Folks Of Interest The Glory that is the Hemi, picture thread

Apparently that guy on the side can’t read!

 

These DeSoto covers were a nice fit on a 327" Chevy -- just for fun!

 

Hello,

Lets not get too excited at news that may not accurately portray the drag race meet in Houston, 1958. An anxious local writer may have overlooked the cadre of top drag racers participating in all of the So Cal dragstrips during that time period. Not many ventured outside of So Cal or Northern Cal for drag races. Here is an ad:

The 1958 ad was a poke at the continuing East speed records versus the Westcoast actual times at the multiple different dragstrips located all over the coast.

The top racers at the time were still racing at the different west coast dragstrips and not many ventured outside of California or Arizona. The pro-touring had not become a thing as yet.

After this ad was placed, the next biggest and most well attended drag race in USA history took place in
March of 1959 at the Bakersfield Smokers first March Meet. Garlits was in attendance and lost in the first round. But, thanks to a couple of So Cal racers and Cam Sponsor folks, they got the new approach for the carburetor powered FED... a new 671 supercharger blower spec motor... Now, the California tour to Northern California continued and records were set, again...

The only other time Garlits appeared in So Cal was in December of 1959. That was one of the only times when the biggest names in drag racing all headed West to Riverside Raceway for some real East vs West compe***ion. Now, it was a drag race to remember.

Much has been written about the event and it was well do***ented. Garlits was listed as the winner of the Top Eliminator, but it was questionable. Check out the actual race as filmed by a young teenager standing a few feet away from the starting line.

For some, it was fast and in a flash, the race started with questions from almost everyone at the starting line. Was it a legal race, did BOTH racers have time to set up and stage correctly? If anyone looks at the unedited film, the noticeable thing is the quickness of the staging/take off of Garlits.

Every one at the starting line started conversations as it was not a good start or someone missed the timing of both contestants ready at the same time. It was a questionable start as one looks at the film over and over. There was no “are you ready, are you ready” then the start as everyone was expecting.

Jnaki

All of these years later, an important start for an important event was still questionable…YRMV