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

yes it was

 

Got any more of the Cheetah in the far lane?!?!? Ya don't see Cheetahs everyday.

 

You got that right Maz. Anyone that was'nt there will never know what they missed. Bring back push starts, no reversers and aluminum clutch cans (well maybe not the cans) I made the transistion from FED's to RED's but it was never the same. I finally hung up the fire boots in 89.

They should be ashamed to call this drag racing today. NHRA should be renamed to NSRA "National Shit Racing Assoc." Cookie cutter cars with plastic lettering.

BB King summed it up pretty well "The Thrill is Gone"

408

 

Im 26 and never got a chance to ever see it. But Ive been saying that and believing that for years. I wish someone would bring it back. Thats why I believe outlaw tracks are springing up more so then sanctioned tracks. To many rules, let the racers decide whats safe enough for them to race and decide what they want to run.

 

Tom Hanna then.


Tom Hanna now.


!@#$in' BAD.

 

Hey Tim how long did Hanna stay in the throttle with the "new" car?
Awesome shot!

 

When Don Gillespie made these DVDs available it was a great surprise to see that evening's televised event at Lion's included, might not have been there is person but I do have fond memories sitting in my room watching my very first drag race on a black and white portable TV that evening in '61.

 

Lion's Sat. night gathering and one for Troy

 

Wow...great shot...you must have been standing no more than 20 feet from me....the "tower" side was my favorite...upper row, far left towards the tower...

 

GBP at Lion's

 

WCH (Warren Coburn Holloway) at Lion's This car went through some major changes over the years.
Became a twin engine injected car here in the NW called the 'Sweet 16", now in the hands of Bucky Austin for complete renovation.

 

How about those pestrami sandwiches at Pomona. MMM MMM Good eatin'

Anyone remember the story about the drag dog that was published in National Dragster sometime around 83 or 84? It was about a guy that ate a hotdog at I think Pomona. The only part of the story I remember was after they left the track, all of a sudden the sky turned green. Anyway the dog was bad and it made him sick. The story was absolutely hilarious. I would love to see a copy of the of the story, if anyone has it. I threw out all my old ND's years ago.

408

 

Great shots of Lions, always brings back ford memories.

 

That's right. Push it down from the big end, let out the clutch, watch the oil pressure build, flip the mag switch and instant tunnel vision.

 

Speaking of push starts here's a few from the top end of Irwindale.

 

Wow, the Irwindale footage was great. I might well have been there too as we ventured to Irwindale about once a month. FYI, the white Mustang AA/FC was Nathan Valdez' car, with Wendell Shipman driving. The multi hued 70 Mustang was Dave Bowman's car; he bought it off Gas Ronda. It was later converted into the rear engined Vega also dubbed the California Stud. And the dry hops being performed by Sush Matsubara in Joe Pisano's Camaro are priceless. Notice the absence of RED's. This was shortly after Garlits debut of his RED and took awhile before guys started showing up with thier own rear engined entry.

 

This is one of the best shots in days on this thread.....



I spend many, many happy hours at this spot on the track watching the final preparations before they'd roll off to fire-up.....
It was a great time to be a teenager. I was at Irwindale on it's opening day. I rode my bike out there with my big black camera bag over my shoulder.
Cool autumn morning...a sunday as I recall.
I don't remember anything from high school math classes, but I sure remember each detail of my weekends at Irwindale, Lions and Fontana...
Man, oh man...look at that shot! You could study it for hours. Remember when the women looked like that? I sure do.
Look at this hard, kiddies....you'll never see anything this bitchin again, ever.

"VintageGasser" you made my day! Thank you....

 

100% Agree with Doug on this!!! Wow!!!!

This shot set me off this morning!



Beebe Bros, Vinson, and Sixt ready to go! Dave is in the car, Chops is at the wheel in the Chevy Truck, and that's gotta be Lee Sixt riding shotgun...

Wow...

Thanks so much! If there is more from this event please please share!!!

Cheers,

Robert M.

 

X2!! Irwindale never went to roller starters so the thrill of the push start remained for a long time....the push lane started close to the finish line but the cars fired right in front of the pit-side stands-real thrill for the fans.....and it was all well lit (better than Lions) so you could see pretty well even at night...I think I miss Irwindale more than the other lost SoCal tracks.

 

I also really studied the pix and they really captured how it was back in the days of push starts. The drivers suited up, strapped in and waiting for "send the first pair". But I also noticed the push cars of the era, nothing fancy, no chrome or mag wheels, no fancy paint jobs and the simple 4 T/F and 7 T/F designation on the windshield, oh and the dirt on the fender telling me either they had'nt recently washed the car or they drove through a rain storm to get there. More than likely, they had'nt washed it recently due to having a day job and then thrashing on the digger every night so they could make the next race.

One last thing, the D-ring type chute release (that was actually round in this case) you won't see that again as NHRA outlawed them years back. That particular ring was probably bought at the local Army surplus as that is where allot of the hardware came from back in the day (fuel lines, AN fittings, bolts and nuts, mag switches with the aircraft cover, heim joints etc.) There were all kinds of interesting items there to be used on a race car.

I guess we were lucky in the D/FW area as we had a place on N. Main St. in Ft. Worth that would allow us to pull our car and trailer out front and then we could go in and get what we needed to completely outfit a new car or if we had changed someting up on the old car during the off season and when we finished the owner would come out look it over and give us a price for everything. Depending on what we got the cost was usually $50.00 to &75.00 bux for everything. Now days one AN fitting can cost $50.00 bux. The good ol' days are gone forever except in our crusty ol' memories. It's really sad the younger generation can never experience the way it really was.

I could write a book on all my experiences but no one would publish it and if they did only a hanful of people would read it. To most people it would be just boring shit like this post is going to be boring to most people.

A bunch of us old division 4 racers get together every December and tell each other a bunch of lies. Each year it seems that a particual run we made somewhere gets a little quicker and faster. Some truths also come out after many years, like you remember when I outran you at so & so in the final but you had us covered all day by at leasts 2/10ths. well we "hydrazined" it for the final round. Allot of us are now paying for those good ol' days physically, but I would'nt take a million bux for the memories.

Now lets get back to some more great pix.

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Hey great Picture of AGITATOR Racing HERRA & SONS AA/GS I was the owner /driver of AGITATOR looking for any pictures I can get of match races with AGITATOR.
warhero57@aol.com Paul Paolozzi

 

Glad these few photo's have brought back some great memories, especially for those so fortunate to have experienced the Irwindale facility. How about the "legs under" on the far lane, Hampshire no doubt in the drivers seat. For those of us from that area its obvious there must have been a recent storm go through the area as those mountains and skies were crisp and clear that day.

 

yeah, it'd get a little exciting down there while waiting our turn to push off and 1 of the 2 that were coming down had parts come out right at finish line, shrapnel dodging was a fine honed art. Wouldn't have traded it for anything, God I miss that place and time.

 

Pretty much looks like that every day now...the days of "smog alerts"a are a thing of the past, thankfully

 

This is a great shot of the good times era. Early Chrysler with a Scott injector and push start. The days of push starts were the foreplay of drag racing that was taken away with rollers and today's racing. For this reason, I enjoy attending the nostalgia events wher I can sit and tell lies with my friends like Pulde, Reyes, Leong and Rapid Ronnie. God, I would have loved to make a pass in a FED.

 

I have to comment on this photo. As a young punk gopher on my brother's car, I always thought that the Herrera and Sons, Jr Thompson, SWC, Agitator, Shores and Hess, C&O Willy's, and Mazmanian were the precursor to funny cars. For those who never experienced this era- well listen close to those of us who have. It was DRAG RACING AT IT'S BEST.

 

Paul, wasnt Hicks and Son's involved with the Willy's P/U too. Somewhere Gene Modelin entered the scene if I recall. Its sad that the pickup was destroyed in 1969 when Ohioan Paul Day crashed it.

 

Ahhh, sorry, should have said "Fond Memories"

 

Push car in motion! - Smoke.