Guys, I have been researching the idenity of my '32 3W coupe on this thread http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/chopology-identifying-an-old-hot-rod-32-3-window.878989/ and the in process speaking with Bernie Couch ( long time Southern California dry lakes racer and Hot rodder) he keeps talking about these outlaw timing ***ociations that allowed coupes to run the early to late '40s. I know there were Russetta Timing ***ociation and Western Timing ***ociation that ran Muroc and El Mirage, but what about the others? Who were they. Also, are these the common timing ***ociations that the "Coupes Club" and Pierson brothers ran through? Anyone have some history they would like to share on these "Outlaw timing ***ociations" ? Were they organized like SCTA with a roster of cars and times? I love to get a history lesson on them.
One other was the Cal Neva Timing ***ociation. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/cnta-cal-neva-timing-***ociation-reunion.245788/ The Pierson Brothers originally ran in Russetta with the coupe because the SCTA did not allow coupes.
Don Montgomery in his book "Hot Rod Memories" has some discussion on this. In the 1938-42 time period, "Several clubs, including the Road Rebels, Rumblers and San Diego Road Ramblers operated their own time trial events." Postwar, "Starting from scratch in late 1945, SCTA quickly expanded to 38 clubs. In addition several new ***ociations were formed with a similar club structure as the organization of SCTA. The largest of these new ***ociations was the Russetta Timing ***ociation with 29 clubs. Other ***ociations with their own clubs were Mohave, Bell, Valley and Cal-Neva Timing ***ociations." Bell Timing also allowed coupes to run. Montgomery's "Old Hot Rods S****book" has a discussion of both the SCTA and Russetta (formed in 1948).
Great info 22 track, this is the type of history I was looking for. Do you know what outlaw timing ***ociation ran El Mirage in 1941? Also was one timing ***ociation more dominated by coupes than the others? Like which one did the Coupe Club prefer ( Pierson Brothers) ?
I don't know how to ascertain your definition of "outlaw" but from what I have been able to glean from many who were there when lakes racing resumed post war, S.C.T.A, Rusetta, Bell Timing ***ociation, and Western Timing ***ociation were all running El Mirage events. That means that somebody had a lakes meet every weekend. The lakebed must have suffered. My Dad told me that in '46-'47 that spectators would be 5 deep all the way from the starting line to the lights at S.C.T.A events.
If you are interested in 1941 dry lakes racing, you need to find a copy of "Throttle The Complete Collection" published by Rodder's Journal in 2009 but now apparently out of print. It consists of the January-December 1941 issues of Throttle magazine, the first hod rod magazine. There are a couple of used copies available through Amazon resellers. Though delayed by wet weather, Russetta Timing ***ociation ran the first meet at El Mirage on 18 May, 1941 with Rod Pugh fastest of the day at 123.96 in his modified. The Western Timing ***ociation ran at Harper Dry Lakes the following week, 25 May, but ran at El Mirage later in the season. There is extensive coverage of results by meet including, of course, the SCTA meets. SCTA's first event of the season was 15 June at Muroc after negotiations with the military.
The book "Flat Out" by Albert Drake covers dry lakes history from 1935 to 1950 and is a great source of information.
The "outlaw meets" were usually held by car clubs and they may invite several other clubs. They would try to keep things low key and avoid the crowds of spectators that would come if they knew about it. This was pre WW2. I have no idea how often this happened. "Flat Out" is a valuable source and talks about pre WW2 dry lakes racing extensively.
My dad was in the Road Rebels out of LA and helped with the Western Timing ***ociation. They timed at Muroc and Rosmond in those days. He turned 98+ mph in that roadster pre WW2 Tim
If the photo was taken at a W.T.A. meet it may pay to get in contact with Bill Burke's family, Bill was an office bearer for the W.T.A. Bill is in his 90s so not sure if he can help but worth a try.
'Outlaw' sounds a bit dramatic! I don't know that anyone was 'the law' at all. Although the SCTA did seem to gather a majority of clubs under their umbrella and gained a certain amount of imprimatur because of it, they weren't the only show in town. Sorry, I got side tracked, I know this doesn't really help your search.
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