When was your first time at a dragstrip?

Englistown, 1971, then again in 1975. My dad wasn't big into cars but he had a buddy from work that always had a big block vette or Z/28 around and knew i was crazy about cars & racing. He took me to the track a few times and always had a pretty girlfriend that would come along with us. I was about 9 at the time and the only car I seem to remember racing was Bruce Larsens red white & blue "USA 1" funny car and a Jungle Jim car. I wish I could remember more of it but it's been a long time. Those days were magic.

 

1962 at 16 years old, airport at Belgrade Montana. Saw TV tommy Ivo's Showboat run at that strip.

 

I worked at that race for Darwin Doll and saw the bike guy. It wasn't pretty.

 

1966 at Maple Grove...10 yrs. old. It was a top fuel match race ,only I can't remember
who they were. although one had a awsome blue metalflake paint job.
I do remember that dragster wheelstanding and breaking the front axel when
he landed and the other one smokin the tires full track! that did it for me!

 

I was 16 1959 San Fernando.

 

I was 15. Me and my brother went to Napierville south of Montreal (we lived in Montreal for a few years then)
Don Garlits was there as were the Rini brothers who are now strangely enough friends living only a hour away. Also Dick Gaylord from Syracuse. I remember there were actually snow flakes falling during one of the last runs of the day by a T bucket hemi powered Altered. (High and Mighty?) . They heated the oil for the fuelers on Coleman stoves. I believe it was an Easter weekend.
My earliest time ticket is July 1966 from Ceders Drag Strip just east of Alexandria Ontario on the Quebec side. I first raced with Flags. When they got the Christmas tree did we ever think we had gone hi TECH!

 

It was 1976 and i was 15. My cousin took me to Temple Acadamy Dragway " Little River". He was racing his 67 Camaro. I was hooked.

 

for me i think it was '93 or so because i believe i was 10. My dad was vice-pres of the tri-state Camaro club at the time and it was a show/drag held at an abandoned airfield. I vividly remember the first drag race i saw because it was a little wierd... not sure if this was dad's idea but they had to drag to the end, grab a tennis ball off one of those big orange cones (the left lane had a passenger do it), and drag to the beginning in reverse and put the ball on another cone. An early 60's Vette convertible hit the divider in reverse, and some guy got mad (not the Vette owner) and the fun was over. He still has a video of that somewhere...

 

One thousand nine hundred fifty eight, Forty-Fort Airport, Forty-Fort PA part of Speedweek with Giant's Despair Hill Climb. I was hooked for life.

 

There is a whole page on Wayne and his cars, including the Plymouth you remember, at Bryon Stack's Gasser Madness site...I understand that Wayne died very recently

 

No one I knew was a drag racer when I was a kid so I was responsible to make my own memories at the strip. Me and my buds were normally broke so we'd often ride in the trunk just to be able to get in and watch the "big time" guys race all that awesome hardware. I still remember gazing at a set of Veeney Heads marveling at how awesome all that billet race hardware is - some things never change.... well we don't sneak in anymore, but I still marvel at all those big time guys at the drags!!!!!!

I also remember the "Hemi under Glass" car snapping an axle and tearing up the bodywork pretty bad. Just prior to the run we were talking with the owner and he was bragging about these "special" axles he had sent out of the country to get - they had some special alloy/heat treating and were actually THINNER than what we had ever seen we all kinda shook our heads (of course we didn't really know anything) but we couldn't understand the concept of making them "give". I don't know if he ever got them to work right, but we all convinced ourselves we actually knew something - we didn't.

I will never forget watching Frank Mazi run his Opel and later his Firebird. Our jaws literally fell to the ground when we looked at his amazing talent and flawless car - we couldn't understand how a guy could be so talented to build that out of a home garage - the cars looks were only outdoen by it's performance - it ran so sweet!!!!!!!!!!!! Blown 354 Hemi - simply awesome!!

 

Summer of '57 at Santa Ana. First car I saw was a bright red '29 roadster blast to a 129 mph run...later realized that it was Willie Borsh. Gene Adams was there in his blown Olds gasser, Pancho Gonzales Cad-powered dragster, Sandovol Bros. Bantam competition coupe, funny how well you remember your first drag race...wish my memory was better on my other important "first".....

 

Must have been 1970, I was about 11 years old.

I was already setting the engines back in my 1/25-scale model cars, radiusing the rear wheelwells, chopping the tops, putting straight axles under the front end and removing the front bumpers.

At that time I had my very own subscription to Hot Rod magazine, it was one of the prizes I won at a local 7-11 store model car contest.

I already had it bad.

We headed out to Lions Drag Strip with my YMCA Gray-Y group.

Saw the 'Goldfinger' Anglia AA/GS coupe run that night.

Heard the grandstands rattle like crazy when the fuel dragsters ran.

Walked through the pits and staging lanes and saw lots of cool little race cars, some with colored plexi windows and pop-riveted aluminum work inside.

A truly magical night that I'll never forget.

Got my first time slips in 1975 at age 16. I raced at Orange County International Raceway in my '61 VW with a '64 Bus 1500 engine that I rebuilt myself at age 15.

Ran 18.65 @ 68 MPH.

 

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Union Grove Memorial Day 1969 I was seven, here are the things that left a lasting impression.
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]-It being cold and wet, they were running old cars up and down the track to dry it[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]-Someone blowing up a front engine car in the lights and getting out while it was still moving ( I think it was Big Daddy)
-The green Mamba hitting somebody on the return track (even after they announced caution crossing it all day)
-A candy apple red Anglia with a wind up lever on the back
-Cars with great paint and cool names like Shake, Rattle and Run
-The only thing to drink that day beer or coffee (no clue why)
-My old man smoking a Mach 1 on the way home with the Road Runner
Those were the days
[/FONT]

 

1st time? Hmmmm
Dad took me to Santa Ana when I was young. Then it was Lyons in the 60's, 70's found me at OCIR & Irwindale mostly. Started a business cleaning & waxing mostly funny cars in late 60's & 70's.
Waxed the big names of the sport. You name them, I cleaned their cars.
Raced cars in the 60's, got hooked up w/ a Super Stock drag cars, Raced a alky funny car & a couple of econorails. Then raced an A/Gas car for a few years in the 90's & 2000's. Jim Liberman helped me out getting a car together in the late 60's & early 70's.

Here I am at the 68 OCIR Manufacturer's meet w/ a clean cut Jim w/ shades & blue shirt in the pic. I'm the guy in the white T-shirt & black hair parted nearly down the middle on far right. Just unloaded car off the ramp truck.
Pic is also on Pam hardy's web site.

 

I was so young I can't even remember it. My son made his first trip to the track at 3 months old. He's 11 now and racing a Jr. Dragster.

 

Probably about 1975, location where else. MoKan. My brother and I went and took our battery operated cassette recorder to you know... get some cool sounds. Well come to find out that our excitement was very heavily overtoned with quite a few choice four letter words that our parents just wouldn't appreciate. Don't know what ever happened to that tape. Good times.

 

Mom had pics of me on my Dad's shoulders at Lions, but I can honestly say I don't remember much at all from Lions. So I would say Irwindale in 71 or 72. We went almost every weekend. You could hear the cars at Irwindale at our house, Dad and I would sit and listen to them if we didn't go.

 

For me it was 1970 at Fremont Dragway and lots of time on the Baylands side also till they all closed up.

Still have a program from Baylands Raceway that my dad bought for me at one of the races. Godspeed Dad,How I miss those days.

 

I was 8 years old in 1966 at Onondaga Dragway, South of Lansing, MI. Watched the "Terrifying Tornado" Twin supercharged engines and four wheel drive.

 

1969, Bluegrass Dragway on US27 south of Lexington, Kentucky. My favorite then was a 54 Corvette inline 6, but don't recall the name of the owner. A year later, I got to take my own car down the track, a 63 Impala SS, turned high 16s.... whooo, woo.

 

1966, I was 12 years old and went with my grade 8 teacher to race his VW Beetle in "U" stock at St. Thomas Dragway, St. Thomas Ont. Can. Best day of my young life.

Tinbasher

 

I was really young, but Puyallup Drap strip my first memory

 

1967, I was 17,my frend Bobby had a 61 Chevy two door Impala 327 4 speed and Mokan was/is right up the road. I saw him a few mounths ago, we both wish he still had that car. Those were the days.

 

1979 at Minnesota Dragways to watch my Uncle run his Pure Stock '69 Torino,was 17,joined USAF in '82,stationed at Eglin AFB Fl.,first time down a dragstrip in my '69 Chevelle at Atmore Dragway,Atmore Al. in '83

 

probably 1983. My Dad was never into cars, he always loves to hunt and fish. I started street racing at 17, hit my first track event at 22

 

Not so long ago, probably last year's THAW was the first time I'd really been and took it all in.

I've always been more into road racing because that's what my dad's into, and it's what I'm into.

Drags are super cool, though.

 

This past spring just befor school ended, Milan dragway highschool nationals, 1992 Cadillac Brougham, 20 years old.
Would have done rather well in my class, consistant 17.2-17.8's @ about 75-78 MPH, all day and made it to race 4 in my class, then red-lighted. by .008 i believe.
Yeah, little upset still, but i was the only kid rocking the boat of a cadillac!

Hell thers even a video of it on youtube.

 

1986 lacr

 

It was about 1962 in Ohio, and I was 5 years old. Our family had flown in from Southern California and the Ohio relatives took me to a race track. I remember looking through a fence and the cars going from left to right, then making a left turn to go up a small hill where they disappeared. Then I heard the sound of loud engines. I knew about oval track jalopy racing but had no idea what drag racing was. The relatives said the cars went out onto the track one car at a time, I could not understand this. (LOL). I have no idea what drag strip it was. Any ideas?
Tom