Peterson Memorial Dragway

Aloha,
Anyone ever been to a 60's dragstrip named Peterson Memorial Dragway. It was located in Tipton Pa. near Altoona. It was on a small runway.
Shaka, Big Al

 

yep, been there years ago. small locally owned air strip

 

Aloha,
It was a great facility. It fell victim of greedy owners. Too bad.
Big Al

 

I had a bunch of pics from there stored on my computer.......and I suppose you know what I'm gonna say next. If you're interested though I can get them from some friends that went there and raced there.

 

Aloha Andamo,
Been to Sarver a few times to Lernerville Speedway. Your avatar sure looks like Harry Luzaders coupe. You must have been to Pittsburgh International Dragway back in the day. Don't worry about the pictures. Tempus fuget! Big Al

 

Al,
In fact I live about 3 miles from Lernerville and it's been years since I was at that place. Drag racing now has consumed my life.
Yep, that's Harry's coupe all right. I watched Harry race that coupe many a time at PID and Quaker City. A fellow owns Harry's coupe now and it just sits in his body shop about 5-6 from Harry's house. Harry has tried buying the car many times over the years but the fellow doesn't want to sell. I think it's a waiting game now and if the fellow dies, maybe Harry can get it then.
If you look on this website you'll see the car I help out on now. www.mindsciencemotorsports.com

 

I visited Peterson Memorial Dragway numerous times. I have a few pics and a trophy that was won on the opening day. Two of my friends that raced there continue to race in the Nostalgia Super Stock Races in PA, MD, NJ, NY, and OH.

 

hahah... Never expected to be reading about Peterson's on the HAMB. I grew up about a mile from Peterson's in Tipton, PA. I would hang out there all the time. I wasn't old enough to participate but as a young kid would hang out and try to learn from the oldtimers. By the time I was old enough to drive and have my own vehicle it was already shut down. Even after it was closed, all the young hot rodders would hang out there and race. The authorities seemed to overlook the activities. I would guess it was shut down in the late 70's ?? maybe early 80's?

 

Aloha,
Glad to hear that Peterson is still alive in our minds. 48cad, take a trip up to Jack White Signs in Altoona, he ran the strip in it's dying days. That strip had some great shows. Jungle Jim, Grumpy Jenkins, great funny car shows, and super stock shows with a ton of cars.
Andamo, that Luzader coupe is my all time favorite 32. That dude that owns it doesn't realize that it's not really his. Selfish. I remember Harry's Opal too. Cars don't belong in places that just collect dust. Imua, Al

 

Damn!

Remember both the track and Harry when he ran the Opal! My cousin ran a sbf altered both there and at Keystone. Hope I don't butcher the spelling but also Jimmy Evanuic and the mustang/pinto, Walt Syler (sp), Ed Matsko, Joe Minert, "Slippery" Bob Stape, Carl Shoddy , and too many that I've forgotten. Have a bunch of pics from the 1969'-mid 80's at Keystone. Pic of me in the right lane at Keystone on a nice warm spring day!

Bill

 

Aloha,
The racing back then was like the "golden age of drag racing". Just check out "Ingenuity in Action" on youtube. All you needed was an open trailer, a jack, and a tool box with a timing light. We used the same engine for years. no need for racing gas, blue Sunoco. Not polluted like todays gas. Most all the cars were built and not bought. Today's cars are faster, safer, better, but expensive. Many of those tracks are gone. I had fun.

Imua, Big Al

 

Jim Evanuik, Walt Syler, Ed Matsko still race in the Stock and Super Stock classes. Joe Meinert's son Jake races a dragster in the brackets and Joe is at all the cruises with his full custom Olds. Unfortunately Carl Schodde passed away 2 years ago, but his son Carl Jr. occasionally races in the Stock class. The name Bob Stape I recognize, but don't know him or his car.

Oh yeah, Harry Luzader still has the Opel stashed away somewhere. I think the story goes the motor let go on a pass and Harry put it away broken.

 

Aloha,
Who was the guy with the "Steel City Wedge" Mopar. Harry's Opal would make a great nostalgia racer. Big Al

 

Carl Schodde owned and tuned the Steel City Wedge cars. A fellow who has a body shop north of Pittsburgh found the '63 car and restored it to how Carl raced it back when. A few years ago a match race was lined up at the Flashlight Drags we have in the area between Carl's son driving the Plymouth against the original Old Reliable Z11 Chevy that was Dave Stricklers old car. Don Fezell now owns the car and brought it out for the event. Carl Sr. suffered many years with Alzheimer's Disease and was at the event. He seemed to have a good time, but it was sad also to see this man who I feel epitomized drag racing in the Pittsburgh area just wasting away. I still think of him and still miss him.

 

Bunch of old pictures of Peterson in my build thread "Bad Banana Resurrection" link below

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=501366

That car was a tough D-E gasser there in '68-'69

 

Aloha,
Amazing, Mahalo for all the cool information about Peterson. By the way, Mr.Peterson was an aviation engineer and actually quite famous among those aircraft pioneers of his time. I only knew him as a troublesome old geezer in my youth. I never expected to get so much entertainment from this thread. You guys have certainly filled in some dusty old corners of my mind.
Imua , Big Al

 

Have to dig out the pics!! "Steel City Wedge" remember it well.. I can still see Carl in his chino's and moc's!! That guy never had a grease stain or dirty cloths on when he raced. I remember when he lost the collector extension during a burnout.. damn thing looked like it rusted off!! I don't remember the blue on the car, though. Remember it being mostly white.
Stape ran a purple/mottled 63/64 mopar. Moved to Florida, I believe, in the late 70's. I can also remember Ed Matsko's wife wearing those go-go boots ala Jungle Pam..

Bill

 

Bill,
Yes, the one car of Schodde's that I remember also was the white with fogging and don't remember this color combo. The one you and I remember was painted by Greg of Akron who in his time painted many of the Tri-State, and national, drag cars.
Also, Isabel Matsko doesn't wear the go-go boots anymore, but she still sticks with the
60's boufant hairdo ! Her and Ed are inseperable at the races and make quite the pair.

Every February there is a PID Reunion banquet and all the old PID/Keystone racers show up. Last year the place had over 300 people and Bill Truby, who took many photos at both tracks, puts up many, many pics of both places.
Anyone here remember Skyline drag strip near New Castle or Nu-Be drag strip near New Bethlehem ?

 

Andamo, any chance you might find those pics from Petersons? I'm new to the forum hope you get this. I'm particularly interested in a 1962 Dodge station wagon that my dad raced there. It was a white car with blue stripes on the roof, similar to the Ramchargers scheme. The car was extremely strong in the super stock class there winning the class regularly in the late 60's and early 70's. He sold that car around 72 and race a yellow 68 Barracuda with the same driveline in that car until 75. It was a 343hp 383 combo. Wish we had the car today!

 

Unfortunately I lost all those pics in a computer mishap a while back. But I have some sources and have already asked them to send the pics along. I have a friend, Steve Reasbeck, that lives out your way and spent a lot of time at Peterson. Steve is a Mopar person so I'll get in contact with him also.

 

That's ok, Steve is a good friend of ours as well, we run the nostagia circuit with them. Thanks, I was hoping maybe to hit a new avenue, as big a strip as Petersons was in the day there just aren't alot of pictures left around.

 

I contacted another friend and he has them..........somewhere. When I get them, I get them to you somehow.

 

Thanks! if you do look at them I might have had the color scheme reversed, the car may have been blue with white stripes down the roof. I was only 5 and can't completely remeber the car. I'm trying not to ask my dad to many questions as we are trying to find something we can get printed and framed as a gift sometime.

 

Ok Guys..

I finally got some photo's loaded to post.. Starting with the earliest, being I believe 1970.. Will also post a couple pics of Harry and Carl's cars..







Harry lined up against "Slippery" Bob Stape..

 

Those were all taken at old Keystone Raceway....I remember most of them. At that time, KRP was sanctioned by NAAR (National Assoc for Auto Racing), a small, shortlived northeastern outfit that sanctioned a few tracks, including Richmond Dragway. Those shots were taken at one of their Ultra Stock points events...I see so many familiar names. Thanks for posting!

 

Hey Steve..

Remember you and your car very well.. Remember this??







and my old "Toad"

 

"The Alaskan"





Marv Ripes A-1

 

Man....I sure do! From the long closed Richland Mall....many, many years back. That's Denny Horner's GTX....four speed car, pretty quick. I also see Ray Riley's late brother inspecting the Coal Duster alongside Denny Wingard's Falcon. Denny Horner moved to Florida, I've lost track of him. Thanks so much for posting those!! Man, a lot of memories.

 

Technically, I don't think (and never did) Denny Horner's car was actually a GTX. It has a '66 grille, and the first year for a GTX was 1967.

IMHO