History Drag cars in motion.......picture thread.

Also from George Klass Collection; another Great Plains racer, Bob Sullivan's fueler. His cars were always well finished and ran hard, don't think he got enough credit for his racing, often traveled to the West Coast...

 

Always loved that Pic 55BELAIRX2

 

cover shot for a great book
http://www.amazon.co.uk/High-Performance-Culture-Technology-1950-2000/dp/0801866642

 

That is a great shot! Pure 60's right there.

 

I agree awesome book

 

Would the 55 with white wall slicks and tow bar brackets on the front be Auggie "Hands" Hartkoff's? He flat towed everywhere!

 

Hands car was a 56,,,not a 55

 

Jim Davis at Irwindale, agree, a great shot for a great book...wish Post would write another.

 

More Lions


This shows the fire-up road before the roller starters...some of the houses in the background were Navy Annex, they really bore the brunt of the noise...



McEwen and Adams Fuller "shark car," later became the "Mangler" that Danny Ongais drove.

 

Lions:


It wasn't initially candy red, just red. These guys were class people


Ford powered, don't remember this one, well finished


Glenn Stokey


Not too often did you get to see two streamliners race, unpainted Ivo in the far lane, "Scrima-liner" in the near lane...neither car was competitive, too heavy and evil-handling


Explosions at night were pretty spectatular


Jr fuelers were popular at Lions...this one is obviously in trouble...Bright Boys?? I'm not sure

 

Damn that explosion picture is scary looking. That Jr fueler looks to still be on the throttle.

 

Anyone have action shots of this AAF Modified Roadster. It ran Bakersfield and Lions and Pomona a lot. Crashed to pieces at Lions in 65. Gary Gabelich was the driver (though not the day it crashed). I only have these two pics, but someone must have something.

 

I think the "Ford" is Leland Kolb's Lincoln.

 

Checkin' in.. Wow! Great Lions, super 'Surfers' shot. BTW, 'Surfers' had a different meaning down under- Surfer's Paradise International Raceway. Opened in '66, became a golf course in the 80's.

 

"(Richard) Rea & (Jon) Evans" - R.McCarrell

 

Not Leland Kolb's Lincoln, here is a '61 picture of it from Don Ewald's site:

That's Leland - third from left

 

I was looking more at the driver's face. Looked like Leland to me.

 

More Lions


Either Shorty Levinson (sp?) or Gary Ormsby


Modified roadster




Yes, even Nash's raced there




Early Ivo-Zeuschel far lane

 

More Lions


Starting line could get really crowded



Sponsored by Blair's...I think that Darrell Buell was involved in this car




Chet Herbert's experiemental three-engined car, 4WD, Lefty drove.


These were the starter rollers, run with an electric motor, the lights dimmed down when engines started because it drew so much current...I liked push starts better, but they could be dangerous -- Pat Foster had the throttle stick on the "Adict" when push-starting towards the starting line...fortunately no one was hurt but it could have been bad...


Nothing in motion, but good shot of the starting line


This might have been the first run of the unpainted "Howard Cam Rattler," maybe Larry Dixon driving (I don't remember)

 

Awewsome pictures

 

The neat thing about Lions on a typical Saturday afternoon is that you could see more fuel dragsters than even exist in the world today.

 

Thanks guys, really enjoy this, when the world was a better place!

 

296ardun thanks for posting those incredible pics.

 

And a big thanks to George for hosting a place where all the cool old photos can be saved and shared. Especially the effort to separate them into the different classes.

 

Joe LaCosta also drove for Belmont "Beachball" Sanchez, Roger Hardcastle. If memory serves me correctly, you could try Directory Assistance in Id. for Roger. You could also reach Don Garlits at his museum in Ocala, Fl. where most of his Swamp Rats are. Good Luck in your search. I also wanted to suggest an idea I have found to have proven fruitful in research, the cities in question where Harold died, you could try that city's local library & ask librarian in adult reference desk to please check a day or two after death, depending on time of death, to check the newspapers microfilm.

 

Those are some great photos.

I'm a big fan of the Fuel Altereds and those modified roadsters are bitchin.

 

Saw Joe LaCosta a few weeks ago. He is doing good. Rodger Hardcastle? I seem to remember him with a Cad powered 27 roadster at Canada Rd. Many years ago. I saw a Kellson that he ran in HRM after that. Looked pretty racy but I never saw the car and have no idea what he did with it. Or what ever happened to him.