Garlits was in Southern California with a blown Chrysler dragster the week before the Smokers meet. He was contracted not to appear in California before Bakersfield, so he had Setto Postoian's (sp?) similar car testing at Colton.
The "Cogs" car club out of Olympia, Wa. The Dragmaster in the foreground belonged Earl Poage, the car was called "Little Trouble". The car behind belonged to Gordon Craig, and it was called "Old Lady Trouble". Very competitive Gas Cars in the Northwest !
Hey S, That could not have been in 1960. Garlits first appeared in So Cal with carburetors and did not fare as well in 1959 at Bakersfield. He did set some records for unblown motors. His transformation was from the 1959 Bakersfield Meet to supercharging for the rest of the year. He opened some eyes after the 1959 Bakersfield Meet, with his new supercharged motor at several dragstrips in Northern California. (Kingdon, Lodi, etc.) Then, he appeared at the December 1959 Riverside Raceway drag meet in his supercharged FED it was the first time in So Cal. From that point on, he always had a supercharger, which led to the Riverside 1959 final and the following 1960 March Meet in Bakersfield, which I filmed the races. Jnaki Setto Postoian and Garlits were mentioned in plenty of ads for the upcoming race for December. They were in attendance at the 1959 Riverside Meet, since it was labeled East vs West by most drag racing writers at the time. Dec. 1959
Mentioned in jnaki's post, Day & Nite from Seattle, Bob Haines the driver. This shot from McMinnville, Or.
Jnaki -- Reread my post. He (Garlits) was there. I didn't say his car was. They'd put a blower on Setto's car (one similar to his) and they were testing and tuning it at Colton. I was there -- both at Colton and then Bakersfield. Ten years ago (?) I ran into Garlits at the NHRA Museum and he confirmed it. No big deal, but I'd always wondered about it. Stan Back
Actually the one East guy versus a lot of West Coast guys. Guess it was no different in the Southern Cali guys versus the Northern Coast guys........
I know Prudhomme ended up driving the single engine car, Ron Pelligrini bought the twin from Ivo in 1960, as well as the 4 engine in '61 or 2.
Yes, Ivo twin side-by-side...The Valley Home Service car on the other side cut itself in half at San Fernando when the drive train failed. Both cars were Fuller-built.
The Bean Bandits at Pomona. Lions, first anniversary, October 1956. From bottom: Vic Hubbard street roadster, Merrymen car club 4-banger, John Bradley, Armstrong & Richter, J.E. Riley Special, Nichols brothers, Manuel Coelho, Weeks & Noble, White brothers (Merc coupe), Doug Cook Chevy (top right), Goodyear and Serpia Pacific Auto Body (nose of '34 coupe at top). Manuel Maldonado photo. Harry Duncan coupe, here with a 354" Chrysler...Harry was buddies with Art and John Phil Freudinger at Colton, blown flathead Street-driven cars face off at Caddo Mills, Texas The Chrisman brothers coupe sometimes went drag racing. Norm Grudem photo Earl Evans tank goes drag racing at the Tustin Marine Corps blimp station, 1950. Robert Canaan captured lots of photos from this meet. Tom Delon ran a big-inch Packard in this rear engine roadster. Tom ran a strong of auto dealerships -- Marty Strode photo, I think. Drifters of Redondo Beach, 35 Ford fuel coupe, ran a blown flathead for power. The Rebeleers from Memphis, at an early NHRA Safety Safari meet. Eric Rickman photo
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