Nick, that's Mike Sorokin in the seat of the Surfers Top Fueler after winning $2500.00 at Mickey Thompson's "200 MPH Meet". Mick
BBC at Fontana circa 1963 I drove my roadster up to the interviewer (as planned) and explained that this is a hot rod 1929 Ford Roadster with a 1963 Chevrolet fuel injected engine and a 1953 Cadillac 4-speed transmission. I don't know if it "made the cut".
Starting at Colton and Fontana This is a photo of the Gas Roadster my partner and I ran mainly at Colton and Fontana in the early 60s. It's the remainder of my first car (truck), a 1931 Model A Pickup. It was fun. It wasn't that competitive. Colton used a flagman in those days. In fact, I think that led to the 38 top eliminators that John Bradley had in one year in the late 50s. We later found out that one of the starters, for a six-pack, would raise the flag when you left. (When drag racing, I have always waited to see the other car's taillights before I left. That's probably why I switched to Land Speed Racing.) Fontana implemented a system that I thought was the very best for its time, even in some cases better than the Christmas Tree. What it was is that you got right up to the starting line, and when the starter saw you were both ready (you nodded), he put the flag pole's top down on the ground onto a switch that lit a hanging Yellow Light. When he raised the flag off the switch, a Green Light came on. Neato! Still had a flagman -- cooler to watch. I still think could be the best, but I'm old and silly.
The Jalopy Journal
