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

I agree. I love reading the history.

 

Thanks Wrongway 1320, these pics are too cool!

 

No way am I bored. I spent most of my teenage year Weekends and Wednesday Nights at Lions and Lions MX Track (Thursday or Friday Nights? Don't remember). And the other tracks for Big Meets. Remember Ontario? I love hearing stories and seeing pictures of the Drag Strips in So. Cal. back then and are forever gone.
I just wish I had a camera myself back then. Thanks for sharing.

 

I knew I had this pic of Ivo buried in my files....

 

yes. it is 1/2 389, Pontiac needed something to be in the market to
compete for sales with the corvair.
I am build one of these engines.

 

Mazooma1 when you start talking about San Gabe, the Frog pond, Lions, Fontana, Pomona, Irwindale all I do is sit here, cose my eyes and nod my head 'cause I remember all the cars you're talking about. You, Dean, WCD and some of the others keep my memories alive and refreshed. I was there also when the wienie roast took place.

 

Definitely agree with that!

 

Ya know what pisses me off about you guys............................You were there to see it and I wasn't

No offense but I do wish I could have been there and the next best thing is all your stories and memories. So keep them coming and thanks in advance to all of you.

 

I work at Thunder Valley Dragways (Marion, SD) now, but I worked at Empire Dragway when it became Thunderdome...I wish we had a track at the Sioux Empire Fairgrounds again.

Unfortunately, my photos are too new for this thread.

 

Lets not confuse San Gabe with Old San Gabe. If you thought San Gabe was primitive, you should heve seen the original location. The only pavement was the strip itself. Pits, parking and return road were sand and gravel. On good days there was a porta potty. I saw my very first drag race there on Easter Sunday, 1958. Ivo beat Jim Nelson for top eliminator. They ran in the 9's, but as Doug said, it beat the hell out of what passes for drag racing today!

 

Thanks for the Thunder Valley photos you have posted.Here is one I didnt shoot.
Who manages/owns Thunder Valley now.

 

Dean, where was the old San Gabe in relation to the one I probably remember? Not that the later track was much better, no lights in pits, dodging big freaking rocks down there also, dirt mixed with 50 wt oil and water. short shutoff with packed dirt at the end of that, then brush and big boulders to stop ya

 

Dean; thanks for all your great photos & story's don't get me started on primitive tracks like Empire with steel cable guard rails from the finishline to the fence at the 200 ft deep gravel pit. or Thunder Valley with nice uphill shutoff and catchnet to keep cars out of the big ravine.Lions with the Willow Ave return road or cross it to the railroad tracks.Keokuk Ia.400 ft paved shutoff then gravel.Bethany Mo.1/8mile 600ft shut off before the river.Old Eddyville Dragway 1/8mi. about 20 ft wide bridge about 500 ft past finish line (winner had dibs on the bridge) 30 ft wide (fun with 2 cars & 16 ft chutes).
There is lots more but lets remember the fun and not some of the dumb stuff we raced in and on. Anyone that has not gone to Deans Profile page has missed some good stuff.

 

There have been some great heroes on this thread and I bet that Wrongway will soon be declared the latest!

 

Most all of the photos and all the more famous races were from the San Gabriel Valley Drag Strip that we are familiar with that closed in 1963.
One of the few night shots of San Gabe is the one below which was staged for this HRM cover of Tony Nancy's mopar/wedge rail.
This photo was not at a regular event but was set up purposefully for the magazine.
Nicely done, too.



San Gabriel was my first strip, the first time I ever saw a "match race", first jet car with a J-47 Westinghouse engine out of a fighter and there was even a guy using hydraulic jacks to lower the car on the starting line long before "Sneaky Pete" did it.
Lots of weird new stuff and for good reason.
Timing.
This was 1961-63 and there were already "tried and proven" setups, so this was a perfect age for guys trying wacky stuff like the hydraulic jacks, three-wheeled cars and chain driven "sidewinders". For you guys that don't know a "sidewinder" is a car where the engine is rear-mounted and turned sideways and the engine powered the rear axle via a chain.

the Ellis-Wilton car


I can't remember this fella's name. One way to think about it, I guess, if there was a crash, he'd be the first person at the location.

 

A few from the 64 Winternationals. Hope You all enjoy

 

R W Ohio,
Those Pontiacs were half of a 389, listed at 195ci?
Here are a few more. I may have posted some these
before. The last is a recent photo from Bonneville,
just to show these engines are still being ran hard!

 

More Pomona 64

 

Glen Rapp still owns it.
Darrell Lindner from Yankton is the manager.
I am the announcer, and try to take as many photos as I can get away with.
I have been known to announce from the starting line with the camera in hand.

 

S/SA at Pomona 64

 

My Voice has rattled the trees there a few times but not for a long while some folks used to refer to me as WINDBURN out there.Hi to all in SE South Dakota. My last trip there was probably 1990

 

Jay, I want to say the first San Gabe track was north west of the second track. I couldn't pin point the location now if I had to. I remember we drove up Rivergrade Road, and turned off to the left before we got to Foothill Blvd.

This is San Gabe, '63.

 

This shot shows the very well lit pits off to the left.

 

And here's some unknown guy on a Saturday afternoon at San Gabe.

 

Same guy, same day, at the other end of the track.

 

Very cool pict of Ivo. Notice the marshmellow's and hot dogs on sticks above his head. Many know, but incase not, this was done in humor/sarcasm when match racing jet dragsters. The theory being the jets were so hot they'd roast the dogs and marshmellow's. Typical of Ivo and his wit.

 

A little Fuel Car Action at Pomona 1964 Winternats

 

Hey Dean did Boyd Change cars between rounds or did the edit job get a little off we know Al Yates would never make that mistake. Boyd drove the blown Chryser smog town rat not the injected Chev shown in the bottom picture

 

all San Gabriel............................

 

and this one just because I like it...