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

Fantastic, as always Gary!

 

The Kenney Goodell car is still kicking around. Still in in this condition. Last time I saws it, approximately a year ago. Did a chassis for a FED about 20 years ago, guy I did it for had the Taco Time Vega body hanging from the rafters in his barn, few hundred bucks it could have been mine. "Nah, what the heck am I gonna do with that" Oh well. Wonder if that FC graveyard still exists? Heard about it, never had the opportunity to visit.


John

 

Pete Robinson, one of drag racing's great innovators.


Sanford, ME, back when street driven cars were competitive at the drag strip



Came across this picture, don't know where this is, or when, but it is probably pre-'65, before zoomie headers and aluminumized face masks


More Sanford ME

Caption indicates '63 Nationals, no ID on either, anyone?


Half Moon Bay, SWC against a dragster.


Jungle Larry Faust suiting up for a ride in the Mooneyham, Jackson, and Faust fueler.


'64 Winternationals, Grist Brothers Ford powered Willys A/G, forgot who ran the C/A in the other lane??


Brisette & Alexander...Jim Brisette's engine, Bill Alexander driving



This might be another shot of the "Northwest Frantic 4," reference Gary's pictures above...


Jess Van Deventer -- not sure where this is



I wish I had an ID to this early rear-engined car, anyone?

 

A few from the Firebird Idaho site!
Galen Blanc

If this isn’t the epitome of a late-50’s front-engined dragster, we don’t know what is. On a chart of 1 to 10, this dude pegs the “cool meter” in our book with a 10 and an explanation mark! Former Master-Builder Galen Blanc not only put this injected Hemi-powered dragster together, but also drove it. We believe this to be Gowen Field circa somewhere in the later 50’s or early 60’s. For any of you who know Galen and the many, many hot rods he has built over the years (along with Schwinn bikes, scooters, gas memorabilia, flathead engines, etc.),

 

This is one of the few photographs from the earliest of days at Firebird featuring the banner over the starting line of the raceway. A Top Fuel car is pictured launching from the starting line in front of the old Firebird International Raceway A-Board sign along with the banner and lots of sagebrush growing in the background.

 

Here’s a unique press photo of the “Art Linkletter House Party” Top Fuel car in front of one-time volcano called Diamond Head on the Hawaiian O’ahu Island. Originally driven by John Guedel and campaigned by former National Dragster editor Bill Holland, this car competed in a match race in the late-60’s against Dwight Salisbury’s “Smothers Bros. Beach Boys” Fueler at Firebird. This car ran a very limited schedule in 1969, managing to nail track records at O.C.I.R., Hawaii Raceway Park and Firebird. By any standard, this was one beautiful race car.

 

In the late-60’s and early-70’s, Firebird featured quite a number of wheelstanders. One of the all-time crowd favorites was the Chuckwagon Dodge Pickup of Chuck Poole. Featuring two supercharged engines, this wild beast was a sight to behold every time it made a quarter-mile exhibition run on two wheels. Even though this stock media print for press kits wasn’t taken at Firebird, it’s still one amazing piece that dazzled fans all over the country.

 

"1969"

 

One of the first two AA/Funny Cars to race at Firebird was the Al Karnes Dodge back in September of 1968. Karnes, pictured here in the Firebird pit area, raced the Charlie Wilson-owned “Vicious Too” `68 Camaro driven by none other than Dale Pulde. It was a two-out-of-three match race, which saw Pulde sweep the first Funny Car title during Firebird’s opening year of NHRA racing.Image supplied by Rick Hale from the Ken Rhodes collection

 

Ed "The Ace" and the Scotty's Drive In car.

 

Jerry Ruth vs ?

 

? 68 or so.

 

From the Rick Hale photo archives, this shot was taken in the Firebird pit area circa 1969. The B Boys C/Dragster is heading to lanes to make a run at the inaugural NHRA World Championship Series meet. It’s interesting from our perspective to see the fuel cell covered with some type of blanket we’re guessin’ to keep the race gas cool. The cars in the background are quite nifty, too.

 

?

 

Augusut 9, 1968
Here’s a pretty interesting piece of historical significance about the start of Firebird. NHRA national event announcer and ESPN broadcaster Bob Frey tracked down, located and scanned the first story/photo regarding Firebird Raceway in National Dragster. It appeared in the Instant Replay section of the August 9, 1968 issue of the NHRA’s official house organ. The picture shows the original Firebird International Raceway sign at the front entrance, along with a lot of grader work in the background. You have to get a kick out of one of the descriptive sentences in the track formation and announcement, “Permanent grandstands will flank the asphalt strip looking down from gently rolling hills amid some of the loveliest country in the area”. And in case you weren’t aware, the Division 6 Director at the time was Terrel Pogue.

 

The early days of Top Fuel racing had to be quite the site, especially as they lined up in the pit area for their opportunity to fire up in the hot car lane (which was located just north of the lower pit restroom). This pair of Fuelers includes the Beach Imports dragster (and it’s hard to determine the second car in line). What’s even better is the fact there is no car in the background is newer than 1969, since this was shot at the inaugural NHRA World Championship Series Meet at Firebird. Special thanks to the Rick Hale photo archives for providing this historic 1969 image.

 

The Willy-Doo coupe was one of the real fan favorites when Firebird first opened in 1968. Running C/Altered, it was one bad hombre every time it made a trip down the quarter-mile. In this photo, the crew is firing up the fat-fendered altered with a remote battery set-up. The car ran on a set of M & H Racemaster, enjoyed sponsorship from Johnson Auto Parts in Ogden, Headwork by Bud Garner (of S.L.C.) and was originally painted by Ogden’s Jack Harris. In our book, this is what we call the quintessential photo, especially when you consider it’s from the first year Firebird was in operation.

 

Here’s an early pit scene photo of the AMX Javelin Wheelstander of “Wall to Wall” Richard Schroeder. Originally captured by Ken Rhodes and pulled from the Rick Hale archives, this photo is from 1969, the first year that Schroeder appeared at Firebird both as an announcer and pilot of this very unique and colorful Javelin.

 

Check out this `33 Plymouth five-window coupe running an injected Buick circa 1969. Competing in the C/Altered class, the highboy looks to be sponsored by Winn’s Big-O Tires Gas & Oil in Paul, Idaho, and is being towed on a ramp-style truck out of the original Firebird general parking area. We haven’t a clue who the driver or owner may have been – do you?

 

This early photo might be a little worse for wear, but it still has character in our book. Pulling down the Firebird staging lanes in 1972, this is the AA/Funny Car of Twig Zeigler, winner of the inaugural Nightfire 500 (`72). Twig also won the 1976 Nightfire race, too. Originally a school teacher from the greater Pendleton area, Zeigler competed at almost every Firebird major events throughout the 70’s up until 1981, the year he started winding down his fuel Funny Car efforts. But Twig returned with his wife Barb to the sport in 2009 and hasn’t missed a beat. He has combined efforts today with talented driver Darin Bay and they are both looking forward to returning to the winner’s circle in the near future.Vintage image by Wayne Monahan
Ziegler also won the 64 car Mfg's Championship at OCIR.He was a mechanic and engine builder ar Colletti Chrysler Plymouth.

 

Stepping back to 1971 this is a staging lane shot of the past Master-Builder Ken Rhodes C/Modified Production Corvette and the B/Altered "Hoss Style - Boss Hoss" Mustang of the Grondahl Bros. from the Rick Hale photo archives. Joining Rhodes in this photo is long-time Treasure Valley hot rodder Paul Martin (in the cool shades). This marked the third year of operation at Firebird.

 

Good stuff Gary
Great commentary also.

 

Thanks to the Rick Hale historical archives and the photography of Ken Rhodes, this Mustang Funny Car image is making its way down the “dirt” staging lanes in anticipation of a quarter-mile run down the two-month old Firebird Raceway. We haven’t a clue who this might be, but it sure provides a different perspective of how Firebird looked in September of 1968.

Thanks to Bob Siebler, Technical Support/Brand Manager for Western Power Sports, we learned that this `67 Mustang was raced by none other than the late Kenney Goodell. The car was billed as the “World’s Fastest Mustang”. It featured a full steel body with working doors and a tilt fiberglass front end. This was the very first Funny Car that started a long racing career for Goodell.

 

Straight out of the 1969 racing season at Firebird is the Gordy Craig Fueler known as “The White Tornado”. In the background is the former NHRA Champion Dick Kalivoda with “The Joker” AA/Fuel Dragster. Photo is courtesy of Rick Hale from the Ken Rhodes archives.
Seems to me Gordy ran Top Gas, but hey!

 

Idaho’s first Funny Car was the “Gentle Ben” Cuda of Ron McDowell, right, and Jerry Taylor, pictured. Although the car has long moved on to greener pastures, it’s pretty cool seeing Jerry Taylor come out to the track to crew chief for this daughter Melissa LaPrath. Considering his roots date back to the opening of Firebird in 1968, it’s really something having him still actively involved in the racing scene nearly four and a half decades later.

 

This sure looks like an engineering marvel. Take a step back in time to 1969. This is a vintage photo of the national record holding Ringer & Sounders twin-engined D/Dragster. Amazingly enough, this shot by Ken Rhodes is from Firebird’s first NHRA World Championship Series meet following a pass and if you look closely – you can see it’s taken during the weighing process (on the original track scales, which were first located on the west-side of the pits). This is the car that won the first Comp eliminator title at Firebird’s Division 6 point’s race some 42-plus years ago.Image from the Rick Hale photo archives

This car is covered in my "Great Oregon Racers" thread, I think Marty has some info on it.

 

Digging back through the historical Rick Hale archives, it was fun turning up this early pit scene shot of “The Joker” AA/Fuel Dragster. This was taken way back in May of 1969 by photographer Ken Rhodes and the nitro burner was the big winner of the day at this event the second year Firebird was in operation.
This would be Dick Kalivota, "The Joker" usually ran a full body and was a real looker.

 

Slightly too late for the HAMB, but a tribute to some REAL SoCal racers!
Nearly 40 years ago, the Kazanjian & Lemon Funny Cars were some of the top runners on the BB/Funny Car trail. Based out of southern California, the duo of Tom Lemon and Art Kazanjian won both the `74 and `75 Nightfire 500 races at Firebird.