My Mom sent me some pictures today that she took in 1961 in Redding, CA at a drag race. Here is what she said about the pictures. That's all I know. Enjoy! Here are the pictures I have of the 1961 summer drags in Redding...the car is a bantam owned by Al Blomquist and Bill Lyman. Dad is looking on in one picture and Larry Addison is watching them work in the other one.
Irish ... cool pics ... thanks for sharing! I didn't even know that there was a dragstrip in "the Ding" back in the '60s ... but sho 'nuff, here's a blurb from their website: About the Redding Dragstrip "It was about 1948 when local hot rodders, including Roger Whipp, first sought a safe place to drag race their cars, and in Roger’s words, “…offer encouragement to be legal”. That search lead to the dusty but straight abandoned runways at Redding Airport. With support from community elders, including the mayor, city council and newspaper editor, some who enjoyed racing themselves or whose young teenagers showed interest in hot rods, is where the meager beginnings of a long, grassroots history of the Shasta Roadsters and Redding Drag Strip began." Today, we are the oldest continuously operating NHRA drag racing facility in United States. Redding Drag Strip signed up in the Fall of 1955 to become an officially sanctioned NHRA track, and has run ever since. In the early 1960s, the Redding Dragstrip became the place to race for locals and other Northern California events. Early films have been converted to video: <object width="660" height="525"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/T50o104twzA&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/T50o104twzA&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="660" height="525"></embed></object>
bump for the 4:20 crowd Check out the barbell weights on the front of the dragster. Can anyone ID the engine??
Thanks for the history on the track Hemi32. I know we have some pictures from the track from the early 70's somewhere also. I'll try to get them and post them here. It seems that a lot of tracks claim to be the longest run or longest open in the country. I believe I've read other tracks claims to that distinction on the HAMB.
Me too! Thanks Hemi32. I was in the Southern Ore. Wheelers CC from Medford, Ore. We brought our coupe, Zombie 3 down there to race a couple of times. I still see the Shasta Roadsters club at the Salt Flats every year. Thanks again for the mammeries!!! Crow.
Nice pics, Irish. Wow, that video is cool. "Sparmavision", hahaha. I wonder where that wicked chopped number 21 coupe is today.
And there it is running diagonally across the center. Looks like they used an old diagonal taxiway from the WWII-era Redding Army Airfield. More:http://www.militarymuseum.org/ReddingAAF.html
Yeah the video is great. You see the cars coming back on the dirt return road. They even ran some three at a time! The 3 bikes going off together is cool. Redding is hotter than hell in the summer, you don't want to be out there without a hat!
Irish! Sure wish I did have some of the old Brownie pictures but they are long gone. will try to run some pics down from my Brother in Medford, he saved everything! I'll be back! Crow.
Awesome! That track is 2 mins from my folks house. When I go home to visit, I can hear htem run on Saturday nights. We always have a good time at that track. Thanks for the post!
We are actually starting a facebook page on the Shasta Roadsters, we have some up now but are really looking for a lot of the older pictures and info on them and the Redding Drag Strip if anyone has anything. Thanks, Troy
I have a question for you, was there ever a car club called the "Shasta Lakers" in Central Valley? I have seen some car club plagues for sale that have that on them. Thanks RustyNCA
Memories of racing in T-shirts, bluejeans, US Keds and Bell helmets. Deer Park and Shelton in the late 50s and early 60s. We were SO envious of the CA tracks, we thought CA had the most sophisticated timing equipment, the fastest cars....then we went down there and found out it was just same as us...buncha guys having a great time and learning a little bit more with every run. thanks for the pics and the film dj
That is the Redhead in your avatar! as a kid, I used to run there in the '60s; but only have one or two pics from the strip. I went to the car shows at the armory(?) and still have two or three show programs, one with my '29 tudor listed, the year that Tognotti's King T was there.
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