I went to the Half Moon Bay "Dream Machine" car/plane show on Sunday. They had a section devoted to a reunion of old front engine dragsters and gassers that used to race there at the Half Moon Bay Drag Strip back in the '60s. I figured these are pretty "HAMB friendly" and some of you on here might like seeing these. I hear that Half Moon Bay was considered a really fast track in its day, because the air was cold and dense being so close to the ocean, so the engines made more power there. It was sure cold and windy last Sunday. I wonder if they used to race with the wind behind them or in their face? They had old planes taking off every few minutes there. Taking off into 30 mph winds looks too easy.
I have a Half Moon Bay Tee shirt. Just about wore that puppy to death. Got LOTS of comments on it. Great looking cars.
They raced back toward the town of Half Moon bay. Generaly north to south on a taxiway that parrelled the main runway. I have a program that I saved from the 1958 HMB Championship Drags with a picture of my roadster (see left) on the strip.
My Buddy Pete and I ran John Mor's (MorDrop Axles)Dragster in the early 60's. We went to Half Moon Bay many times, and almost always took home money, usually ended up racing super stocks like Tommy Groves,(Melrose Missle) Can't remember all the names. The dragster was powered by a Pontiac Slant 4 (Half of a 421) with Algon Injectors, on Fuel. Ran consistently around 130 MPH and 11 Flat (If I remember right)
Half Moon Bay was also fast because of the low altitude -- lots of air, the wind usually came from the side. The noise was also intense because it echoed off the hills. In the old days it was pretty rural, so few noise complaints. When the area grew, the pissing and moaning about noise ultimately caused the track to shut down. The shut-off area was limited, and some guys ran into the ocean or the creek at the end -- Bob Haines almost drowned but he was wearing a bubble face shield which had just enough air to keep him breathing until the rescue crew got there. Denny Milani perished when the chute failed and he ran into a ditch next to the shutoff. It was a great track, though, and we lost a lot when it closed.
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