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

North East Gas Circuit circa 1968-69...hope it's ok to post.

 

That looks like Bristol Dragway back when!!

 

It is. The car in the second photo is the late Ray Godman’s Tennessee Bo-weevil with Preston Davis at the wheel.


Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.

 

Roo, it's Godman .

 

That darn spellcheck!

 

Arnie Beswick cool guy still racing

 

Arnie lost his wife a while ago, that took quite a bit out of him. He was always a determined racer but always fan friendly and very approachable.
The Farmer is 89 now, God bless him.

 

Standing at attention...

 

Is it just me, or do Fuel Alterd's ALWAYS look better when their Pissed Off?!

 

You have to remember that the old Fuel Altereds of the 60's had solid mounted rear axles, short wheelbases (95-98"), in/out boxes, tube front axles, slicks using technology of the day, and a shitload of horsepower and torque, and drivers with talent beyond belief. They weren't angry, they just wanted to stretch their legs.

 

Well.........yeh!

 

I have no info, but was a bit curious about it myself....

 

Kind of looks like the ole dirt tracking days but on asphalt and going around the track backwards. Always loved going left while turning right and slinging mud into the stands!

 

Looks like wild Willie had both hands on wheel in this shot. He was probably thinking should I lift or not.

 

I'm not sure Willie Borsch ever thought about lifting.

Mick

 

The beauty of this shot if the guy in the background nonchalantly munching on his popcorn, as Willie works with it. Just another run by the Winged Express!

 

Exactly


Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.

 

As Denny said, doing this stuff on an iPad will get you in trouble. I miss being able to hang out with Ray at Bowling Green but until the current situation arose I still got to see Preston on a regular basis at the NDRL races


Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.

 

The classic Bob McClurg shot of Willie at the Winternationals in the days when the big show still included fuel altereds.


Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.

 

How in the Hell could Willie think of lifting... He was too damned busy holding on! LOL!!!

 

In the second video I believe the black sedan is a '39-'42 Studebaker Champion

 

Actually the cameraman was the looney. No telling which direction Willie was headed and the camera is in the sights of the action.

 

Hello,

The 1941 black Studebaker Sedan is one of the most popular Gas Coupe and Sedan class champions. He won his national trophy in 1958 at the OKC Nationals. Most everyone wanted their cars to have the same power and success as this Studebaker Sedan. It was a favorite of many involved in drag racing back then.

The comparison part of the story is the 1940 Ford Coupe that we saw regularly at Lions Dragstrip. It was the model we used for comparison when we were deciding to build our next hot rod for the drags. The 1940 Ford coupe was in the same B/Gas class as the 1941 Studebaker Sedan of Junior Thompson. So, in essence, he had no chance unless the 41 Studebaker of Junior Thompson broke or blew up during an elimination run.

Our first edition of the 1940 Willys Coupe was listed in the B/Gas class. A 283 SBC w/6 Strombergs in a light weight chassis, put us in the same class as Junior Thompson... what an uphill battle coming at us every weekend.

Jr. Thompson 1941 Studebaker Sedan ACTUAL 1959 SOUND

Jnaki
In our early days of drag racing 1957-60 , people just popped off their hubcaps and raced in whatever class the inspectors deemed fit the build/car. Those were fun times. It was the core of early drag racing. But, as the need for speed kept popping up, the gas coupes and sedan class stayed street legal for a few more years, until it changed some rules and eventually, was phased out for other popular classes.

1940 WILLYS COUPE

 

Yeah he was doing what a lot of us had to do with ill handing cars in those days. Just trying to keep the rear wheels from passing the front ones.

 

Roo, it's nice for the student to school the teacher, every once in awhile. You will have to enlighten me on what an iPad is one of these days ! I do remember reading about Ray's A/MR in the early 60's. Two of our NW racers, Dave Skeans, and the Strode Bros, held the A/MR record for a while during that time period.

 

Marty,
good to see the Slo- Poks logo on the car. When I toured the Pacific Northwest with Densham I met Ed Smith and he later came to Australia and stayed with me for a while.

Roo


Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.

 

Roo, I used to race Ed on Wednesday nights without much success. He was a hot dog in A/G in the early 60's with a Pontiac powered 41 Willys. His Dad Clarence, built the chassis for Skeans in the picture above. Smitty, as Clarence was referred to, had a long history building Midgets, Roadsters, and raced Hardtops with success. I have his 1952 Championship Trophy. Ed was a great guy !

 

Marty
Is that the same Ed Smith that dragraced a motorcycle at PIR? I recall seeing him win a lot.
I seem to remember him being from Vancouver too.
By the way, how about posting a shot of that snotty Jeep again, those were good times.