Great Oregon Racers

Cordy Jenson had a maroon 57 out of Eugene. Raced out of Van's Auot truck Repair out of Springfield, same place I worked/raced out of till I got drafted.

 

1962 McMinnville Dragstrip
Here is a couple of 62 Vettes getting ready to go at it. The nearest one says Dels Richfield Salem on it. There used to be a guy named Bill Winslow, I think, that ran a 62 Fuely Vette. He had an obsession with grudge racing Mom in her 62 Dodge 413. It never did work out good for him. I used to love the brand loyalty back then. I think it made it more interesting. I will add this bit of adventure, in 1962 a 15 lb piece of a flywheel landed next to my foot in the pits 100 yards from the starting line. Glad when they made scatter shields mandatory.

 

Those 2 guys would have been sitting right in front of the Rose City Sound truck,( VW Bus) that broadcast the sound from tower, with either Joe Allen or Ray Horn at the mic.

 

Madras Dragstrip 1962
I had a golden childhood, got to travel around to almost every dragstrip in the northwest watching my parents race. We usually camped out right at the strip, roasted hot dogs and marshmellows. Sometimes the dragstrips would bring in a live band on Saturday night, how cool.

 

Wusz Family A/Street Roadster at Speed World Museum
My all time favorite A/Street Roadster, they just don't make em like this anymore. The Wusz family were good people and great competitors. We raced against them in 1963, what an honor. All great memories except for that scar still on my arm from a header burn while changing plugs for my Dad between runs, I was 9 then.

 

Harold Davis Triumph drag bike 1960
I remember going to McMinnville drag strip watching my Dad race his Triumph. I loved the sound of those bikes and the smell of the castor oil. I also remember him being frustrated that the Nortons were a little faster. Later on when I was 13, only 5' tall and 75 lbs, he had a built Triumph Bonneville that I used to sit on in the garage and dream about riding. One day I decided to see if I could kick the engine over, it started. So you know what happened next, test ride.

 

Harold Davis Triumph drag bike 1957
Even though my parents are more known for their drag cars, as long as I can remember they always had motorcycles. I carried on that tradition of bikes eventually ending up riding Ducati motorcycles. After getting out of a Sprinter it takes a little horsepower to get the adrenaline flowing.

 

Famed road and rally racer, auto dealer and collector Monte Shelton of Portland passed away June 16th.

Great life story here:
https://obits.oregonlive.com/obituaries/oregon/obituary.aspx?n=monte-r-shelton&pid=193198455

 

I don’t know if my dad was a legendary racer, but he was from Pendleton and was close friends with Dale Withers. He was the crew chief for the Dale Harsin “Idaho Thunder” funny car. This was my dad’s 57 Chevy that he ran at Firebird Speedway in Emmett, Idaho.

 

Old Timer's picnic is this Sunday, July 21. Same details as post # 1435. A lot of fun to meet these guys and hear their stories. If you are around, this is an important event to make.

 

Oregon drag racer Ken Maki passed away August 12th.
https://dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/portland-or/kenneth-maki-8818251

One of Marty Strodes' previous GODR's posts on Ken here:
The yellow A/G Anglia was Brewer & Maki, out of Portland Or. Ken Maki would move to AA/FD with a Fuller car, with Ed McCulloch as driver. Ken also operated a very successful 19 cent hamburger stand, called Scotty's Drive In. Gary Lewis would run the Willys PU, through the 70's advancing to a blown 426 Hemi .

 

Does anyone know people in this photo or recognize the place?

I have posted it on the "Life and Times of Portland Speedway" on Facebook and received good feedback. A couple of people have been identified. Jack Corley saw this at the Old Timer's Picnic and spotted a couple people. It is thought to be an RRAO gathering.

 

Found this pic in a book. STEVE BANKS | Nitro, Drag Racing In The Sixties: 1964—1966
https://www.nazraeli.com/complete-catalogue/steve-banks-nitro-drag-racing-in-the-sixties-19641966

 

Bill Ireland of Portland.

 

That was Bill's Mustang when he was sponsored by Oregon Ford Dealers. He later expanded with his '68 Mustang that was sponsored by Northwest Ford Dealers.
Bill had the first R code 1966 Fairlane that Ford produced.. The 427c.i. 425HP car. In 1967 he changed some parts externally to compete with the same car as a 1967 Fairlane.

 

That C/SA Hi Performance (271 HP) Mustang was one of a small number produced with an automatic trans. Bill's Wife Diane race it, while Bill ran his year old Thunderbolt in A/MP. Last I heard, Leo Giroski (Master Transmission) owned it. He told me, Bill gave it to him.

 

I received an email from fellow member Bob McCabe, that Mel Bryson has passed away. Mel was a great guy and a true gentleman. He had a love of Gassers, especially the Blown Ones. He was in and out of racing, spanning from the 60's to the 2000's. As I remember, he was a Dentist by trade around the Eugene area. These are just 2 examples of his cars, always quality ! R.I.P. Old Friend.

 

Mel will be greatly missed.

 

Found this somewhere.

 

Drag Racing in Eugene Oregon - 1970's

Don't remember if this was posted before. Same poster on YT.

 

I will have to ask around about that car, thanks for posting.

 

Thanks for posting the videos Coast40. A couple buddies and I raced out at Balboa in the 1960's. The owner/ driver had a new Camaro which had a 350. He had to race 442's and GTO's which never ended well.
I heard Ace reminiscing and he mentioned Balboa. Evidently management did something that made the touring racers mad. Big Jim Dunn came over to his trailer and told him to load up we are leaving. Then something like Dunn tried to set the tower on fire. All the land where it was located was designated wetlands and is all overgrown with very little left to identify now.

 

Thanks Coast, for the videos, I have heard stories for over 40 years about Jim Rockstad crashing his Anglia, and the crash is in the video. I sent the link to Gary Parham with the 57 Corvette, that is the lead photo.

 

Anyone recognize this 55 Chevy (seen on Craigslist today). It's currently in KFalls where it sounds like it's been for quite a while but they referenced it last running in 1962. Looks very solid.

- EM

https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/wan/d/fort-klamath-1955-chevy-gasser-wtt/7107241577.html

 

Wow ! Now that is cool !

 

That's a great project for someone !

 

Awesome. Best time in drag racing.

 

Agreed Marty. I'm not sure why he didn't show any pictures of the engine or engine bay but the car sure looks familiar.
- EM

 

If the car was parked in '62, my exposure to drag racing didn't start until '61, at McMinnville. If the car was from K-Falls, they probably raced at Madras, or White City, and perhaps Northern California. Pretty serious car for that period, with Injection, roller cam, and 4 speed !

 

Don't know if you saw the Austin Healey bug-eyed Sprite also for sale on Craigslist (it is not on the site now that I can find so I assume it sold). But it had been stored in McMinnville since the early 70's since it last competed at Woodburn. I remembered the car. It ran a 283 and 3-speed. This was another very solid "time capsule" car and was minus the engine. The asking price was $3,500! I just hope it went to the "right" person.

- EM