History Vintage trophy pic - Top Eliminator

Just found this in my brother’s ba*****t. Anyone familiar with it? Grandmother gave it to my brother 40 years ago. My grandfather raced in So Cal, but unfortunately not much info left behind, he p***ed early, around 1961.

Top Eliminator? Not sure what the event was? Dad said he raced midgets.

Clock still works

 

btt

 

Who was your Grandfather ?

 

That's quite a piece, the Dragster looks very similar the the Bean Bandits. .

 

Shel Hoyt. He worked at Harman & Collins in the 50’s. He was in sales there, brought in by Cliff to push the H&C magneto ignitions to the speed shops. Before that he worked at Lockheed during the war. He was a hotrodder and raced midgets. His car was sponsored by Harman & Collins cams. But I’m not sure ‘Top Eliminator’ is a midget thing? Maybe... I wasn’t there lol.

 

According to an article by Pat Ganahl, the San Gabriel Drag Strip operated from '56 to '63. It was moved to a different location during those years.
https://www.hotrod.com/articles/hrdp-0310-lost-dragstrips-of-so-cal/
If your Grandfather raced Midgets, perhaps it was a gift from a Drag Racer.

 

Just happened to see this. Wow, I've never seen a drag trophy like that before. And drag racing is the only auto sport I know that has Top Eliminator. Interesting it doesn't have a year on it, but it looks early. Here are photos of a trophy I got from Butch Carlton, who ran flathead dragsters out of Anaheim, CA. I was in his shop several years ago, and he had a 55-gal. barrel filled with drag trophies. He said, "Want one of those? Pick one out." So, being a writer, I took this one. There was nothing in the barrel made or marble (or even faux marble); most were plastic.
Pat Ganahl