Jive-Bomber submitted a new blog post: The Maine Drag- More Late 50s Race Footage! Continue reading the Original Blog Post
I didn't have the time to watch it all, but, I would take their sea foam green F-100 push truck and add it for our race team!
Many magazine cars in that footage. I notice the lack of skulls, spiders, or rusted body parts. Every car in the film is clean. Surprising how many convertibles were sold in that climate.
Awesome footage, thanks for sharing. Who ever said they didn't run whitewalls to drag should watch this film
Thanks Bomber, I'm with you on this! I spotted square roll bars, a couple of Tyrods, new cars pairing off( just remove the wheel covers) and some carnage. I don't know about the rest of you, but I would sign up for the "way back machine" to this era. Born a little too late, what can you do!!
very cool, years ago I received the Emil Nelson award for perpetuating the hot rodding spirit.... he was in his 60's racing the guys in their 20's... he wore #2 on his bronze '34 coupe with a hemi...because he came in second the year before... a buddy found a "Shaft Twisters plaque, Emil's old club... Portland, Me. I think... letting me store it ! . .
Love my copy of "Cool Cars / Square Roll Bars" by the Shuman bros. I was so stoked when I saw my old '30 coupe as one of a "few cars still racing in the old style" parked at Epping... page 181, pic #5, but only in the hardcover release... I ran a 268" 8BA with a '39 tranny and a '32 rear... chopped 5"... he went sbc... and 6 second eighths.
The first drag race I ever saw (other than up the hill from the house) was at Sanford. I think I made it twice with my dad and older brother before it closed. That was in the sixties...... Great time to be alive and starting to love cars...... Mark
Sanford is 20 miles from the N.H. border. Hardly inside the Arctic Circle as some would think I still have a 1958 schedule on my garage wall and the first race of '58 was May 11 and the last race of '58 was Oct. 12. Raced there many years... many great memories.
Yeah, it's in the far southern tip of Maine down near Kennebunk which means it's really not so far from Boston, Massachusetts. I pulled up the town on Google maps and noticed there's an airport again, though I don't know if it is in the same location as the earlier one that wound up as a drag strip for a while.
yes smoozo, same location.... they are on call for G W BUSH to copter in for his visits to walker's point, said they are paid well for that and they were sorry but we couldn't race... Sanford ME. had an airstrip and a racing friendly town council... get those jalopies off the street.
It closed long before G Bush landed there. They had a reunion there not that long ago I think. I used to buy AV gas there in the early 80's for my bike but my buddies bike caught on fire so no more pulling on the runway. 5 gal cans only. ..... Mark
I'm not gonna call anybody and ask anything. We're onto two different things here Bud, I'm talking about the regular weekly dragracing like the video that started the post.......Mark
Along with Frank Maratta's mystery Mercury, there is also a quick clip of Don Gallant's Gold rush 1927 T roadster. Don is in his late 80's and still has the roadster, as well as Don's Speed Shop in Newington, Ct. The shop is run by Don's youngest son, Paul. Don started the speed shop in 1958.
Guys I,m 75 and the video brings back a lot of pleasant memories. I had a racing friend most likely 10-`15 yrs older and the yellow coupe reminds me of his 29 roadster, flathead powered, rear engine location with a streamlined nose. It would turn around 105 at 13.80 or so. Our car, a 31 pick up with a 303 Olds with severe engine set back about 40% of the wheel base,narrowed rear end 4.44 gear and 2nd and high gear. Quite often we paired up and it was always a close run. Those were the days.
The yellow Model A is a sharp car. Would be similar to the Chrisman Brothers coupe without the 40 Ford hoods for nose. Really period piece. Would love to know the history of it and its whereabouts. Joe
Very cool. Thanks for finding that Jay. I would love to go to the next reunion there if they have one.
Saw a couple of cars I recognized. One is Herb Dreher's orange Model A that I believe was Pontiac powered. There was also two Deuce roadsters;both blue and both heavily channeled. I think one of them belonged to Charlie Greer from Lynnfield Mass and the other one I believe is Paul Fitzgerald's from the Nomads. Can't remember whether that car was ever blue or not though. Great footage@ My first time at Sanford was a couple years later(around 1962)when I got to see the Speed Sport roadster run;a sight(and sound)I will never forget. The last time was June 18th 1964(two days before I went into the Navy. I had put it off to see the match race between Don Garlits and Art Malone. Malone wound up damaging his car(1st run he hit some cones and bent a wheel and the second time he cleaned out the timing lights at the far end). Pete Robinson wound up racing Garlits with his jack car and almost beat Don! He ran an 8 flat 177 mph and Garlits just caught him at the other end with a 7.8 195 mph run. What a run!
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