape measure.

It attracted a lot of hot cars and the cops turned a blind eye to it until there was a serious accident and fire around 1978. Some idiots raced 231 farther up north towards Deer Park and the cops waited for them.

Other places were Robert Moses Causeway that heads down to the ocean beaches. That had a run similar to that of 231 and we never saw a cop. The Ocean Parkway, heading east from Jones Beach was quite smooth for runs over 100 mph. In later years, Sunrise Highway (route 27) was popular with the big $$ grudge racers. These guys rolled in with pro-stock cars on trailers. I haven't seen any in the last 15 or so years.

 

The Circle Drive-in was where it was happening in Dundalk, MD probably up until the mid-70s? Maybe later. There were some serious muscle cars there. It was a lot like American Graffiti except the cars were a generation later. I didn't race cuz I was broke so I just hung around like Toad. The building is still there but abandoned.

 

Yeah, I remember! I just never raced in em!

 

Grew up in Burlington Wi, and came of driving /racing age in 1971. There were some back county roads that made good drag strips but the Walworth Co Sheriffs knew them well . Also the boys at the local Plymouth dealership's service department made sure nothing could out run a 440 Fury! And with Union Grove Dragway only 15 miles away it was cheaper to pay Broadway Bob and grudge race than pay the ticket. And it was added cool afterwards when you came back to town and cruised Main drag with that white shoe polish on your windows! lol Larry

 

I remember one night at Moreno Rd lining up next to Steve in his tubbed bbc black 67 Chevelle and me in my 69 ss 396 camaro ,although by then it had a 468 in it. Steve worked at RJ's Race cars if that rings a bell? Anyhow we were just about to hit it when several CHP cruisers showed up so we cruised down to the Circle K on the corner and the CHP followed us into the parking lot and harrased us for awhile , taking our names and license numbers etc...Mine wasn't too hard to remember at the time ...RAT SS

 

Hy.99, Colby, the Gut, Golden Gardens, if anyone has a Golden Gardens Raceway decal I could "copy" that would be great! Back than even a short burst from light to light was considered a Drag Race.......................

 

There were several areas we used in the greater Vancouver Washington area places like lower river road or Alcoa. East part of the county you had the mint farm, gibbons creek, my favorite was what we called the Black Forest it was a narrow two lane road that ran though stand of 70 to 100ft fir trees late at night it made for a awesome eco sound from the open headers. Those were the days.

 

No , no , no not anything illegal .Not ever . In Niagara Falls Ontario was Lundy's Lane and Richmond Virginia was out Interstate 64 west so i hear.

 

All the street racing in my area went on at a straight stretch of road at Babcock State Park. I didn't race but used to go out there all the time and watch. Alot of cars with tunnel rams including some wicked Mustangs and Camaros. Every once in a while a guy would come out with a 70's style Cuda and clean up. It all ended when the Staties hid out and wrote a pile of tickets. Guys lost their licenses for years and that was the end of Midnight Drags at Babcock State Park!

 

Is that the one with the famous news paper pic with all the kids being busted and the black 46 Ford 2dr up front?


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That's the one.

 

Grew up in Abbotsford and in the early '60s they put a 4 lane
highway through the area but for some reason they never "opened" it for about a year, but you could get access to it. Had several interesting experiences on it.
One Friday evening me and Fats were wasting time somewhere when we learned that the local car club was heading out to the new highway after
midnite for a little racing. We followed them out there along with maybe 15-20 other carloads of idiots, to watch. It was fairly well organized, and
a number of races had been flagged off when everybody started freaking out 'cuz here come the cops. The race site was just over a hill, so you couldn't see them coming but you could hear the sirens. Place went nuts,
with anybody in a running car heading for the hills while many started
running for the bush. Must have been a dozen or so caught in the barb wire fence. From the howls some must have been caught be the jewellery. There was about 12 of us that had been crammed into Fat's Metropolitan, so we weren't going anywhere.
Anyway, up the hill and into view came a 55-6 Chevy 4 door with a roof rack and ladder. Old dude driving about 55MPH. Sounded just like a siren.
Years later when I was wrenching at a Mopar store, that helped me instantly diagnose some old guy's Dodge van. He was amazed. I insinuated that it was because I was a shit hot diagnostician.

There was a number of other "strips" in the area, but rat-racing was also popular, with many guys finding a favorite stretch of road somewhere and working on improving their lap times in anticipation of some future action. No one ever got hurt, but I saw some great shit.

 

In the 50's and at least the early 60's it was fairly common for fast car people from the Seattle area to do what they called the loop. They would leave Seattle and run down 99 to Vancouver, across From Vancouver to Goldendale on 14 up 97 to Toppenish and on up past Yakima to Ellensberg and back across from Ellensberg to Seattle over Snoqualmie. It was almost all two lane highways in those days. A car load of them got in a wreck a mile from my house when someone pulled out in front of them when they had it wound out on the straight killing a bunch of people.
In the late 50's early 60's kids in Sunnyside Wa would leave the hangout there with someone sitting there timing them drive to Union Gap/Yakima. Get a drink and receipt from Minor's drive in and race back to the starting point. My then step sister's boyfriend at the time was said to hold the record for that and it wasn't very good roads to do it on in those days.

 

Hello,

Having crossed that Los Angeles 4th Street Bridge a million times and the 6th Street Bridge a few times less, we always wondered what it would be like to race on that concrete below us in the LA River bed. There have been many movies showing cars driving on that dry season channel. It looked like fun.

In our HS heydays, we drove up there to check out the entry ways and the exits, just in case. But, we gave it a thumbs down. It was a trap, with a few places to get out. So, if someone (authorities) blocked those exits, we would be trapped and given tickets for trespassing and other things, like tow away/impounding.


There were plenty of other places in So Cal that have better access and escape routes. So, we never raced in that LA Riverbed concrete channel, despite how many movies we saw showing people racing or driving on those concrete walls or bottom areas.

Jnaki

I am sure there are people that have driven on that channel, but it was too long of a drive for us to constantly drive up there to race from Long Beach location. If the local streets were empty (usually were empty), with no chance to get the ever present moving violations, why drive approximately 20 miles one way just to get trapped?

Plus, if one happens to slide over a few feet near the middle channel, the dropoff in the channel is 2.33 feet deep in most of the LA City limits. (4th and 6th Street Bridge areas) Back where we lived in Compton/Long Beach area, it is 1 foot deep. That would cause instant flips and crashes.

“The middle concrete channel (we call it Low Flow) in the LA River is 2.33 feet deep from Southern Ave. to Rosecrans Ave. It is 1 foot deep from Rosecrans to Willow Ave.” (in the Westside Long Beach)
Reference: LA County Public Works



We were lucky as little kids, since our local play area was between the Anaheim Street, the PCH bridge, and the Willow Street overpasses. Down below, those areas are still natural, with little to no concrete, except for the side slopes. It had white sand, bushes, reeds, and a meandering water flow that looked like a mountain stream during the summers. This huge private playground for the local kids was fun and there was no one to shoo us away, you just had to know how to get in and out.

 

My buddy has the picture hanging in his shop of him getting arrested during that event. Which if you stop and think is pretty cool. I’ll see if I can find a copy to post.


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Had a spot out in the country, about 1/2 mile long. Local cop never bothered us. One farm was there and one of their kids raced too. Only time we had to scatter from the state cops someone had called the farm from downtown. Perks from living in a hick town.
Phil

 

Had lunch today and got to hear stories about getting busted in the LA river bed (his black Tudor up from and him standing on the backside of the police car) and racing Norm’s kookie T on Glenoaks. Made for a good lunch!


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IF you believe my teen gearhead buddies and I operated our too-fast cars on public streets, and IF there was an arrow-straight and level section of state highway which measured exactly 1,320 feet long, and IF you believe the guy who lived on top of the hill in the center of the 1,320 was a retired drag racer who used to sit with his wife on lawn chairs to watch the "races" with his police scanner on, and blow a gas air horn when the law was on the way, and IF you believe he actually painted start and finish lines in white latex paint on the blacktop every Friday night around 7:00 P.M., and told the "racers" to run up his 800 foot wooded driveway to hide, well, then, I guess you'd believe I/we had some involvement in street racing.
I always wondered if the law ever wondered why there were fifty or so cars parked along the shoulder when "nothing" was going on.
By the way, he had a full custom 55 BelAir with a Chev elephant motor in it. I knew him well for about three years, and was one of only a very few to be admitted into his huge shop, and see the BelAir legend in person. Never saw or heard it run, but his office was stuffed with custom show and drag strip trophies.
Thank you, Bert, you inspired many young gearheads, and were a great guy. He told me he liked me because I was "challenged" due to the fact I ran Fords, and then would punch my arm and belly laugh.
That, to me, was a great honor.

 

That gave me a pretty good laugh because Dad was a die hard Ford guy when he was a teen. Became a Pontiac guy after he got out of the Army. I used to give him a hard time and say "Thank goodness you finally got your stuff together".

 

Did you race in Iowa then? Ever remember seeing this car around?(would've been in '67, '68, '69)