Starting Today (Now) 53rd & Final, at this track, NHRA Governor's Cup Championship - wide variety of racers into the Nite - including Nostalgia Eliminator Hot Rod - 5305 Excelsior Road, Sacramento. Racetrack is up For Sale. Owner retiring. smaller events on calendar, until sold.
Dammit!!! Been wanting to get to the Sacramento drags since waaay back, every time I hear Sacto the first picture in my brain is Bob Bunkers 55 Chevy, read about it in the car rags for years. Man, talk about some history! "Bob and Dixie’s, Folsom Flash will become iconic on the west coast and known throughout the country as the Worlds Fastest All Steel All Real 55 Chevy". In its earlier years (HAMB friendly). A lot more photos Here: https://nofiretechnology.com/2001/11/24/worlds-fastest-55/
Ugh, if I had the funds I would buy every track in California and preserve them. We are loosing our tracks. Once they are gone, then what? If anyone is there this weekend keep an eye out for a *****in blue Jr Fuel Car (B gas) Built by John Farr it is a WORK OF ART and the driver is hell on wheels.
Hopefully the new owner will keep the track operating into the future. Wishful thinking for sure. Property values, Tax collectors and Real Estate Developers will probably rule the day.
Definitely sad to see Sacramento Raceway closing, if it does. It’s a real-deal old drag strip like Bakersfield. I’ve been to a number of events there and always enjoyed the place but there never seemed to be the attendance I would have expected. Racers and their families seem to make up a lot of the attendance. With the cost of everything rising daily I imagine that it’s hard to make it without a major event such as the March Meet at Bakersfield to bump up the annual earnings. I’ve been here in NorCal for thirteen years now and I had hoped to see someone put on an old car event like the Meltdown Drags, the RPM Nationals or even the Antique Nationals at this great old track but as far as I know, nobody ever did it. Now it looks like the time has p***ed. I’ll be there tomorrow hoping for a whiff of nitro and taking some photos for posterity.
We used to caravan up on grudge nights (think it was Wednesday nights) every now and then when I was in my teens. Went to a few of the events, saw my first wheelie vehicle, forget what make, but van styled pickup, if that makes sense. Wonder if I have any of my old time slips stashed somewhere, didn’t run too many times, being 70 or so miles from home. My buddy came in 2nd place on grudge night in the brackets, just a stock, under powered mid 70’s Camaro. Running on the 16/17’s as I recall. His mistake wasn’t realizing that the later it got, the cooler it got, and the car was getting a bit faster, he exceeded his dial in by a scooch. Good memories, sorry to see it end. I’d heard a few years back it was up for sale, maybe just a rumor then. I remember the first time I ran there. At the end of the 1/4 they had some white paint, maybe in a crisscross pattern? For the traps. Hell, as soon as I hit the painted area I lifted. Twice this 390 AMC nosed past me. .I was talking to my buddy and some fella overheard me. Said “no, keep your foot in it until you’re past the paint”. What the heck did I know about a track? Third and last time of the night I was lined up against that same AMC. He rolled his p***enger window down and asked “do you want to make it interesting “? Well, I had new found knowledge. I asked what he had in mind. “25 bucks”. Well I had all of 25 on me, was hoping my buddy had money on him, because if I lost, I was down to about a 1/4 tank and there would be no way to get the truck home. Well, I won the race by a fender and man was the guy pissed off. Heck, I was kinda scared, I’m in my teens, this dude was old, I mean like late 20’s old He paid though, we pulled out before the bracket racing started, I was smiling the whole way home.
Back in the late 1990's I went to Sacramento raceway a coupe of times. It was a good time, but low turnout as someone already mentioned. Bob Panella had the opportunity to buy the track at one time. It would be nice if the Panella family bought the track, as both Bob, and his son were racers at one time.
What a shame that this cool old track, is going to be sold. It's very similar to FAMOSO, out in the middle of no where, in the San Joaquin valley.
JJ didn’t mention it, but with Mather AFB (just a couple miles away from Sacto Raceway) having a major air show today, there was action in the air and on the ground. I’ve got a seriously stiff neck! Nitro fumes provided by three nostalgia Funny Cars and two nostalgia Top Fuel Dragsters. Beautiful weather, tons of old race cars and packed grandstands, a fitting send off for the old race track. They announced that there will still be some races happening at the facility until it is sold, like Wednesday night street legal drags, but no major events. That’s interesting.
I hear the owner is turning everything over to his daughter and it is all up to her. I really hope she wont sell the place.
If that’s true, (and I sincerely hope it is) they need to find a ***le sponsor to infuse some cash for repairs and upgrades and they need to get some of the young promoters to hold some events there to broaden its awareness. It was clear that the owner is ready to retire after dealing with the h***les of running a racetrack in California for all these years. He has done one helluva job. A dragstrip with real “patina”…. A beautiful sight, Bendtsen’s Thames ready to make a p***. My personal favorite, Brian Hall’s Nomad N/TF. (I miss The Tramp, the Bantam AA/FA he used to run) All you had to do was look up…. Talk about fast and loud, the Thunderbirds.
Attended the final Reno Air Races last weekend and the last Governor’s Cup this weekend. Have great memories of both events and very sad to see both events ending. No single reason events like these are fading away, but cost of insurance is a big one as well.
Great pictures as always JJ. Did you see the General Jerry Lee wheelstander spin out on his return run? I wondered what happened. He did a great run down track.
There used to be a similar truck here in town as the General Jerry Lee. Id see it dropping the kids off at school on the way home. No blower on it though, but was never close enough to get a look at it. But for as often as I saw it, had to be a driver
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