History 1962 NASCAR WinterNationals in Florida

I'm searching for any articles documenting the short lived NASCAR WinterNationals held in Florida in the early 60's.

I work with a fellow who ran a dragster there. He had a couple magazines with photos and results, but all his vintage collection was lost in a house fire many years ago.

I would like to identify which mags ran articles, and then locate copies to give to him.

 

Rich
Is that where they ran for the whole week?

 

That could be true...I just don't know. Years ago I had a Mid Eastern Drag News that had some info, and my friend thinks that Hot Rod ran a story. I have a complete set of Hot Rods, and haven't been able to find anything on the event. Not surprising that Wally wouldn't be talking about NASCAR in Hot Rod when he was president of NHRA.

 

NASCAR drags were at Spruce Creek, in Port Orange, Fl.
SuperStock and Drag illustrated covered the events.

Mark

 

Rich, have you talked to Jack Redd ?

 

Thanks guys...is Jack here on the HAMB?

 

Rich, you have a PM.

 

Thanks to Andamo, Bill Ritter and Chas Knight who have sent PM's.

Don't think that I'll have all the info...feel free to add your info or history to this thread.

 

Rich,

Like you I have a large collection of mags. I have gone through most of them many time doing research for the Super Stock Reunions and there is very little coverage of the NASCAR sanctioned drag races. I do believe that Wally Parks had something to do with it. He teamed up with Bill France for the 1960 Winternationals. I have never heard who called who but the partnership ended after that year's joint venture and the NHRA Winternationals were started in Pomona in 1961. An interesting story about the joint venture in 1960 came from Arnie Beswick at last year's Super Stock Reunion. Arnie had a new 1960 Pontiac Super Stocker and won that class. I was curious how he transported it from Morrison Illinois to Daytona. I asked him if he tow bared it or if he was already using a trailer. "I drove it there" was his answer. "Me and my crew put a road gear in it, drove it there, put a 4.88 in, won the race and put the road gear back in and drove it home". It is absolutely thrilling to bench race with Arnie. He has the same passion for drag racing as he did 50 years ago. Oh, by the way, he repeated the same feat in 1961.

 

there were runoffs all week.the famous Garlits-Wally Parks incident happened in 1960,at the Nascar Winternationals.I believe that incident alone was the reason that NHRA and Nascar never again "hooked up".

 

Mr france also ran drags during the night on the back straight, This happened during speedweeks in Feb,, He used a large search light to illuminate. It was wild.. art arfonds brought a 57 ply 4 dr with a jet engine and made some runs, One of the reasons was after the beach coarse was closed the fans could not run their cars thru the flying mile. Big Bill recieved 10 dollars for each timed run. So Bill being Bill saw money and subed drag races.. most every one who participated in the drags drove to Daytona from many far away places..

 

I've had several good HAMBers point me in the direction, but to date I've not come up with anything spacific to the 1962 event.
I was able to sit down with my co-woker and pick his brain. His name is Roy Roach, and he's lived in Duluth Georgia all his life. The 1962 NASCAR drag races were held on the back straight as k9racer mentioned in his post. Roy ran a Chevy powered A/Dragster. He believes he has one photo that wasn't destroyed in the house fire, and will try to find it so I can scan and post it.

If anyone has info on the '62 Speed Week that includes the drag racing, please post or PM me.

 

Man this is an old thread but I'll revive it.

Yes, they ran all week. I have two of the Middle Eliminator trophies from the 1962 NASCAR Winternationals. They are beautiful trophies, sturdy metal and marble. pictures coming

 

This is the car that won overall Middle Eliminator for the week and won ME for 6 of the 7 days.

The second pic is two of the daily trophies. I will post a better pic of the trophies tonight.

 

I have been researching for information about NASCAR drag racing. I am not finished but here is what I have found so far. Bill France's first attempt at organizing drag races at Daytona during Speed Week was on the beach in 1956. The drag races took place after the one mile runs. It didn't go over very well due to the lack of traction but the turnout was good and France saw the potential. The next race I have found was in 1960 when NHRA and NASCAR organized the Winternationals. I am still researching to find out if NASCAR or any other organization held drag races at Daytona during Speed Weeks between '57 and '60. NASCAR did hold drag races at Daytona after co-founding the Winternationals with NHRA in 1960 and used other tracks in the area other than the Speedway. Flagler Beach and Deland are two sites. Ed Otto was in charge and Bob Osiecki was involved. I believe this was after Osiecki closed Chester Drag Strip at the end of the 1960 season. I have found no information that NASCAR sanctioned other tracks or events other than Daytona until 1965. NASCAR got heavily involved with drag racing in '65 and it probably was due to their ban on the Chrysler Hemi and the Ford SOHC in Stock Car racing and them not knowing how much it would effect their spectator turnout. Bill Jr. was given the task of making a go of drag racing but the next year was told he would be running NASCAR soon so he gave up promoting drag racing.
I hope to find the missing information I am looking for. What I find will be in the book I am writing "The Greatest Drag Race: The True Story of The '65 Super Stock Nationals" out in 2015 as we mark the 50th anniversary of that unbelievable race. I am still looking for unpublished photos of that race.

 

1962 NASCAR MIDDLE ELIMIMINATOR TROPHY

 

Bttt

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I was at a race there at Spruce Creek but it was later then that. That was really out in the boonies back then. I cant remember for sure but it seems like 63. {too many beers}I was also at the one at Deland airport during the 67 Speedweeks. That's was the single greatest drag race Ive ever been too. We flat towed our K/S 283/185 59 Biscayne there with my new GTO 400/360 HO {yes the tow car was faster then the race car}. It was colder then a well diggers rear end too. Won class in a heavy fog, the 59 would hook on snot.

 

I have a good friend that has told me stories about racing on the backstretch at Daytona and working on a car that won all 7 nights in a row. I saw this and sent it to him, he is not on the HAMB. It was the car that thunderplex posted the pic's of. The car was driven by Charles Gault. My friend, his brother and another guy were the crew, they were from Birmingham. They raced in Miami, went to the week long race at Daytona, then to the race in Phenix. Unfortunately, Charles passed away last Sunday.
He thinks he may have some timing slips from the race, going to see if he can find them.

 

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Wayne I was under the impression that Roy Milligan drove the car in 62. The car was also driven by Bo Bradey when charlie owned it also. I still have the 3 and half stroke crank out of the power plant of that car, It ran high dear only times were just under 10 sec at 150 mph. Milligan Who died in 1975 was the president of the Sportsman Hot Rod club Bham alabama.. Thanks for posting. I will add about the Vigorlube on the side later.... Bobby..

 

thunderplex. Just to add a little more about the car. The class the car raced in was A/R before the combined with the altered classes. The car was built by Ken Scott of Selma Alabama in 1959.

 

K9 I can tell you with great detail about the birth of the Agitator as I was there for the finish of the build, the first run the car ever made and the Daytona speed week drag races in 1962. Ken Scott had nothing to do with the building of the car. Charlie Gault purchased the frame and fiberglass body from Calif. the engine was built and the car put together in a shop just off Lomb Ave around 15th - 16th street on the West side of Birmingham. The three people who did most of the work were Charlie, Frank Stafford (my brother), and Bo Bradey. The car was not built in 59, but in the fall of 1961. Charlie drove the car the first half of 62 and did all the driving for the meet in the Miami area, the races at the Daytona Speedway, and the Phonex race which was just after the Daytona races and on our way back to Birmingham. The first runs the car ever made were at the new at the time Lassiter Mountain Dragway which they let us use to shake down the car. I have 8mm movies of the first run the car ever made and the race in Miami the week before Daytona. The races at Daytona were at night so do not have movies of those. I remember 5 nights not 7 but could be wrong. I also have 8mm movies of the Phonex meet. My brother Frank and Charlie were in business together for many years and a good friend call and told me Charlie had passed away on this last Sunday. I have lived in the Dallas, TX area for the last 34 years. Both Bo and Roy did drive the car. Charlie's wife Elisabeth never liked Charlie driving the car. Charlie got together with Scott a little later, late 62 - 63 and they had a fuel dragster. I do have a time sheet and driver list from the 62 Daytona race.

 

Rich - the same Roy Roach that delivers his gifts in Mason jars? Man, you know some characters. Please tell Roy that Vic from Rocketsports in 1986 says hi.

vic

 

J staff I got my info on ken and the car from a post on the Alabama Auto Racing Pioneers site the Roy Milligan section . It was a post Made by Charles Gault him self. I spent a few hours at the shop off Lomb blvd. I think I was frank who talked us into cutting up the Henry J to make a strip only car. I also like to watch Poncho do his paint work. the last I heard about the car was the roll cage was on top of the office of Dixie Motor and Transmission co and that Bo had the car.Thanks for your post.. Bobby

 

K9 it was a lot of years ago but I know the time line because I had just done my 6 months active duty Alabama National Guard and got back to Birmingham the week before Thanksgiving 61. I had purchased a 8mm movie camera just before leaving Fort Jackson, SC and that is what I used to make the movies. Funny story when we left Daytona we were offered show money to go to Phonix. They had a brand new timing light system installed for the event. Timing lights were a big deal back then and they had a set of lights set up to get speed ( a speed trap ) so they could get both ET and Speed. Before the race started we fired up for a practice run and Charlie let the car drift across the center line and he took out the first set of lights on the speed trap. To say they were not happy with us would be an understatement!! Charlie, Frank, Bo, David Douglas, Howard Dunn, myself and some other guys were all from the Ensley, and West side of Birmingham. We had a Hot Rod Club the Asphalt Angles which started out meeting in a barn behind my Grandfathers house then we rented a shop in down town Ensley. We started drag racing in the mid 50's motorcycles, and cars, Charlie had a 49 Ford with 3, two barrel carbs. First races were at a dirt strip just outside Bessemer, and then a dirt strip in Helena ( later paved).

 

This is the first time I've seen this picture from the Phonex meet. I've got some 8mm movies I shot that day got to get some of that old film put on CD's. They were giving away trophies ever night at Daytona plus we won the Chrysler Trophy for overall ME winner. We were staying in some cottages behind a Bar in Daytona Beach. Each night we would come to the Bar and put the Trophies up. When we left at the end of the week we had some much stuff, racing helmets, quick change rear ends, etc. we just took the Chrysler Trophy about 4 1/2' high a few of the others and left most with the Bar owner.

 

j staff I guess you know about the alabama auto racing pioneers. If you are not a member join. I knew a lot of from ensley. ray Putnam showed me how to weld. MC people like Ed stafford and driver and rider of all trades Pat suewl. Saw many street drag races at the mile and coleburg, I even watched MC races at Roberts field. Now back to the subject of photos from flagler field and daytona. Edie Roch purchased all of Bobby 5X5 Days arcive. Call him and he will help you out. I could tell gault stories for days like when he went to school in montgomery.

 

I have two of the six trophies he won that week in 1962...

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K9, I froze my butt off many a night standing on the side of the road at Coleburg. My brother Frank got arrested out there one night during one of the many police raids. My Dad had to go get him out of jail at 2:00am in the morning. Dad was not happy! In a previous post you used the name Poncho for Frank. My brother Frank had taken Spanish in High School and that nickname was put on him then. A lot of us had nicknames mine was "Huck". Charlie G put than on me because I was the Kid brother and after the character Huckleberry Finn. Charlie never call me anything else, even when I was 50 - 60 years old. Roberts Field was about 4 blocks from my Grandfathers house in "Shadeside" We raced motorcycles there in the early to mid 50's. There was an oval and a TT track. We all rode English bikes, Trumph's, BSA's, Nortons. Charlie G had an Indian which he damn near got killed on. Ed Stafford made it big time, even rode one summer in England on the ovals. Ed came back to the States and had a terrific crash on the ovals somewhere up north, damn near lost his leg. Ed was on crutches and then a walking cane for a while and that ended his dirt oval career. I had a 59 Triumph Bonneville until about 5 years ago, I'm now 75 and my MC days are over.