History Iowa Dragstrips - New & Old

I saw the falcon and mustang from dick walters ford in w.des moines at the track in dm. Cars were great and dick also raced a white light weight galaxie with a red dog painted on the front fenders. The front of their truck said, "here comes trouble". Raced my 63 1/2 ford there one night and won a my class beating a gto. John cort had a wicked 61 starliner and won his class as well. At ames the concrete pad that you took off on ended at the wrong place. Just when you were gonna grab 2nd gear you dropped into the dirt! You really had your hands full. Thought i would get smart and start racing stock cars. Anothe way to get rid of your money, except they paid you for it, kinda. Another iowan living in florids. Chuck

 

Looks like i need spell check these keys are to small. Its florida not florids.

 

I am looking for more photos of this truck, taken at Neita im guessing late 60's early 70's



Thanks, Adam

 

Is that "Gang Green"?

 

if i am reading the blur right it sure is!

 

Cool! Don't have any pics but saw it run many times.

 

Looking for any photo images of early days at NEITA Raceway in Cedar Falls and also anything related to Tunis Speedway. Working on potential book about racing in the tractor capitol of the world (John Deere). If you can point me toward certain people or resources, I'd appreciate it.

Jim Volgarino
[email protected]

 

Tunis Speedway? Never heard of it. Do tell sir...

 

Tunis was a stock car track south and east of where hobby lobby is now up on University. You used to go through that parking lot to get to the gate of Tunis.

 

Cool, thanks Jay! Got that fuel bike together yet?

 

I remember seeing Gang-Green running at Eddyville, that thing was wild!

 

Just joined, and thought I would throw my 2 cents in on some things.

I raced Eddyville, Neita, Humbolt and Lee County from 1980 to 1988 in a 1967 Bracket Camaro. I will dig up a picture and post it some time. The car was formerly owned by Bill Morse and ran a small inch motor in C/MP. It was called A Clockwork Orange if I recall correctly.

The Gang-Green truck looks like, but knowing me it probably isn't, a truck that Billy Bushore owned in the 80's. Bill's was red, and ran out of the Ogden Iowa area. Bill raced with Doug Dragoo, who I bought the old Mr. Magoo 1969 Camaro from, but never finished up.

Al Booten, when I first saw the Thunderbolt above, I immediately thought of Billy Wolf. Bill had a very nice one and ran a shop down across from Firestone just off of 2nd Avenue in Des Moines. If I remember right, Moyer had a dealership in Valley Junction. Bill Wolf was tied up some how with Bill McCewen, who still builds motors for people.

Some have mentioned Dave Shafer. When I met Dave, he already had his Mustang II Pro Stocker, but I heard a lot of stories about the Maverick. My old partner on the 67 Camaro was in on the Maverick with Dave and Mike Robertson and Steve something or another. Went my the name of Magoo.

Roy Long had all kinds of nice cars back then.
Rumor always was the Beck Brothers AMC was an old Wally Booth car. Not sure if that is true or not.
Tommy Johnson Sr and Jr. Raced against both of them. From the white 9 lives car of Sr's to the Monza he bought from Bob Massey (who coincidentally builds chassis's for Vern Moats and works for Carl Moyer now) , to the old Yuill Brothers Pro Stock Car. I was on the starting line the night Jr made is first pass in a race car. It was a yellow Chevy II that I have no idea where it came from. Possibly Roy Long.

I never saw Jim Carters Jesse James cars, but I heard he had a picture a bunch of tombstones on the trunk and after he beat you, your name got air brushed on by Frosty.

 

Just stumbled across this thread, it's an oldie but a goodie. Great pix and lots of history here, thanks to all for posting.

Might be a little O/T for this thread, but if any of these Iowa racers you guys are looking for pix of ever ran at Thunder Valley Dragway in SD (and I think many of them did...) might want to send a PM to MCINK on here. He has a huge archive of older photos from that track.

Okay, carry on fellas!

 

We ran our TA/FC up at Thunder Valley. It was called Magnum Force, driven by Denny Prochaska, owned by Norm Day.

 

I saw first drag race at Omaha Dragway in 1964. First trophy was with my 58 Chevy, 4 door, 6 cylinder, 3 speed running M Pure Stock. First real racecar we built was a 1957 Chevy Sedan Delivery, broke the C/MP track record first time out. That car was driven by Ray Sporn of Omaha. We also raced at Sioux City airport, 4th locked up in the lights that day. Took it to the 1967 Indy Nationals, we found out how dumb we were. Remember working on the car til dark and a guy drove by and gave us some clean t-shirts to wear, his name was Joe Hrudka, Mr. Gasket himself.
Then we built a 1961 Corvette, white with gold metalflake top and inserts. My partner Gary Malmberg drove that car. He was about 6'3" and 320 lbs. Mostly ran NHRA but we took it to Eddieville and NEITA every year for the big races they had in the early 70's. We were the runner up to Ray Murphy's A/MP Pulm Nuts Cuda.
At any rate I would love pictures of our Vette and the 67 Camaro just after it that ran G/GAS about 74 or 75. Camaro was Ice Blue with no names on it.
Some Thunder Valley pictures here:
http://terrysgarage.homestead.com/archiveTVD71.html Not my site.
Terry Doukas, Omaha

 

Hi all, my name name is Leon Evans and I raced weekly at NETIA from 63-71 and then again from 79-83 or so. I started off with a 32 Ford 3-window coupe B/A in 63, an orange 27 T A/C 64-66, a AA/FD from 67-71 and ended with a A/A from 79-83 or so.

I'll post some interesting pictures soon.

Does anyone have some pictures of my cars that they could send me or post?

 

Picture of AA/FD & A/C

Leon

 

Welcome Leon .... how about more information on your '32 Coupe and you?
Where did you live then/now? Was there any other guys/teams that you ran around with to the tracks and what did they race?

 

Did Gang Green end up on the street? I recall seeing one in the Knoxville/Oskaloosa area in the late 70s early 80s

 

thanks AHotRod,i lived in cedar rapids ia during that time,i now live in fairfax ia just outside of cedar rapids,the 32 had a 292 ci sb w/6 strombergs 2 center 48 & 4 end ones were 97's,early 4 spd hydro,57 0lds rear, some of the guys racing during that time from the cedar rapids area were Ed Mahachek J.C.Petrak,Bob Strang, i,ll think of more later, i will have my son jeff post some pics of the 32, i'm not very good at this stuf

thanks Leon

 

Very nice!

 

Pictures of 32 are too big, will have to resize.

Check article in local racing paper below pictures, maybe 64?

Other pics:

 

I have a couple Sioux City dragstrip trophies that were given to me...
traded some photos for them actually...

 

ahotrod the early hydro was a 3spd not a 4spd sorry, i used a choke cable on the shift lever for the throttle press.

Leon

 

from what i know, he raced in at neita in the late 60's early 70's before he left for NAM. as for what happened to it between then and when my father purchased it in the early 80's is unknown but when he got it, it was in parts.

 

Howdy guys. I was wondering it anyone had any information about this car. My dad bought it off of a good friend of his in 1998. His friend bought it in Humboldt in 1984. It's a 57 Chevy Bel Air 2dr Hardtop. On the left side of the trunk is a pinstriped deal that says "Morning Sunshine" in red paint. On the right side it used to have a corny poem that said something like "Two scoops of love..." Dad doesn't remember the rest. It has a fiberglass flip front and a very wild plush pillow interior that looks like it came off of the people's couch in "That 70's Show". Dad said it used to have dual 4bbl carbs on it when his friend got it. It was sitting outside one day and an old man walked in to our shop and said that it used to have a wheelie bar. Dad's friend used to take it up to Des Moines when he owned it and a few people told him it used to be a show car up there. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all very much, Philroy.

 

still looking for more pics info on this willys gasser org. from Des Moines then Ricketts Iowa. raced up until the late 70s early 1980s heres the tread link:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=541312&referrerid=36182

 

James,
When did Ed build the "Possum Chaser"?

Do you know what Iowa tracks he raced on?

What was it powered by?

 

Some body from Sioux city said , the strips last time open was 1971.

and they say there was a speed shop at the airport some speed world
er some such thing... any body know? of that place?


and they ( hear say in a court room ) say the "coke a cola" guy was
looking at the / a tribal strip on tribal land (by there gambling place )
in Onawa <--- IOWA
that's all i got so far on that closed STRIP.

 

Stage Fright was owned by Jerry Kouba and Al Berry of Alburnett Iowa. Sadly, I watched this car gradually decompose in the dirt out behind Jerry's garage during the '70's and 80's. Story was he'd never sell it. He finally built a pole building in the '90's and last I heard the car was resting comfortably inside.