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

Jack Doyle’s Slider AA/GD at New England along with the original steering wheel

 

Arnie's not running a lot of tire pressure.

 

John Watson’s Scorpion B/Comp Fiat in the shop in 1967.

 

Hope there is more left of the car then that.

 

A few shots from Modern Rod Magazine's coverage of the '65 Hot Rod Magazine Nationals. First off, Prudhomme in the Hawaiian (sorry for the page split, I'm too lazy to fix it):

 

Next up, Nando Haase in the Rader Wheels entry:

 

And finally, James Warren out on Mike Snively:

The HRM Nats were held at Riverside.

 

And then there were the Half-Mile Drags at Riverside for the top-end guys (SCTA) who didn't go to El Mirage...

 

Check out the car in the lower right corner...yup, our very own @Dean Lowe...he has commented here before that he ran the RPU at the Half-Mile Drags and here is the evidence!

 

Last page of the article from the September, '65 issue of Modern Rod Magazine:

 

The photo at Riverside was the last SCTA 1/2 mile race for 1963. It was the last time the red car ever ran 1/2 mile. I had not seen that photo before. Thanks for posting it.

 

93 Today

 

Bob Spears 673 Lafayette Ford . Lafayette Ca,

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ED!!!!!.....

 

The article hints that some gearing shenanigan's were done to jump from quarter- to half-mile racing (and from the drags to "regular" SCTA events). Since you were there for all that, what kinds of changes did you have to make to the car to make it happy at the various venues? Am I correct that Riverside was the only track that held the half-mile drags?

 

Yes, Riverside was the only 1/2 mile track. By '63 we were running 5.34 gears in the 1/4 mile, and changed the Halibrand to the 4.46 gear set for the 1/2 mile runs. Only ran the Studebaker at El Mirage and Bonneville. The gears for it were 3.55 for El Mirage, and 3.08 for the salt.

 

@Dean Lowe


Hello,

This is/was a historic time period in So Cal drags. Riverside Raceway was the first So Cal dragstrip to run a huge drag race day that invited the top drag racers in the USA for a challenge… The East vs West style of race day. The Eastcoast, Midwest, PNW, Southwest, and South were part of the challengers against the top Westcoast racers. Led by Art Chrisman, Cyr/Hopper, etc… and fellow Westcoast drag racers…

But the day in December of 1959 at the Riverside Raceway was a huge drag race for everyone in So Cal. A lot of older drag race/hot rod folks remember their stories of sitting in the sun on the cliff, waiting for the race cars to come down the dragstrip. Even the smallest racer's exhaust noise was amplified to make each run more exciting.

The noise, the small image at the starting line and then in a few seconds, a full size race car right in front for a fleeting moment… all of the excitement of 1959 drag racing at its best.

We saw the latest version of the Hustler at the time, in the December Riverside Raceway drag race in 1959. The accolades were all correct. A fast, sleek race car with numbers to back up any records.
Chrisman Cannon 1959 Riverside Raceway December 1959
(early films at J Naki You Tube channel…)

But, as history provides us with information, they were too happy going 181 mph in the Hustler 2.
Inspiration for an old Friday Art post...
Read Pat Ganahl’s version of the exact drag race with great photos by Doug Petersen…


But, within a year or so, they offered a ½ mile version on the same course, just extended a little longer.

Riverside Raceway was a long stretch of roadway, just big enough for a 1/2 mile race.


The overlay shows the old raceway on top of the newish Moreno Valley Mall with the
East/West Highway I-60 on top.

Jnaki

The following notes are from my “older” file on So Cal drag racing. At the time, it was a one of a kind event and should be noted, the top racers did some altering to accommodate the longer course.

The @deanlowe file section was full of valuable information and some great photos. Great job, great history of So Cal drags… Dean!

 

The 56 Chevy Qualifiers 2 car club Long Beach Ca. When Fremont was AHRA they made the tow up from L A With Ten or more nice race cars.