History The Rise and Fall of Orange County Int'l Raceway

That and the fact that our friends' son owned, or was involved with, an old flathead dragster. Even at that time it was already a nostalgia car and I've wondered more recently what might have become of it. I seem to recall that it was blue with the name "Antique Doll" painted across the cowl of the car.

The Antique Doll is alive and well somewhere. I recall last year seeing it depicted in a street rod magazine article about the Antique Nationals. The Antique Doll was a regular competetitor in the flat head dragster circuit that existed through out the 60's and 70's.

 

When I was young we always rode our bikes up the the local radio station KEZY and get free passes for OCIR, then we all would bug the shit out of our parents until they would take us. One day while riding around on the "other side of the tracks" we saw a guy in our neighborhood with a drag car who raced. He was a father of a girl we went to school with who obviously wanted a boy, so he took us under his wing and would take us to watch him race and do what he called "Piss Ant" work cleaning the car etc. in trade for having to pretty much baby sit us on the weekend.

it was a different time when parents just let some stranger a few blocks down take their kids so they were out of their hair...

 

My buddies and I didn't do Irwindale or Lions... we were born and raised in Orange County. Spent a good portion of our lives at The County..... Wednesdays and Saturdays grudge and bracket racing. My buddy lived in the same complex in Fullerton with some guy that worked on his funny car all the time. John something or other. Car was called "Brute Force" and had a tendency to bang blowers regularly. It just didn't seem weird having race cars everywhere.... Dyno Don was local, too. I have tons of pics I've collected of The County through the years. I'll see if I can find them and post a few.

 

It was a sad day indeed when "The County" closed. I grew up in Duarte and watched them build Irwindale and it was my "Home" track for many years. Also used to travel to "The Beach" as we called Lion's. When we moved to Newport in the 70's I raced at The County a bunch and fondly remember the Fox Hunt's and those commercials with Larry Huffman. Wednesday nights were a lot of fun and who can forget "64 Funny Cars"?
"Any of you remember 1972 (I believe) when OCIR moved some dirt and made a dirt track for driving roll cage equipped Subaru 360's (called them potato bugs) for a small fee. You would wear a helmet of course, but you could roll them all you wanted, whatever your fancy."
I swear i thought that Beans and I were the only ones who remembered this! I was starting to think it was a dream or something from folk lore that wasn't true cuz no one believes me. man that was a blast. Those little Subaru 360 Motors screaming their guts out with open pipes was hilarious. Thank god you brought this up - I'm not going crazy!
Can't forget the night motocross and speedway races there either.
Oh yeah, and my Anglia ran the closing races of all three tracks.

 

A great time and place, was OCIR. I spent some time racing there in the 70's myself. Here's some of my stuff from there back then. Those are some of my good old days too. There were many others, like Lions, Irwindale, Ontario, Fremont, along with the others that still remain open.

 

Who could forgot the monthly Quick 32 bracket. A bump spot in the mid nines and ending with the number one car being in the solid 7's wasnt uncommon. This pre dated stagger boxes and electronics. A nice variety of of cars making for some fun entertainment

 

Well it would figure that if anyone other than myself had seen or remembered this car, it would have to be someone on the HAMB. The guy involved with the car had sent me some pics from OCIR but I don't recall if there was a shot of the Antique Doll in with them, and I haven't seen the other pics in ages. But I know I've still got them stashed around here somewhere! I never did get to see the car actually go down the track. God only knows how many hands it might have gone thru since then.

About the Subaru 360s mentioned before: I remember seeing a picture in a magazine back in the 70s I guess of a boatload of these cars sitting in a storage lot at some California port. The photo made it look like there was a couple acres of them! For some reason they couldn't be sold here as shipped for not meeting safety, lighting, or emission standards or something like that. Don't recall if the importer ever got the cars certified but they sat in storage for quite a time. Wouldn't be surprised if at least some of them didn't get sold cheap by the dozen and used for things like that at OCIR. Rich kids probably got them as birthday presents like a fancy go-kart or bumper car, just so they didn't try to plate them and put them on the road.

 

that track was something i only saw in magazines and on funny car summer.... totally different times back then.....sorta o/t , was it orange county or ontario , that was on CHIP's...? vaguely remember a episode with some drag cars....... brandon kid from the 70's

 

Cool thread!

I had only been to Orange County Int'l Raceway once (in the 70's) ... but my father made the drive down south many a weekend in 1968 (with the Jewel "T" Altered gang) ... and throughout the 70's (with the Ron Williams' Shakey F/C's).

Here's one of pop's photos of the Jewel "T" in action @ O.C.I.R. in 1968:



NOTE: More Jewel "T" @ O.C.I.R. pics can be viewed in my Davis ~ Ingram ~ Walraven Jewel "T" AA / Altered ... Lotsa Pics!!! thread ... just click HERE.

 

I'm glad to see this thread. I got stationed on El Toro in June of '83. Many nights on the flight line I could hear this loud noise from across the runway. I always intended to go see. In a few months the noise stopped. Just reminds me now to not put off going to the drags or the races.

 

Very cool. I wish I had lived in Cali and been old enough to go!

 

Yeah... but it's at Costco...

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Yeah, but that ride sucks anyway.

 

I know this is an Old Thread,but recieved and email stating that Irwindale closed after last thursdays drags. I did a search to see if someone posted something here, but didn't find anything.

Irwindale Closing Its Doors,
by Keith Lair - Staff Writer

Irwindale Speedway,widely considered to host the finest short track racing in the nation, appears to be history. On saturday workers appeared to closing down the facility, which has had the biggest NASCAR short track races on the West Coast for more than a decade.
Workers were dismantling the pit grandstand, which is adjacent to the 1st turn.
They also were takin apart storage areas. A large billboard boardering The San Gabriel River Freeway was not lit up for the 1st time in its history,barring power outages, and the tracks website was taken off the Internet.
"They went out of business'' said a prominent Irwindale racer who did not want to be identified.
Vice president Bob DeFazio and some staff members were in the locked administration building Saturday morning, A moving truck backed to the office's side entrance and a moving box stacked outside. DeFazio through track opperstions director Bob Klein, said an announcement would be made on Monday (today).
Efforts to reach DeFazio were unsuccessful. The tracks eighth-mile facility remained intact on Saturday, but according to a source workers were given a final paycheck after last Thursdays regular streetlegal session. The elimination of the pit grand-stand is significant because teams usually put their crews in those seats. If there is a problem on the track,the crew could quickly get to their pit stall and fix the car and get it racing again.

So that was straight out of the paper and sent to me over the weekend. Kenny Sapper=Owner of Speedway Engineering, Sylmar Ca. was at our local Trompers Club meeting last weds and we were talking about track closures, This one was mentioned, but not confirmed. It was stated that this was the 1st time that he noticed that the overall economy had affected auto racing during his lifetime.

I live several miles from this facility and pass it quite often. I was there when they paved it, walked on it before there were any lines on it and was very happy that the track was being built, only thing missing was a drag strip. That came several years later.
There was a shooting there nearly 10 years ago by an a-hole that wasn't even from around the area or even a drag race fan. I watched Miller take the 1st Irwindale, was too young to be a part of San Gabriel Drag Strip just across the freeway on Rivergrade Road.
I think it's about time that Miller steps up and keeps the promise that they made back in 1977 when they took Irwindale and support this facility if they are having financial problems. Do it by selling their beer there, have In N Out run the concession just like the old days. Mind you, If this place is gone, Where is Mooneyes going to have their X-Mas Party? Last years was the largest ever!

 

I was stationed at Fort Ord and managed to get to OCIR a few times. I distinctly remember going to a manufacturers meet, a funny car 500 and a BB/GS and Fuel Altered event. Being from the east coast, OCIR was a huge deal in 1970. I hitchhiked once,and rode a bus once. Last time I convinced an army pal with a car to drive us there. I still have the blue jacket I bought there as well as a t-shirt, couple of different key rings and a couple of posters. What a place that was.

 

I used to almost live at OCIR in the early '70s. Wed night bracket racing in whatever I was driving at the time. I remember being at the top of the track in my Jetstar 1 when a two moms and a kid driving a big 'ol 428 Merc blew past me with the kid in the back seat waving. Safety standards were a little more lax then.

Then there was the high school drags where each OC school sent 5 cars and the winning school got money for the auto shop. I finished in the top 10 in an MG Midget. Replaced the axle that twisted apart the next weekend.

 

I was fortunate to be at OCIR about 3 weeks before it closed on a Wednesday night. Got some great info on carbs for my 426 Max Wedge from a guy running a max wedge in a Dart.

 

Whas is OCIR that had those radio commercials for "64 FUNNY CARS!!!"?

 

I think 64 Funny cars was at SIR Seattle International Raceway but I may be wrong.

 

They had the .." Fox Hunt "...for sure...

Roach

 

I made it to OCIR from opening in '67 to close in '83.

"Any of you remember 1972 (I believe) when OCIR moved some dirt and made a dirt track for driving roll cage equipped Subaru 360's (called them potato bugs) for a small fee. You would wear a helmet of course, but you could roll them all you wanted, whatever your fancy."

In the late summer thru the fall of 1969 we used to spend a few bucks at what was called "Fast Track", where you could drive Subarus with external roll cages around what was essentially a motocross track with massive tire walls at each corner. If I remember right, it was a buck or so for a lap. Being 16, we used to crash those white cars into the tire walls on purpose.
It was located just after the tunnel on the way in, on the right (duh, the tracks were on the left).

Late one night we blew the fuel pump in my '57 BelAir on the still-new 405 and coasted off to the south farm road entrance to OCIR. There, in the middle of a pitch black night was a pole with a single light, and a pay phone attached to it. This was, in 1969, essentially the middle of nowhere.
I left my '57 there for 2 days while I went home to HB and gathered up the dough for a new pump.

Try that now.

There was so little traffic on the 405 in those days that it took me 7 hours to hitchhike home to Huntington.

I know this is an ancient post, but then the memms of OCIR are pretty ancient themselves these days.

Eric

 

I've been building drag motors and cars since 1968, but I'm still an FNG.

kinda cool, kinda counter-culture.... now that's a 60s attitude, and I kinda like it.

 

Has it really been that long since "The County" closed?

Damn. Had some great times there. Am I really that old? Guess so.

B.

 

went into Johnnie's Speed and Chrome under the stands one night and bought a used intake and carb off the shelf that were still warm.

A styled and landscaped state-of-the-art drag strip with its own speed shop. They should have just built homes on the property so we could move in and live there.

It would have been the only track in the United States where all the garages were bigger than the attached homes. 8 car garages with 1 bedroom studio homes.

 

went past the old ocir entrance today. Still there alright, only about 3 feet long, but it's still there, along with the original trees at the old downtown Irvine spot.

I grew up at Lions and Ascot, but OCIR was the best drag strip in the world, bar none.

 

My old Ford, mid 70's
loved The County.

 

I went there a lot when I was a teenager (grew up in Brea)

A cool memory I have is when Tom Mcewen's Mongoose F/C blew the blower off (I think it was the blower)
My friend & I walked back into the pits just as they were towing it in. They were trying to get it loaded on the trailer, but the damage to the front caused it to hit the trailer ramp. That's when the crew chief looked at me and my friend and told us to stop goofin around and give them a hand.

We lifted the front of the car & a big piece of fiberglass broke off in my hands. I kept it as a souvenir for a few years until it got lost. They gave us a couple of Coors hats too

Went to a lot of Bug-In's there too.

You would often find race cars for sale near the entrance off Sand Canyon. I almost had my mom convinced to buy a '57 Chev gasser roller that was parked off the property. We actually drove out to look at it. Pretty cool looking from a distance with the straight axle. She changed her mind when she saw the dashboard - somebody completly cut it out - very badly I might add. That killed the deal for her (& me too ). I think they were asking $1500

 

That is sad if another So Cal racetrack is closed down. I did an internet search and it does appear the owners are trying to keep the track operating. I hope they can.
Like what was said... Where is Mooneyes going to have their xmas party? ...if the track does not re-open?

 

I have mentioned that to other people before and they look at me like I was crazy. Those were some great times with the little Subie's. Glad to know I didn't dream it up. LOL

 

YES, THAT WAS THEE *UCKEN PLACE, Wednesday Nights, Saturdays, Sundays, Remember the Sundays Swap Meets, Super Chevy Sundays, Bug Ins, First of the Pro Gas Meets! YEP=OCIR, 1967-1983!! Angel, Whittier Ca.