History Early drag racing photos

that car was the first to run 150 , was so technically advanced for the time others really never stood a chance , chromoly chassis ,magnesium wheels. .disc brakes and lots of stuff plus really smart people in the mix

 

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, gassers, dragsters, jr stockers, stockers at the Patch. If you have the need for speed be there.

 

George Cerney's roadster. Bill Niekamp built it for the salt/lakes, George converted it to drag racing with candy tangerine paint and a Chevy for power.

 

Crossley, Williams, and Swann roll to the starting line in a top fuel race against Gotelli.

 

Melvin Heath at the first NHRA Nationals, here running gas. He would switch to fuel the next year and win top eliminator.


The Speed Sport crew, Red Greth, Lyle Fisher, and Don Maynard at the first NHRA Nationals, the second part of the meet held at Perryville Arizona, right outside of Phoenix. The roadster would later get orange paint and thrill spectators with its exhaust note, while setting records from coast to coast.


The Oceanside Oilers with their Crosley-bodied altered at the first NHRA Nationals. The car was built initially with a flathead, but they ran an Olds here. All of these photos came from a photo essay by Tim Bernsau that NHRA posted last September.

 

I think that is Island Dragway and I think I recognize the cars but the names escape me.

Pat

 

Pat, Island was nicknamed the Patch because of the cabbage farming in the rich soil next to the track (cabbage patch)

The Anglia on the far side was Tony Feil's B/G Super Grape. Not sure of the Willy's on the near side.

 

Thanks Haze, I sent the image to "Baby Cakes" he owned the Willys from Nutley NJ. I'm sure he knows.

Pat

 

Joe Stecker at Island dragway

 

That was with the Olds motor and that is also what the first Revell model was modeled after. One of the first models I built as a kid. It was sooooo long ago.

Pat

 

Just read about them and the accident.....it was Pete that was in the seat when the crash happened. Was his last drive down the track in a race car.

 

John Geraghty had the Ayala brothers build him a '40 ragtop to cruise, but he also drag raced it, seen here at Santa Ana....Wally Welch collection.


Chuck Branham in the PVTA dragster, around 1954, at Pomona.


Tom "Acmo" McLaughlin and Bob Rounthwaite ran this borrowed track roadster at Saugus. "Acmo" got his nickname because he used Acme Beer cars as carb tubes.



Arizaga and Job fuel sedan, from El Monte, CA, at the first NHRA Nationals. Hot Rod photo


Sharon Baker, in the sedan, goes off against tennis pro Pancho Gonzales, at Saugus. Bakerracingpix.



"Stock top"...sure, when a cutting torch was quicker than a hacksaw. Santa Ana, around 1950-51, from the Bernie Couch collection.


Don Montgomery's Cord sedan at Pomona. It had a Cord body, that that was about all that was Cord. Buick running gear, and a Buick 8, that later got replaced by a GMC. Don Montgomery collection.


6-banger at the first NHRA Nationals, 1955, Great Bend KS. 5-carb manifold, dual coil ignition, almost all looks home built, as was the case back then. I don't know how the roll bar passed inspection, but beyond the safety challenges, give the builder credit for innovation...notice the drilled-out axle housings, so guessing he ran the rear end dry. NHRA Photo.


Bill Sanders, here with a stock-appearing flathead V-8 replacing the Cragar-equipped four barrel Bill normally ran. Bill ran an early Willys hood for a nose...Santa Ana, around 1954. Pat Ganahl posted this photo in one of his newsletters.



Shinoda and Goldberg fuel roadster. Larry Shinoda built this car first with a flathead, later got Goldberg's Olds when Larry moved to Detroit, when he was one of the great minds behind the Chevy Corvette. American Hot Rod Foundation photo.


Sidebotham Brothers, San Fernando, 1956. The brothers started this car with an Ardun, and then went to this blown Olds, with lots of homemade parts. Bob Sidebotham later went on to drive several top fuel dragsters. Photo from the Larry Rose collection.


The Pape brothers rear engine roadster at Pomona. This car was very well engineered, including a rear end mounting that allowed the rear axle to pivot when the car accelerated. It has been found and restored. Norm Grudem photo.


Ray Godman's dragster eyes the competition. Raymond never let a bullet in the spine from a Korean war sniper get in the way of his drag racing, and became one of Tennessee's most famous drag racers. Lanny Christman photo, possibly taken at Hall's Drag Strip in Tennessee.

 

My dad is in the middle, I used to play in that car

 

That’s Al Mahaney (with the flattop hair cut) from Sioux City. I believe Jim Studly was the driver and may have been killed in that car.

 

I have seen several photos of the Nobles Car Club dragster, had no idea that it was involved in a fatal crash. But that appears to have been the case. This is the story from Drag Strip Deaths: "Biographical: He was traveling about 150 MPH when his dragster skidded off the track. It slid 200 feet along the shoulder, then hit the shutdown area and turned over. There may have been a malfunction in the rear axle of Studley's car. He had been drag racing for fifteen years. He lived in Sioux City, Iowa, and was the father of seven children."

 

I’d like to see more pictures of the Nobles cars, I remember riding with mom to push start the rail.