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

Kelly Hall from Kentucky's poncho powered altered....my grandad bought the mill outta it and used it in his first Frye Bros. chassised gas dragster...originally one of the mills out of Eddie Hill's siamesed dragster...

 

Thanks for the added info.... I know of the Frye Bros., of twin nail head fame. Were they also a chassis manufacturer?

 

yes sir...my grandpa had 3 of their frames...

T. Hilton

 

Better peepers than me

 

This car has been found and currently being restored to original condition.Pics of this car are hard to come by it was only raced by Dyno for a short time.Any pics would be a big help. I have sent them this one hope you don't mind.

 

This is from Hot Rod Magazine in 1969.
Although the altered is great (any altered is great), what I love about this photo is it illustrates how close the spectators were at Lions Drag Strip.
Most strips have the return road or fire-up lanes between the strip and the bleachers, but Lions had the return road behind the bleachers. This was the "tower" side (on the east). Man, that was a nose-full of nitro back in those days...never to return

 

Badass up close and personal.

 

You are so right, the tower side was the best. The other side was also awesome for a couple hundred feed, then the bleachers were set back for the "push start staging lanes" (which were also cool because us younsters could oogle at the Top Fuelers waiting to push start). When they put in "THE ROLLERS" to start them, it wasn't as fun, you had to buy a pit pass to see them up close.

Dang I miss Lions...

 

Yup. you could feel the heat off the engines from the first couple of rows.
When the A/FX guys would do burnouts with one crewman spreading the rosin in front of the tire paths, as the driver backed up with the door open you could hear them discuss (yell) everything from race strategy to where they were going to drink beer that night. You were that close.

 

I hated the rollers, it ruined the whole dragster "ballet" of the push starts and the crew having to pull the cars backwards for the driver to get it straightened out.
The rollers at Lions were so powerful and had such an electicity drain on the system, that in the pits at night all the lights would dim for a second while the starters were turned on. Eerie and very cool in a weird way.
Lions had its own "feel" that was all it's own...

 

Thanks for bringing back some memories, I'll sleep good tonight.

 

I was a big fan of Read's full bodied jr fueler after reading of its clinching the 1970 Aussie Nationals via an article in Drag Racing Magazine

 

A couple of GASSERS.

Plum

 

These pictures are from 1967-----The United States Professional Dragster Championship-----We got there kind of late, driving up from San Diego, and this was the only viewing spot available. As you can see the grand stands on this side left a lot to be desired. The photographers had the choice seats. Not much to be seen otherwise.

 

The stands on that side were packed that day. Even though the viewing was horrible...........

 

All of our viewing on that day was done through the fence on the way in............

 

This aerial view shows how close the "tower" side bleachers were from the track...


As stated above, the fire-up lanes on the west side made those bleachers farther away. My parents would drop me off when the gates opened and I went straight to my favorite spot (arrow below) where I could see all the way down the track, the starting line and the return road where all the racers would stop briefly to get their time-slips...from that vantage point, when all the adults would stand up I could still see and as the cars passed by to my left, I had an unobstructed view. Some of the adults knew me and would save my seat for me so I could go into the pits or get a hot dog... I was "the kid with the camera"...



thanks for the photo...sledwood

 

Atco still has a bleacher almost that good. It's next to the water on the right side between the tower and the concrete 'wall'. It's was great fun to take someone who'd never seen fuel cars run, take them up in that bleacher and watch them try not to fall out of the stand when the first car 'hit it'.

 

Hey, keep the Lions storys coming you guys!, I love this stuff.
Ross.

 

I Love it too, but maybe we should start another thread because it is kind of off subject? of 'Drag cars in motion'.

But does anyone remember a picture of a dragster, don't remember who it was, that was smoking the tires off the line with the front wheels up but had lost the blower belt and you could see it hanging from the overhead wires?

 

I know this picture has been on here before but since we are on the subject of Lions I thought you might enjoy it again...

 

While I appreciate your commitment to the original intent of this thread, the thread has evolved over many, many months as a gathering spot for hundreds and hundreds of photos of drag cars either in the pits, on trailers, in shops and garages or even wrecked, but NOT in motion. Many of us who were fortunate enough to have personal memories and reflections of the "Golden Era" of drag racing have also, on occasion, tried to add some points of interest or clarification to try to inform, amuse or educate those who were born too late to witness racing history. The HAMB is, in itself, is a story-telling vehicle that lets all who read and all who wish to participate to have "a conversation" with people who share the same interests.
If we were to go back and erase all but the photos, this thread would have died long ago, in my opinion.
In this crazy time in history with the world in chaos, some of us like to come hear to relax, read and even learn about things that we enjoy.
The internet should be more than a picture book, it should be a conversation.

 

I couldn't agree with you more, my comment was made in reference to writing about Lions. I grew up at Lions... Not everyone was as fortunate as you and I to have experienced it first hand. I was suggesting to start a thread just about Lions. Maybe I worded it incorrectly. EXCUSE me for my suggestion.

 

Well I think your both right .

Well we had the public debut of our newly restored Aussie FED, at the Castlereagh reunion on the 25th of April, so here it is with the engine in motion..... oh and the original driver, Morrie Carlton in the seat.


Photo by Steve Thomas.

 

Its all good, Y-Blockhead...

no asphalt needed..

 

I also hated the "rollers," you're right, the lights would dim when the motor that powered them started turning the wheels. It was also really hard to keep a car on the rollers...I thought it would be easier than push starts (the old push road was on the spectator side and not well lit, and there wasn't a lot of room on the starting area to turn around), but once the rollers started turning and you let out the clutch the car wanted to jump off the rollers, and you had to have two crew guys at each front tire to hold the car in place...I jumped forward the first time I tried the rollers, got a big hoot from the crowd...they had to stop the motor, push me back and try again...then the motor wouldn't fire...it took three trys...once you got used to it it worked ok...but, yeah, I still miss the push starts...and Lions.

 

Ross...your a hero. You have to get back to the USA soon!

 

Love the personal stories, memories and recollections, they are what hold this thread together!!

 

I think the stories behind the pictures is the icing on the cake for this thread and I say keep the stories and pictures coming.