Famous Texas Tracks, Cars, Stories and SpeedShops

Beswick ran out of Illinois as I recall which is in Div 3.

 

Thanx again. I simply can not remember any more.
I never realized there was so much sports car racing there.
Tom S.

 

Good morning fellas,

 

Part 2.

 

Part 3.

 

Part 4

 

There's car club (not sure of the name) out of Abilene (Texas) that compiled several hours of "film" footage of early Texas dragstrips and had it converted over to VHS back in the late 90's - early 2000 era.
Jackie's '57 makes quite a few appearances in them. Lot's of old "Fenner Tubbs" cars, too. Maybe someone out of Abilene can chime in and offer a few pics as well.

 

Great series of photos on Green Valley. Thank you for posting. I raced there almost every weekend they were open from 64-69. Lots of stories and memories. Raced for Bill McKay Chev and more on my own. Anyway send me a contact number and I would like to show you a couple of cars, one an A990 65 Dodge 426 hemi that set the AHRA record there in 66 running A/FX. More later, thanks, Pat

 

Post up some pics

 

Hey there Pat!

I'm still searching for photo's of The Pied Piper from the 60's. To date, I've found zero.

How's the FI 409 doing?

 

I've posted this elsewhere here on the h.a.m.b., but thought it might be appropriate here as well, from 1968:

 

Love the pics guys!

 

Second batch

 

Third batch

 

Fourth Batch

Funny I bet people never imagined Ferrari's Corbra's, racing Corvettes and Porsche's in Texas duking it out.

 

I never did. These pics look like they could have come from Pocono Pa. or anywhere. Tom S. in Tn.

 

Big Mike Burkhart

 

A good friend sent the following link about Green Valley to me. I met this guy while I was working at GVDW and that was back in the 60s. There are views of the strip I haven't seen in over 40 years. There are guns on the wall of the concession stand or whatever it is, which I don't remember anything about it, and in the same photo is a sign from the old Scottys auto. Talk about jogging the memory. Lots of goods photos.
http://www.bangshift.com/forum/showthread.php/29655-Green-Valley-Drag-Way-Yesterday-and-Today

 

Lol I posted that thread.

 

Do you know anything about the black 32 in post 2 on the Bangshift thread? Is it Don Hardy?

The full bodied/injected dragster in that thread belonged to the Hanes Brothers in Frederick Oklahoma. Eddie Hill built the car.

 

That picture with the guns on the wall was from the year end champions banquet . Bill was a pioneer in getting the most for and out of sponcers . Everything you see there was given away as awards and prizes for the dedicated racers that raced week in and week out at the valley. Bill would have everything from guns , parts , wheels , manufaturer gift certificats and cash . Bill was the first to set up manufacture booths/tables at any race he went to to support his sponcers . Man I miss that place.

 

I may be way slow here, but has anyone checked out the history found on the Stephens & Venables web site? Some fantastic Amarillo and GV photos, and used to be a load more. Guess down sizing is affecting everything. Tom S.

 

In the fifties and early sixties S.C.C.A. held races at almost every abandoned Air Base in Texas. I watched Hap Sharp and Jim Hall run at a race in Seguin at an aux of Randolf Air force Base. I tech inspected in New Braunfels for two different S.C.C.A. races from the Alamo Region. Sport cars and Motorcycle races were plentiful in Texas then before most of those Airports became municipal airports and were no longer available, most of them also had drag races at some time.

 

I don't remember the date, but in the spring of 1966, Green Valley hosted a funny car match bash featuring some big names in the budding funny car movement. One that was entered was Pete Seaton's Shaker Chevelle. He and driver Del Heinelt have just arrived and are already drawing the curious.

 

Oops, I just posted this view on someone else's thread, but I have absolutely no idea where! Anyway, if my memory serves me right, the guy on the left is Del Heinelt, Pete Seatons driver and the guy staring at the camera is Ted Detar. No idea on the other guys and I'm not sure about the two that I id'd, so corrections or additions welcome on this one for sure.

 

This picture of Phil Bonner backing up at Green Valley brings to mind the first time he raced this particular car here. Phil had won the AHRA championship at Green Valley in 1964 with his 427 "Georgia Peach" Falcon and at some point in the summer of 1965, he was booked in for a match at GV with Dickie Harrell. Just about everyone there, myself included, thought he'd come with the blue Georgia Peach car.


When he rolled into the pits, this altered wheelbase orange Falcon was riding on the truck. Phil found an open area, stopped, set the ramps, and coasted Daddy Warbucks off the truck without starting it. No big deal. After securing the car he headed over to meet with track officials. Curiously, only a few people stopped by to check the car out, which I found somewhat odd, considering Harrell's Nickey Chevrolet Nova was surrounded by a large number of fans. I wasn't sure if Green Valley had a huge Chevrolet bias, or whether it was just that Harrell had a large and loyal following there. At any rate, it appeared Harrell's fans were there en mass.

At length, Phil returned to his car and with no one else around, we chatted about the Georgia Peach and his win the previous year, among other things. I was truly surprised by the lack of interest and hospitality accorded him. He briefly climbed underneath the car and made a few adjustments and soon, was called to the staging lanes for the first round. Surprisingly, he didn't drive the car over, but opened the door and began to push. I asked him if he needed a hand and he said he'd welcome it. So with him at the door steering and me pushing behind, Daddy Warbucks arrived at the starting line, after which I retreated to my favorite seat in the pit bleachers.

Soon Dickie's car roared to life with an impressive burnout. The Falcon fired at last and as I remember, made only a short almost anti-climactic burnout in the staging lanes. This stirred the crowd into a frenzy and when Dickie put a 5-car hole shot on the Falcon, the fans went absolutely berserk! Then the Falcon awoke and simply exploded off the line, with Bonner jamming gears in hot pursuit of the fleeing Chevy. When the win light came on for the Ford, the cheers turned into the largest collective 'HUH?!? I've ever heard anywhere. The cheers had turned into a shocked buzz and I have to admit I was as surprised as everyone else. Of course, we now know that Daddy Warbucks was powered by a SOHC and it made an impressive debut at Green Valley to say the least.

Returning to his pit location, Bonner was met by a large throng of fans, so much so I couldn't get close to either him or the car. I did catch his eye from the perimeter and gave him a thumbs up. He laughed and returned the salute before returning to his new-found fans.

 

Great story Chuck. I met a lot of touring pro's dumping waste oil or retrieving water for them or giving directions as a local yocal.
Tom S. in Tn.

 

The Daddy Warbucks Falcon was a bad hombre for it's time