History Early drag racing photos

Hello,

Back in 1959, Art Afrons came out West for some exhibition runs. He made his first trip to Lion’s Dragstrip to a packed house. it was definitely a first. (The Green Monster #11)

Even our dad made a special trip to see the odd ball race car as it was on one of his rare Saturday vacations.

Our dad with his Dobbs Hat at the drags to watch the Green Monster.

He was impressed after the film was developed and I showed it on the wall of our old Westside of Long Beach house. No sound at the time, but he remembered the sound when he witnessed the large race car going down the track.

We were all expecting the race car to go fast as planes do at the nearby Long Beach Airport runways. The Green Monster #11 is famed for being the fastest of all of the Green Monster race cars for the drags.

Jnaki

As the oddball looking Green Monster lined up at the starting line introductions, everyone was up and watching.
Everyone was standing, although the view of the dragstrip was direct and no one had a blocked view of the race car at the start or even going down the dragstrip... YRMV

 

Somehow I remember(?) that it ran in eliminations and got beat by an unblown Chevy dragster(?).

 

No eliminations as it was not in any known cl*** at Lions Dragstrip at the time. It was only exhibition runs. If they had put the Green Monster in "A" Gas FED elimination cl***, it would have to run against the Sidewinder or the Twin Bear FED and that would not have been a race. The V8 motor race cars were a lot quicker...

Hello,

I had researched this topic a couple of times. I even had a discussion with Dr. Richard Tapia about that day. Here is the old post I did a while back.

Another local So Cal race family with a fast SBC motor was in the C/D or in the D/D cl*** group. They did not allow the size of the race car limit their success in drag racing. The Tapia Brothers from Wilmington, CA:

“Bobby Tapia was one of the drag racing’s most formidable compe***ors in the sport’s early days. He began drag racing in the 1950s. His first taste of major success came racing a ’57 Super Stock Chevy at the drag strips in Southern California. It was in that cl*** that his rivalry with Tom “the ****oose” McEwen began. In 1957, Tapia won the weekend’s compe***ion in the Super Stock cl*** 13 weeks in a row at the legendary Lions Dragstrip in Long Beach, Calif.”
We all got a start somewhere in the early days of drag racing.

“Later, Tapia raced a small-block Chevy-powered D/Gas cl*** dragster that was constructed in his parents’ garage in Torrance, Calif. That car earned the nickname “the Giant Killer” after upsetting Art Arfons’ legendary Green Monster aircraft engine- powered land speed record-challenging car in a July 1959 match race at Lions. That same year, he won 50 out of 52 Middle Eliminator races at Lions. He made Lions’ “Standard 1320" list of record holders three times in 1958. He raced dragsters, including Top Fuelers until 1961 when he was drafted into the U.S. Army.”

A few years back, I had a contact with Dr. Richard Tapia. He told me of the adventures of his extended family from Wilmington, CA just a few miles away from our Westside of Long Beach home. Also, close to the Lion’s Dragstrip location.

With all of the films I had taken of the Tapia Brothers/Beardon /Hoffman FED, now I was getting first hand information behind the extremely low slung, fast injected Chevy FED. My brother and I like the fact that it seemed like it was a family affair and the sleek FED always impressed everyone at Lion’s Dragstrip.

Jnaki

So, with that in mind, exchanging valuable information, photos and films was a no brainer. Now, history has been preserved in one way or another. Thank you Dr. Richard Tapia…

Here is one of the best accounts of the sleek FED that we were next to many times in the Lion’s Dragstrip pits and watching it race others in those early days.

“ALMOST GROWN”

Bobby Tapia and the Tapia Brothers were names in hot rodding and drag racing from a long time ago in So Cal. The photo posted shows the Injected SBC motor, Isky cam, Joe Hunt Vertex Magneto and a first edition of individual side header pipes to push the exhaust out and beyond the driver’s compartment. The name of the fast SBC powered dragster was “ALMOST GROWN.” The “AL” is visible in the B/W photo above.

The small, low slung FED was not one of the big Hemi supercharged motor race cars. But, it put on a show for everyone to enjoy weekly in their own cl*** and eliminator runs. In looking back, it was probably the precursor to the junior fuel cl*** FED race cars. Thank you for the memories and up/close and personal adventures from some wayward kid at Lions Dragstrip in 1958-60.


NOTE: Some kid in a red Pendleton shirt being up close and personal with the Tapia Bros sleek Hilborn injected SBC FED (filmed by James Nak)
Tapia Brothers

Tapia Family History from Dr. Richard Tapia
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/lions-drag-strip-in-1959.1073655/page-2#post-13885573
In a note from brother, Steve Tapia, here are some highlights:

Robert “Bobby” Tapia p***ed away on May 2, 2020, in Boston, M***. He was 82 and died after several m***ive strokes over the last month.

Later, Tapia raced a small-block Chevy-powered D/Gas cl*** dragster that was constructed in his parents’ garage in Torrance, Calif. That car earned the nickname “the Giant Killer” after upsetting Art Arfons’ legendary Green Monster aircraft engine- powered land speed record-challenging car in a July 1959 match race at Lions. That same year, he won 50 out of 52 Middle Eliminator races at Lions. He made Lions’ “Standard 1320" list of record holders three times in 1958. He raced dragsters, including Top Fuelers until 1961 when he was drafted into the U.S. Army.

After being honorably discharged from the Army in 1963, Tapia came back to Southern California and raced Top Fuel dragsters exclusively. He drove for car owners Tarrant & Woodruff, Don Prieto, Don Madden, John Harbert, Ed Donovan, Larry Stellings, and Chris Karamesines. During this period, he continued his rivalry with Tom McEwen and was one of the few drivers who could claim to have bested the rarely beat Greer, Black and Prudhomme Top Fueler driven by Don “the Snake” Prudhomme.

As posted earlier, the Art Afrons Green Monster was now delegated to exhibition runs. In the back of everyone’s mind a friendly compe***ion between the two drag racer’s times that were similar in E.T. So, there was a race between the quick Tapia Brother’s small SBC injected motor FED in a match race against the Green Monster. The Mailliard/Chrisman Sidewinder or Kenny Lindley/Don Hampton’s “Misfire” would not be a fair race, so the small SBC motor dragster from the E.T. time sheets was selected.

Everyone thought the blasting Green Monster would just stomp the small SBC dragster. But, as some had predicted, the quickness off of the starting line gave the advantage to the Tapia Brothers and Bobby Tapia led from start to finish. Much to the cheering of the local So Cal fans and racers.

In discussing the race between the so called mis-matched race vehicles, Dr. Richard Tapia told me that everyone was nervous and afterwards, excited for the results. Here is a photo he sent me to commemorate the event at Lion’s Dragstrip in 1959.
Tapia Bros Collection "Almost Grown" vs.
#11 Green Monster

The Tapia Brothers' injected SBC dragster did beat the Art Afron’s Green Monster. It was called: "Bobby Slays the Green Monster." In 1959 in a highly publicized match race, Bobby Tapia in the Tapia Bros SBC race car called “Almost Grown,” beat Art Afrons in the big Green Monster #11.

Note:

The Green Monster #11 is famed for being the fastest of all of the Green Monster race cars for the drags.

“two, two races in one…”

 

In Jersey, we had several Drag Strips in the early days. Vineland Dragway, Linden Airport, Old Bridge Speedway ( 1/16 ) , Flemington Speedway, and a few others. Then came Atco and Raceway Park. All long gone.