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

I've asked this one before, and nobody knew, so I'll try again here: For those that went to the drags in the 60's, what was the deal with White pants???? If I owned a pair of white pants today, and I just THOUGHT about getting close to my old cars, they would be destroyed. What am I missing? did they have some kind of weird NASA white fabric to make pants from? Did everyone's mom/ wife routinely use a gallon of bleach with each load of laundry? Maybe those guys just threw them away after each use?? All my car/shop clothing is BLACK! Any first hand knowledge?

 

Good question. But not just drag racing, all the mechanics at Indy had white pants too.

 

Hello,

White pants and shirts were part of the outfits of the top racers that we saw in most of our early drag racing days. The white looked official and neat at the same time. The less blemishes from whatever drag racing work was on the white surfaces, that the whole crew looked like a show car in presentation mode. Which it was to showcase the well built race car and deserving crew.

My brother and I were on the other end, Levis and white t shirts, with a blue nylon jacket to top off the look. The style was based on the local teenage attire and it just played big time at the dragstrip, too. We still wanted our Levis to stay clean. We did have work Levis and presentation Levis. If and when we knew we had to work in our backyard garage, we wore our “work” Levis.

When we were all ready to race, we wore our dress Levis to Lion’s Dragstrip. Like most, we all thought that little to none in the “under the car” repairs was going to happen. If it did, then a large blanket was spread out to keep us clean. Presentation was everything, at the drags and cruising around in clean Levis. If our mom had her way, there would have been two extra Levis (two extra white t shirts) packed in the trunk of the Impala for emergencies or the wandering splatter of oil/grease.

Jnaki

We were told by an old hot rod guy, dress to impress if you think you want sponsors to help out in the future. So, we still did not like white pants, so our garb was “clean” Levis, white t-shirts and a colorful Wynns Friction Proofing Jacket that was sure to catch someone’s eye.

No, we were not sponsored by Wynn’s. That was as far as we would go without wearing white outfits. But it did catch the eye of the STP oil rep wandering around the pits talking to various racers. He wanted to know if we were sponsored by Wynns. He was impressed with our Willys build and results, so he was thinking about helping out… We were given those jackets by our friend from Los Angeles, along with several cases of the product that we used and gave away to our friends as part of our promotional speed shop ploy.

White clothes were always a part of the coordinated efforts of race teams looking like presenting their show car(s). They had plenty of sponsors, but it was a coordinated look that inspired more teams to look like the professionals they were/are. Coporate sponsorships were just starting and the white outfits were a good look to present to the companies and the general public.

Here are two great examples of two top teams from the 59-60 era of drag racing history. My brother and I could not wait to see the Chrisman Brothers run with their “Hustler 2” version at the biggest drag race on the West Coast in late 1959, at Riverside Raceway. It was a great event that showcased the top racers from all over the USA coming out West for one big event… the East vs the West…

Art Chrisman and Team 1959 Riverside Raceway
old Friday Art

1959
1959 Riverside Raceway Hustler 2

1959 Chrisman Brothers total
Drag Cars in Motion


Tony Waters and Team 1959 Bakersfield Smokers

1959 Riverside Raceway: Tony Waters

Tony Waters total 1959

Tony Waters staging lane riverside raceway 1959


Starting line crew and officials (Smokers, Bakersfield)

 

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/why-white.1048844/

 

Wow! Thanks Jnaki! It makes sense, everyone looking the part to be "professional". I get the impression a lot of racing back then involved the mindset of, "run it, and if it breaks, go sit in the stands and watch." Unlike today where we have guys welding cylinder heads in the pits between rounds, and the nasty thrashing goes on around the clock. I'll bet your moms all had some interesting stories about boys laundry!

 

Thanks, Loudbang! Even more to the story, Safety! Not sure how I missed that thread.

 

IIRC, white pants were required to be in the pits at sprint car and midget races at Ascot Raceway back then too. I went with my buddies; I wore Levi’s and a white T-shirt, they wore their whites to help with our neighbor’s sprint car. I thought they were nuts but I ended up sitting in the ‘stands while they mingled with the drivers and crewmen. Never made sense to me either, but it does look good.

 

Hey M,
All of our teenage friends wore Levis. But, their goal as learned from the older hot rod guys, was to get those Levis as dirty as possible. The old saying was... "let them stand up by themselves in the corner and you got it to the right stage." But, along with the patina, the smell was awful and was not the best thing for dances or cruising around with girls. The girls let everyone know it, too. Plus, we had pristine interiors and no dirty Levis would get our upholstery dirty.

Our mom did not have a clothes washer other than herself and her trusty washboard. She would get the Levis perfectly clean, scrubbing with soap and the ribs of the washboard. We were one of the only teenagers with constantly clean Levi jeans. Even if they were hidden behind the closet door, she would find them and instantly wash them so her two boys would have clean Levis. She did not want her two teenagers to represent the family looking like used rags or destitute Hobos... as the term was back then.

The Impala interior remained spotless throughout the daily cruising and weekly events at Lion’s Dragstrip from the late 1957 era to the goodbye wave in 1965.

Secretly, we appreciated clean Levis as they do hold plenty of aromas from everything we did back then. The teachers and other girls also like clean Levis, too. The multitude of white T-shirts were washed in a concoction of soap and added bleach. They were crystal white afterwards. This sounds weird, today, but my brother and I were the only teenagers that had creases on the sleeves of our white t-shirts.

Our mom had this industrial ironing machine and pressed everything, including our Levis and white t-shirts. We roughed up our Levis before we left the house and the creases disappeared... presentation is everything... then and now.
Back then...

 

@buickfunnycar.com thank you for sharing your pictures, I for one really do enjoy them.

 

As many have already stated, many tracks and some strips, in the '50's, '60's, and 70's, had rigidly enforced rules on what apparel had to be worn in the pits and by drivers. This was also an era when woman and children (anyone without a driver's license) were not allowed in many track's pit areas. This was supposedly because of "insurance restrictions".

 

My Logghe connection:

still have it
still race it at select vintage events

 

Back in the day, every circle race track I went to REQUIRED white pants in the pits period. Aaaand women were only allowed in the pits for powder puff races.

 

Like joemac05 posted white pants were required. When I raced in the Pacific Coast Region NASCAR short track series during the late 90's to early 2000's it was still the rule. Most of the pits were not well lighted at night but with white pants you would be easier to see in the dark. A lot of cars running around with no head lights. Whether it was just tradition or purely for safety, you did what they told you to do or you didn't race. In fact you could get fined or suspended for a number of things.

 

White Pants

 

At Bonneville, most officials wear white to this day.

Plus they're a lot cooler, too.

 

Malise & Lipori AA/Comp car,neither of them in this picture.
Note the GMC V 8-71 blower on this 383 Wedge motor, dad ran them as early as 1964.

 

The King 1965.

 

Indy...Dave Kelly photos.
Pure Gold!

 

Now that.. Make's a lot of sense if you've ever been in the pits after dark.

 

So does a light and a horn on your race car [note the LEDs on my avatar's nosepiece; horn not shown]. It is amazing to me how spectators and other folks wandering in the pits fail to hear or see you coming, what with all the other ambient noise going on.

 

Wow, "Heavy Hitter City" right there!

 

^^^^^^^ When he said "Pure Gold" he meant it!!! Damn!!!

 

Dead End Kids TwoFer..."Rapid" Red Lang.

 

Know a guy looking for this car

 

Jack Ewell / Bill Steckler

Lion's Dragstrip Class Lanes

Hello,

We all know that Jack Ewell had a wonderful very early life in all sorts of drag racing in the 1950s. But, our collective minds turn to the 1960 years, when he was the parts manager for Mickey Thompson Enterprises in the Westside of Long Beach , near Lion’s Dragstrip and only several blocks from our house.
old Friday Art
His involvement from that point on goes with his co-workers and teammates from the early days, Bill Stecker and Jim Kamboor. The later 60s shows their collaboration in the top echelon of drag racing.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/moon-tank-photo-gallery.728867/page-15#post-13896733

Jnaki

From those early races in 1958 to the 1960-62 drag racing era, the history of Jack Ewell in drag racing was impressive with all of the hot rods involved. A search is necessary to see all of the things that were credited to his skill and builds. Thanks for the friendship over the years in our old neighborhood.

He was instrumental in talking about a huge changeover for our 58 Impala running one of Mickey Thompson’s 671 supercharged motors in our 58 Impala, hooked up to our C&O Stick Hydro. That would have been one for the books!!!

As much as I wanted to have the transformation done in the nearby shop, my brother nixed the idea. He needed the Impala for his daily adjustments and treatments at the doctor’s offices during this time. Despite what the goal was for a street legal Gas Coupe/Sedan Class hot rod, it would have been a pure drag racer, not a daily driver to go on errands and medical treatments that were coming up.

Here was Jack Ewells proposal:


But, Friday Night cruises to the local drive-in restaurant parking lots would have never been the same again... only in our late night conversations between the two brothers...

 

Carrol Caudle C/MP 55 for many years was the old that was almost impossible to beat in Modified Production.

I believe in 1965 he won the Tulsa Nationals race against Dick Moroso and his corvette.

Jimbo