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

Discussion in 'Traditional Hot Rods' started by Royalshifter, Dec 12, 2007.

  1. partsrivet
    Joined: May 20, 2012
    Posts: 461

    partsrivet
    Member

    No idea who these guys are making a pass at the 65 Nationals. [​IMG]
     
  2. partsrivet
    Joined: May 20, 2012
    Posts: 461

    partsrivet
    Member

    Another 4 abreast mad scamble at Green Valley in March of 1966. [​IMG]
     
  3. partsrivet
    Joined: May 20, 2012
    Posts: 461

    partsrivet
    Member

    Fred Rowsey's Banzai Car goes up against Oklahoma City's Boyd and Griffith during AA/FD runoffs at Opelousas, LA in June of 1967. [​IMG]
     
  4. partsrivet
    Joined: May 20, 2012
    Posts: 461

    partsrivet
    Member

    1965 World Champ Joe Smith in the Fenner Tubbs car goes off against Edmond Oklahoma's Don Grotheer in his A/S 66 Street hemi. These two were regulars in the final rounds of Div IV Stock Eliminator runs. [​IMG]
     
  5. theman440
    Joined: Jun 28, 2012
    Posts: 347

    theman440
    Member
    from Las Vegas

    Hey Muttley - I spotted this photo and it blew my mind. There is a distinct possiblity that the lead Coronet in the shot is my car. Can you tell me where you found the photo? Or if you have any more shots of this parade? That car is the same color, is a 383 4bbl car and has the optional full wheel covers and bumper guards. I've done some research on the car and it was special ordered and not sold at a dealership - maybe Chrysler loaned it to the NHRA for this parade? WOW...WOW.
     
  6. theman440
    Joined: Jun 28, 2012
    Posts: 347

    theman440
    Member
    from Las Vegas

    Up to page 1300!
     
  7. Waitin' 'till y'all get to 1320..
     
  8. tommyd
    Joined: Dec 10, 2010
    Posts: 11,948

    tommyd
    Member
    from South Indy

    I think the coupe may be Bobby Allen of Glidden @ Allen. 427 f.e. Powered.
     
  9. Tom S. in Tn.
    Joined: Jan 16, 2011
    Posts: 1,108

    Tom S. in Tn.
    Member


    I can't account for elsewhere, but here in middle Tn., north Ga. and Al. where circle track stock car racing was taking predominance, there was a large selection of unsanctioned or renegade private run drag strips just out of public view, much like the circle track counter part where events many times took place in pastures and well up into the 70's.

    PR your commentary is totally accurate but just realize there was a fork in the drag racing road. In the days to come, racers of every class during the era had to face the reality of competing in an ever increasingly expensive mega buck professional forum marketed by the sanctioning organizations and soon to come product marketeers, or stay out on the flag started lunatic fringe where dime store trophies and auto parts gift certificates were the only tangible prize except perhaps a primal desire to raise hl making smoke and noise and publicly defeat any competitor with a car built by the individual themself. And home built funny cars (gen) was no exception.
    Sadly, only the former marketed form of organized drag racing is commonly recorded in history, such as the glossy magazine centerfolds that always accompany any discussion of drag racing, leaving that as only what is recognized as drag racing anymore these days.
    I will admit, the incidents at Yellow River and Dallas Ga didn't help, but not unlike stock car racing, there was another side to drag racing that did not take place on public streets or sanctioned strips.

    It's the increasingly hard to come by the unrecorded history usually found only in graying memory cells of the old timers and ultra rare faded and creased b&w snapshots that needs to be recognized and told before it disappears completely. I'll pitch a spot for the H&H website that personally I feel does a superb job of showing stick welded and bare knuckle drag racing at it's finest, but that's about all that's out there today.
    Glad I had the opportunity to express this; Tom S. in Tn. :)
     
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2012
  10. Tom S. in Tn.
    Joined: Jan 16, 2011
    Posts: 1,108

    Tom S. in Tn.
    Member

    [​IMG]
    Where is this with the mountains in the back ground? Neat shot! Tom S.
     
  11. Mazooma1
    Joined: Jun 5, 2007
    Posts: 13,598

    Mazooma1
    Member

    That's looking east at Irwindale. The snow capped mountains are the "San Gabriels" and the highest peak visible is Mt. Baldy.
     
  12. Chuck Norton
    Joined: Apr 23, 2009
    Posts: 774

    Chuck Norton
    Member
    from Division 7


    With that much snow on the mountains, it was probably cool, clear, and fast that day. Most likely, I was there.

    Check out the strip mall-sized pit spots.
     
  13. Falconred
    Joined: Mar 27, 2008
    Posts: 872

    Falconred
    Member

    To carry the theam on from Tom S. in Tn, I was at many of the strips he was talking about. I was there at Yellow River, that day and several before, I ran there the day before the accident, I raced and watched at Dallas; watched at Covington (Atlanta Speedshop Dragway), Paradise in Calhoun, GA, Cummings Drag Strip, Brainard Optimist in ?? GA, and Double H in Blue Ridge, GA; raced at ?? in Silva, NC and Ringold Drag Strip in Ringold, GA , . Pushed cars all over Lloyd's Drag Strip in Blairsville and several more I can't remember to mention during those days. I was one of the fence/guardrail hangers many times myself. Ever had to jump a rolling drive shaft or been around a car that staged off in reverse? The invasion of the big money racers pretty much killed the weekend racer. It just wasn't worth the cost to find that extra .001 of a second to class race. We went bracket racing just to keep in the sport. I've ran all day up at Silva, won my bracket and went home with $5.00 and some oil and wax. Back then all the cars in each bracket 7 sec, 8 sec and such ran their bracket and the winners of each bracket ran for top eliminator. If it hadn't been for the back woods narrow strips dragracing would have died in our part of the world. Hard to keep up an interest in a sport that has only one national event a year in driving distance (there were none back in those days, Gainsville FL was closest I guess). Well enough for now.

    The way it was:
     

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  14. Mazooma1
    Joined: Jun 5, 2007
    Posts: 13,598

    Mazooma1
    Member

    Like many tracks Irwindale raced on Sundays in the winter months. You know, it can get down to the 50's at night here and nobody owns coats.
    The last coat I bought was 1980, seriously.
    Lions also raced for a few months on sundays as did San Gabriel.
    Both day racing and night racing had their advantages. As a photographer I have photos from Lions that are awful because I'd keep shooting as the sun went down trying to get lucky and capture "something" even though it proved to be almost impossible.
    The cool sundays at Irwindale were my favorites....it would sometime hover around 70 all day and all was right with the world....
    But...Irwindale was civilized compared to Fontana. Fontana had a feel to it that "something" was going to happen.....an explosion...just "something". It was rural in those days, unpredictable winds, lousy grandstands, lousy portapotties, lousy food, lousy lighting, loss safety precautions.
    Just a wonderful and reckless place.
    When OCIR opened the drag races were now becoming a bit too civilized, catering to families rather than goofballs like me in t-shirts, Levis with the mentality that a hot dog was "gourmet".
    The racing venues were getting all polished up to attract families, which is understandable, but it was like going to a swap meet wearing a suit and tie. Didn't make sense to us....ice cream at a drag strip???????
    If any one ever tried to sell club sandwiches and fruit salad at Fontana, they would go broke. Nobody wants that crap at a drag race!
    Crappy, splintery wood grandstands, a hot dog with ingredients of unknown origins, drenched in yellow mustard washed down with Coke and using your Levis as a napkin was as sophisticated as it got and that's why we loved it. No moms telling us to do our homework, no dad telling us to mow the lawn...just us kids bullshitting together and trying to get close to a fueler fired-up in the pits somewhere.
    At San Gabriel Drag Strip, when I was about 12, my friend and I would have to call home, so my mom could come pick us up. But, the track didn't have a pay phone, so we's walk down Rivergrade Road to Maine and Lower Azusa where there was a closed gas station that had a pay phone. On the long walk to the pay phone, Tim and I would look for bottles that had been tossed from cars. When one was spotted, the game was to see who could break the bottle from wherever we were standing with a rock. You can't buy that kind of fun.
    Waiting for mom to pick us up in her tomato soup red and white 1959 Ford, we'd read the "Drag News" or look for more bottles. When I got home, I'd hope like hell that some of my photos would turn out OK. In those days, it would take another week to see them.
    We got to grow up like boys should...not connected to home or "the world" by cellphone....no "breaking news"...just trying not to cut your chin hanging on the chain link fence at the starting line.
    We were on our own for the day and that helps build a future adult.
    We took care of ourselves and we learned to socialize and learn how to act and react to various situations. We learned to become adults by solving our own issues.
    One day there was a group of Black drag bike guys at Lions shooting dice in the pits. I wandered over and made the mistake of taking a photo of them tossing the dice with a pile of money in the middle. One guy, the fella that rode the twin-engined Triumph just about made me pee in my pants he yelled at me so loud. "Don't you go takin' no photos of this...if Mickey (Thompson) saw us doin this, he'd throw us out...got it?"
    Why yes, yes Sir...I heard you loud and clear.
    All those guys later were real good to me. They'd always say "hi" and say, "whaychu up to today, kid?" Nice guys, all.
    Different times, boys and girls....If you ever saw the movie, "Stand By Me" years ago, then you'll know how we grew up. You had to figure stuff out on your own.
    Or when young guys got together, they figure out stuff all as a group. If they make a mistake, they paid the price. When the accomplish something, they can have the pride of knowing they did it one their own.
    Our buddies weren't going to give you a hug if you cut your arm on something sharp. They would laugh their asses off, though.
    Our parents didn't "hover" over us. No cellphones and no wristwatches, either. We knew when it was time to go home:
    A. we'd get hungry
    B. the sun would tell us about what time it was
    All of this electronically connected bullshit has made it either too easy to grow up or too hard. It's a combination of the two.
    Too easy, because "mom" and/or "help" is always available.
    Too hard, because young men don't learn how to think for themselves without relying on others. People today almost have to form a "Committee" to decide where to go for dinner.
    If you don't learn to think on your feet when your a kid, your going to get flattened out in the real world.
    Where the hell am I going, here.....?

    Oh, yeah...some tracks raced on sundays.....:)
     
  15. Tom S. in Tn.
    Joined: Jan 16, 2011
    Posts: 1,108

    Tom S. in Tn.
    Member

    #32860;
    " Ever had to jump a rolling drive shaft or been around a car that staged off in reverse?"

    How about deer or cows roaming out on the track in the dark down past the lights?
    Or a post race weight protest done by the hwy patrol at an interstate DOT weight station? Sure wish I had those photo's......... :)
    Tom S. in Tn.
     
  16. SoCal Merc
    Joined: Jul 26, 2007
    Posts: 572

    SoCal Merc
    Member
    from SoCal

    If anyone can figure out to make that "sauce" they used on the strips and salsa they sold at OCIR, let me know. That was my favorite Wednesday night dinner.
     
  17. Falconred
    Joined: Mar 27, 2008
    Posts: 872

    Falconred
    Member


    Cow Pasture dragway or as it was actually known, Miller's Ferry Drag Strip in Camden, AL. It was an old abandoned military practice airfield that doubled as a drag strip. They would clean the cow piles off and have a race now and then.
     

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  18. Mazooma1
    Joined: Jun 5, 2007
    Posts: 13,598

    Mazooma1
    Member

    now that's rural....perfect
     
  19. Muttley
    Joined: Nov 30, 2003
    Posts: 18,500

    Muttley
    Member

    That photo and a bunch of others were for sale on ebay about a year and a half ago. The seller threatend to sue me for posting them on the HAMB. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
     
  20. tenebr8
    Joined: Jan 8, 2008
    Posts: 43

    tenebr8
    Member

    God alone knows how many hours it's taken me, but I have finally read/looked at every post in this entire thread. I want to thank everyone who has posted here, on the best thread on the Internet!
    Tim
     
  21. Mazooma1
    Joined: Jun 5, 2007
    Posts: 13,598

    Mazooma1
    Member

  22. 327-365hp
    Joined: Feb 5, 2006
    Posts: 5,429

    327-365hp
    Member
    from Mass

    Doug, you really should write some of this stuff down, it's really good reading!! ;) Thanks for that!
     
  23. Thanks for the great picture you painted with your words and memories brother.......I could listen to that "gold" all the night.......brings back a few of my memories of the tracks up this way.......the Bend, Super Boss, Cayuga, St.Thomas just to name a few........thanks again......good stuff.
     
  24. theman440
    Joined: Jun 28, 2012
    Posts: 347

    theman440
    Member
    from Las Vegas

    Do you still have any of the other photos?
     
  25. Tom S. in Tn.
    Joined: Jan 16, 2011
    Posts: 1,108

    Tom S. in Tn.
    Member

    I know that I know that injected dragster with the pointed canard and front wheel fairings.
    Help....... Tom S.
     
  26. Tom S. in Tn.
    Joined: Jan 16, 2011
    Posts: 1,108

    Tom S. in Tn.
    Member


    OK Tim, this is a test....... How much can you recall?

    Sure would be nice if this site cataloged or something because a person could go nutty as squirrel poo trying to look back to find a photo you want to look at again. Tom S. in Tn.
     
  27. 296ardun
    Joined: Feb 11, 2009
    Posts: 4,673

    296ardun
    Member

    Very well said, lots of memories here...Fontana could get cold, though, especially when they had night races, yes the track was poorly lit, the pits were poorly lit (don't drop a nut down the injector tube, like I did once, you'll never see it!), the shut-down was so dark that you had to guess how much brake to apply - even with the chute -- and the wind blew dust on the track so it got really slippery towards the lights...all the reasons why it was a great track!!

    The place I really miss was San Fernando - you could run competition cars only between 12 and 3 because the neighbors complained about the noise...and the shutoff area was sparse...several guys died when they hit the bridge at the end which took Foothill Blvd over the wash that the track ended in...but the management knew how to take care of the racers, if you were bucks-down Harry Hibler might slip you $25 more to buy fuel if you were willing to make a run or race someone, I got a letter from him the first time I ran there thanking me for showing up, and we were just little guys with a fuel roadster......that's the other part of the old days, guys who managed the tracks like Harry Hibler, Steve Gibbs and Jim Tice at San Gabriel and Irwindale, C.J. Hart at Santa Ana, they ran the tracks because they loved the sport and took care of the fans and racers alike.....all gone now
     
  28. Tio Geo
    Joined: Mar 3, 2012
    Posts: 134

    Tio Geo
    Member

    well said Mazooma1 . those were the day's my friends.....we thought they would
    never end
     
  29. Carnuba
    Joined: Mar 19, 2012
    Posts: 430

    Carnuba
    BANNED

    AMAZING pictures. When were they taken?
     
  30. Mazooma1
    Joined: Jun 5, 2007
    Posts: 13,598

    Mazooma1
    Member

    Not sure, but probably Grand Spalding Dodge in Chicago...
     

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