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

All the information that fills in the blanks is what makes this so interesting. Otherwise they are generally images with a caption as to who owned the car & where it was racing. It can be very hard piecing together information gathered from magazines & books on the other side of the world. If you were too young or too far away, as I am, it really makes these images come alive hearing all the stories from those who were actually there.

 

Brissette and Sutherland Feb. 6, 1965 at Lions 7.38 and a few more.

 

One thing I learned about the rollers real quick was stay away from the brake handle. If you hit the brakes it would shoot you off the rollers like a rocket.

The rollers a Dallas International was powered by a small bock Chevy. They would engage the clutch with a handle and start the rollers spinning. They were located in the pit area at DIMS and were not intended for starting the engine for a run. They were mainly used for warm-ups and as a tuning aid.

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love this picture! never get tired of seeing it!

 

1965 vs. 2009 Brissette & Sutherland

 

Here ya go Mazooma1, the dreaded "ROLLERS"...



Even the spectator side was pretty close at the starting line.

 

Hey..thats a great shot. Never see that before...Nice find!!

 

What were the "rollers" for? To start the engines?

 

Th rollers at LIONS were electric motors and were used to get the engine up to speed without having to push start them

 

For sale at the California Hot Rod Reunion 2007

 

Yes that is what they were for, located just behind the starting line. I figure this guy said, "hey let's put the kids in front of the fueler to hold it on the rollers.

 

Rollers at OCIR

 

That guy pointing...
EXACTLY the reaction.

Cool.

 

Heres two shots of the Australia fueler restored recently.
Thats HAMB member Ross Preen on the left and the original driver, Morrie Carlton...

 

Great job for the SBC

 

Jimmy Brissette is one of the nicest men in the world. In '62, when I was in the hospital with a broken back from my El Mirage crash, Jimmy sent me a card every day for the entire 3 weeks I was there. A couple of years earlier he was burned real bad in the Brissette Bros. '29 at El Mirage, and was hospitalized for a long time. He said the cards he received really helped keep his spirits up, and he wanted to do the same for me. Jimmy Brissette will always be a hero to me.

 

I like the Aussie rail's short body! That side panel going all the way to the front of the engine is c-l-e-a-n! Speaking of that, this little Fiat has some of the best art/lettering I've ever seen. What a crisp, serious business race car that must've been. Was this a recreation or the actual car from the picture?

Plus, look how close that rail is to the "Lion's" sign!!!! In every picture I've seen of Lions, there are never any black marks, gouges or damage of any kind to the sign. Amazing.

 

Jim Hullinger at Bunker Hill built a set of rollers with a small block Chevy, probably one of the first sets, and I think they were used at IRP for a while. When we were running the Thursday Night Thunder USAC midgets and sprints for TV in the late 80s, he set it up we took a midget and a sprint car up there and tried it out. After some working with wetting down the asphalt and testing, it worked fine for the sprint car, and even the driver liked it. Had some problems with the midget, probably the car itself. However, USAC vetoed the idea.

 

Roller starts at New England Dragway 1970. Jim Mahan just fires the "Hard Guys" A/FD, while Don Gianquito's AA/D waits on deck. The rollers were powered by a Chrysler Hemi, and were located in the pits, for engine warm ups. On the track it was still push starts. After the self starters for dragsters, all these little ritchuals were abandend, much to our loss.