1960's Indoor Drag racing**Chicago

I was emailed this and couldn't find it in a search. I thought it was pretty cool and goota love the chick with the big hair(pic 3).
Indoor Drag Racing from 63-64 at the International Amphitheater in Chicago.

 

Sign me up for the next one.

 

This is freakin' amazing!!!!!!!! I love it!!!!!!!! And did you see all those Pontiacs?
HOWEVER, I can see in the one shot WHY they don't do this anymore.

 

That would NEVER happen now a days...
I wish i would...
imagine the balls you had to have to make it thru the openings at top end...Holy crap!

 

I was there but have never seen these pics before. Great!

 

beats the hell out of shovelin snow IAM IN.

 

That is the dumbest idea ever...and I want in!!!...hahaha...drag car, check...opponent, check...indoor dragstrip, check...death wish, double check...

 

Awesome. Only in America.

 

Whats the worry, looks like they had a dozen or so hay bales for safety at the exit doors !

 

That's bitchin! We should start that up again, sign a couple permits, we have it up and running in a couple weekends. Senior Fried said he's got some hay bales. done.

 

Wow, that would be wild!!!

I'll bet it was loud as hell.

 

So, has anyone though of a use for some of those old abandoned factories yet? Maybe we could go to Detroit and do it in one of the old car building factories? That would be a fitting use for those buildings. Gene

 

I hear they can't find any use for the old Packard building. It's suppose to be one of the largest! Hey! You only need 1320 feet and an exit with an overhead door!

 

Thats soo crazy!

 

I've often wondered if this would be feasible. Never realized they had actually done it.

Just think...weather doesn't matter, and could possibly bring in good-sized crowds. Monster truck meets get good attendance, and I think being indoors may have a lot to do with it.

 

Take the batteries out of the overhead door opener.

 

I went to those indoor drags. It was CRAZY, most of the wrecks seemed to come when someone had to let off and it would heel sideways. The concrete was pretty slippery.

 

Got to have been one hell of a good time and with rain or shine option means every weekend of races. I see no reason why the abandon factory's in your local town wouldn't be a good candidate. Well, hell then you got the insurance thing-O well the thought was there.

 

That`s some crazy looking stuff there, wonder about venting out the fumes. Looks like a lot cars. would be interesting trying to get traction on that surface I bet. Looks like a blast! Pete.

 

Waaaaaat???? That's just crazy.. Thanks for sharing dude..

 

Could probably get away with an indoor 1/8 mile strip instead of a full quarter. There are ways to roughen up the top surface of concrete a bit at the top end. Think with some serious planning it could be pulled off, even these days. Who doesn't think it would be a real head rush to drive through a building @ 80mph? Gene

 

We just need one huge warehouse and no lawers or anyone else looking for a lawsuite.

 

Someone needs to find video!!!

 

I found this at http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2008/01/the-southside-w.html



The Southside Winternationals

<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 /><ST1:CITY w:st="on"><ST1LACE w:st="on"></ST1LACE></ST1:CITY>Chicago - City of Big Shoulders. Hog Butcher to the World. Home of the Indoor Drags?

The Windy City occupies a special niche in drag racing history. Home base to the Granatelli Brothers, Chris "The Greek" Karamesines, Arnie "The Farmer" Beswick, Don Schumacher and the Ramchargers of Mr. Norm's Grand-Spaulding Dodge, Chicago bows to no city when it comes to the hot rod obsession. But let's face it: Chicago gets cold. Holy freakin' Ditka, it gets cold. When those razorblade February winds blow in from Iowa, and the asphalt strips of US30 and Union Grove and Byron are covered in five foot drifts, even the hardiest ChiTown street racers know it's hibernation season.

Back in '62, though, a dedicated group of Chicagolanders found a way to keep the rubber burning between November and spring pothole patching. Instead of going outside to the strip, they brought the strip inside. The announcement came in a press release from USAC, trumpeting it as the "first INDOOR DRAG RACES ever held, anywhere" on Sunday, December 30, featuring "the fastest drag racing machines in the MIDWEST AREA."

The venue: the venerable International Amphitheater at 42nd and Halsted, amid the Southside projects and just a stone's throw from the old Chicago Stockyards where all that famous hog butchering was done. Originally built as a livestock exhibition building in 1934, the cavernous Amphitheater saw its share of bad craziness before it was demolished in 1999; professional wrasslin', Roller Derby, the Beatles. In '68 it played host to the Democratic National Convention that spurred three days of bloody antiwar riots. But nothing like the mayhem of the midwinter drags.

USAC's press release outlined the dimensions: a 440 foot track, lanes 60 feet wide, steel guardrails, a 660 foot shutdown area. What it failed to mention was that the shutdown lane was beyond a pair of pinned-open gym doors, and the low traction surface meant plenty of puckered butts as competitors struggled to keep their cars straight through them. Hundreds of cars entered that first '62 meet, with Richard Myracle of Melrose Park recording best ET of 5.68 in his U/SA '62 Plymouth. Richard Stroening of Wheaton took top speed of 76.26 in a '58 Pontiac.

The next Chicago Indoor Drags took place on January 5, 1964, attracting top area racers like the aforementioned Arnie Beswick and Mr. Norm, who pushed 100 mph in between the Amphitheater's concrete pylons. Unfortunately it would also be the last. Was it because of insurance? Chicago mobsters? Nobody seems to know, but a few photos remain to chronicle the crazy. Enjoy.

 

Man that's cool! And that 32 is one of the nicest i have ever seen!!!! oh and this indoor thing needs to start tomorrow...

 

Unbelievable! This is news to me! Thanks for posting this.

 

Friend of mine has some OG shots of that, I think he was there.

 

I heard about indoor drags in the early 80's. I grew up in a area full of street/drag racers. When the weather got nasty they would all talk about a place near Indiana/Ill that had indoor drags. I never saw any proof, but I wonder if this is what they were talking about. As for the old Packard Plant good luck, it's saddly turning to a pile of rubble. There are some steel mills on Downriver though

 

You Ohio guys have a place, the old GM plant in Moraine Ohio. That would work good I used to go there and work on the paint booths and paint systems in there. Besides you might even get the town to go in with you as Ohio could use the money.

 

WANTED: Building to fill with spectators to watch cars reaching speeds of 100 miles per hour from a standing start. Event prone to unhealthy noise levels and exhaust fumes. Not responsible for skidmarks or oil stains.
Every city official must of been lookin the other way on that day!
You can't even smoke in buildings now a days.