History Drag cars in motion.......picture thread.

Something a bit more recent that my other posts is this scene from Beech Bend KY in 2005. Since the cars all do burnouts and back up to the starting line, it's hardly like the old days but I worked on catching two doing their burnouts at once as an homage to times past. For me, these nostalgia races are the only thing of interest at the strips nowadays. No, it's not exactly the same at the 60's, but when Anglia and Willys gassers are running or the fuel cars push down at night for the Cacklefest, you can lose yourself for a bit, especially at a place like Beech Bend which reminds me a lot of the old Green Valley strip near Ft Worth. If these more current scenes are unwelcome in this thread, let me know and I'll avoid posting more.

 

More fenders and gas action from what I always believed to be the best races of all-the NHRA Nationals. The field was staggering and I was so mesmerized by the parade of familiar names I'd only read about I often didn't bother to take a shot. In 1967 I rode to Indy with the Griffin-Usery-Smith A fuel car from Dallas (a story in itself) and we stayed at the Travelodge near downtown, which like most places was jammed with racers. We were next to the Paris Brothers from Illinois and on the other side was Jan Ridell from Tiffin Ohio with his altered. Lots of great bull sessions after racing-didn't matter what kind of car you had or who you were. And although I can't remember the fellows name, one guy staying there actually DROVE an old Studebaker (N/S or some such) out to the track. Had his tools in the trunk and popped the header cap when he got out there! Awesome! Now that was a FUN time. So thanks to Carson and Taylor (whoever you were) as well as all the other racers for the wonderful memories.

 

Jim Hayter from Cushing Oklahoma makes a run at the Div 4 points race at La Place, La on a scorching May morning in 1967. This was one of the stronger Jr Stock cars in Div 4, a bracket which admittedly had much less participation than say Div 1 or 3. When I was working at AEECO about this time, Willie Redford, who knew Jim told me he was looking for a driver/mechanic for a factory Camero Jim was getting. Well, I'm not the world's greatest mechanic (to say the least!) and it would have entailed a move to Oklahoma while I was already thinking of leaving the plains once and for all, so I decided not to try for it. Maybe I'd have gotten it-maybe not. But it's one of those forks in the road that we all wonder about once we've gone in a different direction.

 

If we could just see the bumper then we would know for sure...

 

Thanx. I lost my self there for a minute.

 

I would bet that the Studebaker was Ted Harbit's Chicken Hawk, a legendary car in the midwest. Ted raced the car forever until its untimely demise at Muncie a few years back. In its later days it ran a blown motor and was a lot quicker than in the N/S days. I actually did some work on the car in the mid/late 90's when I worked out of the Automotion speed shop on Indy's south side.

Roo

 

I want to once again thank all of the contributors to this thread. I was born in '68, so I missed the golden era of drag racing & hot rodding for that matter. Your efforts here help me understand what that era must have been like.

BTW, I collected 50's & 60's era rodding magazines when I was a kid. My Momma told me I was born 25 years too late.

 

I think you're right about the Chicken Hawk, Rooman. We used to love it when Ted showed up for a regular bracket race.

 

Any more information on this car? Specs? Is it around anywhere? Anyone know what happened to it? I have looked everywhere and can't come up with anything.

 

partsrivet, great pic of Naeb's Vette. This car sold on ebay a few years ago in somewhat original condition (minus the engine-new owner allegedly found an original engine to the car). Great pic of it in competition.-Jim

 

Yep, John & Rooman, that had to be Fairmount's own Ted Harbit. Car was virtually destroyed at our old track (Muncie Dragway) a season or two ago, but would not put it past Ted to put it back together.

(can't remember where I got this image from or who shot it or I would give credit)

 

Yep. that's the car I remember from '67. Drove it right down Washington street towards IRP just like he knew what he was doing. Great stuff! Thanks for the info.

 

You were blessed to be born when you were unless you get off on hi risk like the draft lottery.
Tom S. in Tn.

 

I scanned that picture from the June issue of Hot Rod. The caption says:

"The nature of this photo tells us it was shot for a feature story, though we didnt find it in print; it may have been published in Hot Rod or Car Craft many months after it was shot at the '57 NHRA Nationals in Oaklahoma City. Spot anything odd? It's not a Ford but a '33/'34 Dodge or Plymouth (with what might be a '34 Chevy grille; it doesnt seem rounded enough to be a '32 Ford), and it has an injected Chrysler set way back. A sticker on the windshield reads "Freeway Drag Racing Association Houston-Galveston", indicating an allegiance to the now defunct Houston International Raceway, known to the locals as Freeway Drag Strip."

 

For what it may be worth...

According to Ted...the Chicken Hawk is gone, never to return in it's original form (sic).
He's currently running a coupla other cars, plus he's got a tube chassied Avanti to finish..!

Mike

 

Thanks, Mike, for the update. Not surprised after I saw the "after" shots...just glad Ted made it through is back behind the wheel.
Eric

 

Thanks for the info. I have been researching this car for over a month now. It is a 33/34 Plymouth 5 window coupe on a custom built chassis with a 33/34 Plymouth grille. It has a Hilborn fuel injected 1957 392 Hemi engine according to a picture and caption I found of it in a 1958 Hot Rod annual. It is a very cool car that seems to have just disappeared around 1958/1959. I can't find anything about the car or the Houston Rod & Custom Shop really. I would love to know what happened to the car and find some more pictures of it.

 

No problem.

 

more from walterboro drag strip, i guess mid 60's. the strip is still there, but used as a driveway for the airport.there was also a road course there in the 50's and it drew drivers from all over the world.then the idiots in this town shut the whole thing down.

 

some more

 

and this.

 

Probably, but still a cool pic

 

wow! this just keeps going and going, shit i remember when this thread started! 5 years later and its still killer!

 

do you know this car ?

 

No idea who these guys are but it was typical racing at Tulsa in the mid to late '60's. Most of the time when I went to these places it was a road trip with my buds, but occasionally no one else could make it so I'd do a one day flying trip to the venue. No, I wasn't some rich kid-I worked and saved up for these trips. This is when the airlines offered standby student fares and the planes were seldom full like today so getting around wasn't difficult. This day was different. I'd flown into Tulsa in the early morning and hitched out to Southwest Raceway, which wasn't that far away. Got most of the action then headed to the airport. Oops! The AA flight to Dallas was full, so I pulled out my timetables and made an alternative trip to Oklahoma City on a Continental Vicount and then caught a Braniff BAC 111 to Dallas. Cost for all three flights was $28-not much more than an overnight trip for a solo guy with gas room and food to cover. The non racer kids at school thought I was nuts, but I was having fun. I sure don't regret it now.

 

Some of the cars that Jimmy caught at Pomona are hard to ID, but there's no mistaking the Ramchargers AA/FD with Chuck Kurzawa entering the traps in February ,1968. Check out the kids hanging on the wires sneaking a view over on the far side. Who can blame them!

 

still prob'ly too new, as its from 1980 or so...

Thunder Valley Dragways
Marion, SD

 

try to ignore the G/G chalk, just look as it as a Willys in motion...

 

Div IV used to be one of the largest divisions. Probably kind of like Ga. was to us here in Tn. and a world all to itself out there, just bigger. Tom S.

 

Thanks for the photo, Ebert. That looks like the backside of the IRP oval's South Terrace Hill in the background.

And nice job by you and your people at Indy this year.