Very Cool - as you well know, the "Islands Paradise Dreaming" is contagious - photos would have been great - perfect for Gray Baskerville - article says the t-shirts, etc were available at car show - true collectors items
I think it's amazing that the editor of Hot Rod was so important at the time that when he vacationed to Hawaii, the newspaper felt compelled to let the people know about it. Hell, I have no idea who the editor of Hot Rod is right now... nor do I give two shits about where he vacations...
Thought Ray’s island connection was Jimmy Phulger (spelling?) the local Ford dealer and hot rodder. I know that long time Petersen writer and LA Roadster Club member Dick Scritchfield retired to the islands.
I would guess he had a number of connections on the islands... You can rack up car pals pretty quickly here because the community is so small.
imagine that you have been doing a lot of online researching for events in Hawaii - like on You Tube: Drag Racing at Hawaii Raceway Park in the 60's - found a movie HAO WELA (Hot Metal) = The Untold Story of Hot Rodding in Hawaii - available on Amazon - but, most is OT cars - some short interviews with old time legends - could not find anything more on '64 Hawaii Show/Racing with Ray Brock, etc
I just watched Hao Wela on Youtube, it was an interesting video. I didn't realize there was that much racing in Hawaii. There was a mention of Jerry Unser, and how he'd ship his car there every year to race.
Here’s some I found in the Barris Archive..there is a bunch more but these are the ones uploaded to Barriskustomcity.com
The custodian of Hawaii Raceway Park was a pal of mine, and our neighborhood was maybe ten minutes away from the industrial park where it was located. He had the keys to the gate, and permission to be there ... This was in the early seventies. It was not unusual for us to arrive with a small handful of cars along with a few cases of ice-cold Primo, and spend an afternoon "testing", while my pal did some "chores".
When Jerry Unser, Jr. was in the Navy and stationed at Pearl Harbor, he'd race at the Hula Bowl downtown Honolulu. Reportedly, he won a lot of races and one championship there. Rumor was, the track had a bounty on him, to see if anyone could stop his winning ways. That was before my family got there, so I never got to see him race in Hawaii. In the 1950's, the track at the old Hula Bowl was a sanctioned NASCAR facility.
The Jalopy Journal
