History Anybody want to see some stuff from "Minnesota Dragways" from the early 60's?

Newsletter 7 - September 2 & 3, 1962

 

This is what started this whole thing. In 1961, a friend and I decided we wanted to go drag racing. Unfortunately, we were two broke college students, working part time at a couple of the local supermarkets. We didn't let that stop us, so we decided to build ourselves a race car. To say we were on a budget is being generous. We got the car put together and towed it to Minnesota Dragways. There, to our shock, we found out we needed some safety equipment. Even though this blew up our budget, we persevered, and ended up with a car that was NHRA legal for that time. We raced one year and had a pretty good time and even trophied a time or two. I had great plans for the next year, but alas, my partner dropped out of school, got married, and started a family (not necessarily in that order).

A couple of weeks ago, I had lunch with my partner in that car and asked him if he had anything left from our "Racing Days". The other day, I received an envelope from him with some pictures and miscellaneous junk from him. There were some pictures, a bunch of newsletters from Minnesota Dragways. In case there is still some interest in this old crap, I thought I'd post some of what I received. The pictures are from 1961, before the car was completed. After we got it going, we painted it with red oxide primer, and had a friend who was a pretty good artist add lettering and numbers. I have also included a scan of a newsletter printed when we had won a trophy (11th from the bottom in the right column). I have also included a couple bits of paper where we were keeping track of what we had spent on our endeavor. Yes, That's right $20 for a complete "roller" '36 five window.

We ended up with about $200 in the car, most of that for safety equipment (roll-bar, scatter-shield, and safety hubs). We ran a '41 Merc engine with a set of finned aluminum heads and a Tattersfield dual intake. I honestly don't remember what we did for an exhaust. I made my own top for the "divers-helmet" so we could run a conventional coil. Best time was 16.44 in the quarter.

 

I might need a little help here. When I upload the scans as ".jpg"s, they are hardly legible. When I up load them as ".pdf"s, they are clear and easy to read, but can't be displayed inline. Is there a better way to do this?

The Newsletter in the last post is what I get if I upload it as a ".jpg". As you can see, it is a;most impossible to read.

 

Thanks for posting. 3a has a mention of “ the pretty blue altered of the Nobles” I was at that meet. I remember my dad saying that the car filled with smoke and had a hard time seeing. Car lost to Champion Auto Stores “Peanuts” Thanks for posting

 

"nochop" - The pictures you posted bring back a lot of memories. Especially the pictures of the trophies; the "plating" on them started to peel on the way home from the dragstrip, it seemed. I don't think they spent a lot on trophies (especially when "Top Eliminator" paid the princely sum of $25).

 

Thanks, talk about memories, seeing the altered in print and being referred to as “ a pretty little car” was neat

 

A couple of things of that may be of interest to you Minnesota guys, especially the ones from the western suburbs. The original car and most of the parts (engine and "speed equipment") came from Carmichiels Auto Parts (read : junkyard) in Excelsior Minnesota. The yard was run by Jim Carmichiel and his brother Bruce. The Carmichiel boys were a few years older than us and took a real interest in what we were doing. The reason we were able to get into this so cheap is that Jim took care of us and even allowed us into the bus body behind the office where he kept his "goodies".

Also, any of you guys who raced there during that time should check out the third page of the newsletters. There is a complete list of all of the "Trophy Winners" from the previous week. I found several familiar names of guys I knew back then who I didn't know that even raced.

 

Thought I would add this just for fun, Champion Auto Peanut

 

In color

 

Cool beans

 

heres some cool Minnesota dragways photos

 

From Minn. Dragways, 1968 or so.

 

Another oldies from MN Dragways. Richard Charbonneau's car. I believe car won A/S at Nationals. I may be incorrect, usually am. Don't care. (not my original photo.)

 

Cool story. I wonder if that sort of thing happens today. Costs, lack of general knowledge, fixation on computers, etc. probably keep young guys from having a great experience and learning too. I spent many happy hours at Minnesota Dragways. Dragstrips are closing everywhere. Latest one near where I am now the former Moroso Motorsports park, later known as Palm Beach International raceway.

 

here are a few new pics i got from a buddy he took in 1960

 

Ahhh! Ya' got me there! Two of my all time favorites Bob McGinley's "The Scag" and the '33 Continental Beacon. Both great runners.

Does anyone else think that "The Scag" on the radiator front looks like Rocky Dennis? I wonder if kids these days are even familiar with that term?