I was reading through the October of 1961 issue of Cars (a sister pub to Custom Rodder and Speed and Custom) when I stumbled upon an article about 1/2 mile drags. According to the article the SCTA was sponsoring 1/2 mile drags at Riverside Raceway between the dry lakes races to keep people prepped. They mention the likes of Dean Moon (there is also an article about 'Moonbeam' in there I will post later) and Ak Miller racing there. Did any of you ever watch these 1/2 mile drags? Anyone know of anywhere else these 1/2 mile drags were held? Here are the pages straight out of the magazine...
i have an old mag with an article on 1/2 mile drags also. anyone here participate in these drags? matt
Can you imagine the speeds today running Fueler's and Funny's through the traps at a 1/2 mile. Whoa. I would guess the cost of those tracks even back then would have to be pretty expensive, the runoff for a half mile track would be quite a bit longer as well.
I posted this subject over on the message board at http://www.landracing.com/ and Glen Barrett, the current chief SCTA timer, said he raced his roadster there. Apparently parts breakage was a problem and the concept kinda went away. He did say it was a lot of fun though.
I belong over there as well, I'll have to check out your post. The article talks about the gearing required for the 1/2 mile being comparable to that of salt flats racing. I am anxious to read about his set up racing the 1/2 mile. (Isn't it weird to say 'the 1/2'? )
I remember them doing the 1/2 mile deal at Riverside but it didn't last long . There was also a 1/2 mile strip south of Carson City ,NV. that raced into the late 50s , old airforce landing strip as I recall. I don't think a modern day top fuel car could run that far and the speeds would not increase much more with the tires and gearing they run . It's like a stick of powder with a very short fuse , 'bout 5 seconds worth.Bonneville guys have run top fuel rear motored style cars with their mandated tires and traction becomes the big problem much above 300 MPH .
I attended the 1/2 mile drags on 2/5/61 with my dad and brother. My dad won a trophy (which I still have) with his Cad powered 51 Chevy daily driver (107mph). My brother ran his 57 Corvette (115 mph) but was off the pace because, he claimed, he only had a 3 speed tranny and the fast guys all had 4 speeds! A fun day for an 11 year old.
Im not sure what mag. its printed in, but not long ago, like two years, a 1 mile drag race event was held outside of Dallas TX. I know the winner of the motorcycle class. I think it was Hot Rod mag. had an article on this. Sorry, I didnt mean to hijack. Just thought some would like to know there is some long track racing still going on. It was on an abandend runway somewhere near Dallas, only a once a year, or couple year thing.
Yup, mid 60's at Riverside. No rails, mostly door slammers, some bikes, but fun to see. They didn't last long. Sounded better than it actually was...
Some of the popular STREET racing venues in these parts 25-30 years ago were not only marked off for the quarter, but the eighth and the half also. One in particular was on a state road the powers that be had a change of heart about completing, and went out past an industrial area around a large lake, dead ending three miles out in the middle of nowhere. Even had a staging area marked of at the end of the pavement where everyone turned around and raced back toward the town. Pretty interesting what you would see out there on a weekend. We also used to go top end from a "roller" a few miles out of town on the not so old at the time interstate. Traffic was sparse enough at 3 AM there was little danger of overtaking if you rolled slow for a minute or two before you took off.
Most of the racers at the 1/2 mile drags were from the SCTA. The association held drag races during the off season to maintain interest and pad the bank account. After Riverside the events moved to Orange County and Palmdale in the 80s. I don't recall when this ended but, I do know we ran Palmdale in 1984 when I was the SCTA President. Lakes and Bonneville entries started to climb and trouble finding volunteers were two of the reasons to abandon the off season events. DW
I just drooled a little, thinking about a stack of maybe 8-10 lenco yankers hanging out in an IHRA Pro Stocker. You'd end up with so many breakdowns it would be ridiculous. Kind of funny, the national event in San Antonio proved you could put on a successful 1/8 pro race that's fun for fans and appreciated by racers.
I went to the half-mile digs at Riverside (only time I ever went to that track) with some Bonneville guys from Whittier in late '65/early '66. It was little more than a chance for the B'ville/lakes crowd to drag their iron out during the off season. Few, if any, of the contestants were geared for drag racing, and the starts were generally VERY tame, to prevent breakage. Also, there were a good number of singles, as I recall. Really more of a "test and tune" affair. I don't believe there were any paying spectators. Still, there were plenty of nice cars to check out, and lots of time for bench racing. Hot Rod Magazine ran their quarter-mile drags there for a few years around that time, but I think the half-mile deal was mostly an SCTA thing. Maybe not waaay back in the early days, but for sure in the later years.
You have to remember,,,back in the early 60's some said nobody would every break the 150 MPH barrier at the drag strip,,,,HRP
There's an article on 1/2-mile drags put on by the SCTA at Riverside in the September, 1965 issue of Modern Rod. My scanner is on the fritz or else I'd post some photos. Lots of sporty-type and land-speed cars, but there were a couple of "altereds" and a digger in the spread.
In 1964, HRM road-tested the Studebaker Avanti R3 and took it to the 1/2-mile drags at Riverside. The 304.5", 335hp Paxton supercharged Stude had the second fastest stock class time of the meet at around 122 MPH, beaten only by a Plymouth 426" Max Wedge at 124 MPH. thnx, jack vines.
This shot was taken by the late Don Cummins from the Champion bridge at an SCTA 1/2 mile race in 1963. I loved the SCTA's winter 1/2 mile drags. I changed the gear from 5:38 for the 1/4 mile to 4:46 for the 1/2. Ran a best of just over 144. Hell of a ride in a street roadster. Since I ran a 4 speed, and most of the faster lakes cars ran 2 or 3 speed boxes, I usually got a shot at top eliminator. Ran the 1/2 mile in the mid 18's. One day I made it to the final in top eliminator. Had to run for the trophy against Burke Le Sage in Don Alderson's A altered roadster. They were running a blown hemi on gas, and over 185 on the top end. Since it was a lakes car, they ran a La Salle two speed. At the flag I was gone. Burke had to slip the hell out of the clutch to get rolling. At about 300 yards from the finish line, he was nowhere in sight. Then I heard the big angry hemi coming. I got to the ET light first, but Burke roared by me at the MPH light. The wind off that highboy roadster really blew me around, but I got the win. One of the mosrt fun races I ever had in the roadster!
The strip where I used to live was poor so you had to run twice to do the half-mile. "What'll she do in the half?" Sounds weird doesn't it?
The RTA-SCTA 1/2 mile used the Riverside Raceway back straight. They ran one time, in 1962 on an old crop dusting strip in Taft,Ca. Duane Kofoed is a member of the LA Roadster club.
The SCTA ran 1/2 mile drags in the winter months when El Mirage was flooded. I loved the 1/2 mile. A damn good ride for your money!
For sure Dean, though I'm about 10 years too young to have witnessed or participated in half mile drags they had to have been more like the backroad "speed contests" that we all liked to have.
The Jalopy Journal
