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

Mazooma, I never tire of your stories, you were there, all I got to do was read about it as a kid. I love listening to the people that were there.

 

Here's a shot of Willy at the Beach

 

Lefty M at Lions 3/63

 

By the looks of this I better call it a Day

 

Two different nights, two different Jr. Eliminator challengers. Jungle Larry beat Boyd 2 out of three in the first photo, and he beat Mike Sirokin two straight after Mike won the first round. I thought the captions were clear.

 

Damn, I want one of those Speed Sport scoops bad!!!!!

 

I concur. Those scoops remind me of the look given off by a Korean era jet fighter-makes the car look mean and purposeful.

 

You can tell by the fans donning their jackets that it was cold that day. San Gabriel Valley is either cold or hot, rarely do the "sea beezes" reach there. The records that were established at San Gabe are a testament to its track surface. Unlike Lions that had oxygen rich damp air at its disposal most of the time, San Gabe racers were generally fraught with dry, arid conditions.

 

Exactly what city was the San Gabe track in?

 

Don't say anything about a camera or it'll get you clustered. Trust me, I made that mistake last week. Tom S. in Tn.

 

Baldwin Park

yellow dot: location for San Gabriel Drag Strip (technically, "San Gabriel Valley Drag Strip")

blue dot (lower map): location for Irwindale Drag Strip (1965-177)

 

Doug, is the 6th car from the bottom the Greek?

 

Thanks for the Maps Doug. I like to get a perspective on locations. My wife and I went down to 223rd and Alameda when we were in LA last summer for no reason other to say we were at the hallowed grounds of Lions.

I guess I'm just weard that way.

 

sweet

 

Yes, he was there racing Garlits this day, or maybe this day. None of these photos are mine. I do remember one day when The Greek, Garlits and Ivo were all there the same day...this might have been that day. The Greek didn't travel out here all that often.
This was the day that "The Animal" competition coupe was there. The nastiest coupe ever. That thing looked like it would smack you across the head for just walking by it in the pits. Dark red paint, major chopped Bantam, full bodied car. My absolute fave car back then.

 

I found some photos of Bill Traylor's "The Animal" that I mentioned in the above post: wicked....





and at Lions

 

The same fella, Bill Trayler went on to have a rear-engined dragster made with a streamliner body.
The car, for several reasons, was never competitive but still lives in the rafters of a garage.
Dave Stuckey built the car.
Traylor died at 36 of a rare illness.



l

 

Eyes not clear yet this morning ? No is just some blurry old images from way back when at Lions.

 

Knew about this match race from an article in a 1964 Drag News but no photo's were published until I spotted yours this morning. That's Harrell Aymx driving the dragster that I have owned for over 20 years and brought to the CHRR along with the Coleman rear engine 6 years ago. Thanks for sharing some great photo's over the last few day.

 

Pretty sad what's there now, eh?

 

I shot this just last year at 223rd and Alameda where Lions was. You can't see whats there but it's a huge, hundreds of acres of truck depot for cargo coming from the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles all headed for a Walmart near you.



this photo by Don Gillespie better shows it all. I believe that's Rod McCarrell standing there,,,



Irwindale is now a brewery



this electric facility was San Gabriel



this dot is where the old wood Fontana sign was 45 years ago





just for giggles. this was Ed Roth's shop on Slauson in Maywood. This is where I got the sweatshirt that is my avatar today 50 years ago on my 11th birthday (50 YEARS AGO! Damn some day I'm gonna get old)



and here's HAMBer Tody Denham in front of it last June after going inside to see if anyone had some rolling papers



here's the rolling hills of Legion Ascot Speedway



and today, a public park



Don Nicholson's Speed Shop in 1953



and today with my heap in front



and the Roth, Baron and Kelley shop on Atlantic in South Gate, late 50's.
That's a topless "Big Daddy"



and today:



I have more but I'm getting off-topic................

 

No Beave, he's not getting off-topic, he's just channeling the past, or Pat Ganahl, whichever comes first. Your mileage may vary.

 

#30423;
" 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. "


Could it have been the Cook Bros., Jahns, and Hedges entry driven by Jeff Jahns?
*Just a guess........... Tom S.

(*photo image thanks to NHRA.com, and to Steve Gibbs who actually identified this one.)

 

Minnesota Dragways 1962

 

lets try again

 

and again

 

one more time

 

again we try

 

Some more from July 62 Minnesota Dragways

 

my, how much fun does that look like?