Great Lakes Dragaway 50th anniversary nostalgia Drags

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I remember broadway bobs' b-day party a few years back, i think the 50th?!?! free food and BEER, bob was drunk and standing on the side of a jet car while it was making big flames and almost threw him off many times!

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Was ( is ) broadway bob ever sober He is an awesome guy but I remember hearing stories about him going through the pits, and getting beers from just about every trailer... Now that is a job I would want... Cool sunglasses and all

 

Make this happen...I'll offer up magazine coverage.

There will also be one very pissed off white station wagon there to run for fun.

Thre'd be lots of interest in the Twin Cities area,,,contact the MSRA guys and it'll be packed.

Scotch!~

 

Broadway Bob held Nostalgia Drags called "Drag and Boogie" weekends throughout the 80's and early 90's!

Much like the HAMB drags except for the Muscle cars that would show.

Had a 29 Tall cab Model A P/U that ran a consistent 13.54 @ 100mph...!

That was just fast enough to beat many Big Block muscle cars because they would still be spinning half way down the track as I motored in front too the finish line...!

 

Killer ideas guys. HMMM..MSRA...sound like somepin ta consider I need yet to talk with the owners & promoters BUT...My vision is to keep it an exclusive pre-64 drag car requirement, I believe this would paint the "best" nostalgia experience. And the experience to be had is when the strip was built - which was in the 1950's

 

Love the idea but would not make the cutoff 64. How can a guy with say a 64 GTO come and you leave out say a 65 Mustang drag car. 1965 was one happening year. AHRA, NHRA and even NASCAR was drag racing. I would make it later then 64

 

I agree on the later cut-off: They were running front engine diggers through the '60s, and then what about the Gassers? Fuel Altereds? Altered Wheel Base cars?! From a strict cut-off time frame, yeah, the roots go back to the '50s, but I think "nostalgia" all blends together to about '67-'69 or so. Maybe that's a little late, because I don't think you'd get the same kick watching a '69 Camaro versus a '65 Mopar, but you get the idea.
Unless it was one of the early Fiberglass funny cars! Something like the Flying Dutchman '69 Charger, or the Mr. Chevrolet '67 Camaro funny car.

Gotta get Garlits there to display and run something, too. He'd probably go for it, and then you can build off him.

-Brad

 

Most of the "Classic" shows go pre-72...it seems to work well. If you must draw a line, I suggest you draw it there.

Other opinions?

Scotch~!

 

I agree on the cut off. There is some pretty cool flip tops starting to come out of the woodwork. The First one that comes to mind is Rod Bruce's '70 Firebird fliptop (body use to be owned by Arnie"The Farmer"Beswick, "The Boss Bird")

 

65fairlane from NY, I understand your point of view. I wanna state that my pre-64 cut off is ONLY an idea, & I'm open to other ideas such as your own.

To clarify my perspective, I think primaryly 50's styled hotrods, racecars, & dragsters would paint the vision I've always had:

I rememember being a young boy, gripping the shattered fence @ the staging lanes. Getting my first smells of rubber, nitro, alcohol, & hot black top. As I rubbed my eyes from the rich smoke of burnin meats (tire & beef meats).

I know the track has always been straight & smooth. The grounds have always been simple, & primative with gravel pits, and bumpy grass patches.

I always closed my eyes & could effortlessly envision: 1954 (the year Broadway made the birth place for hotrodders)
Nothing fancy. Motors. Oil. Tools tossed about. A beer can resting on the bumper.

Fast-forward 50years...Anniversary Nostalgia Drags. Nothing Fancy. Simple gearhead fun just as as it began 50years ago.


(In my eyes the mid to late 60's represent the growth & maturity of drag srip racing. I envision celebrating the BIRTH. Anyone who's been to Great Lakes knows the picture I am painting.)
Thanx...Keep Ideas Comin...NICK

 

...another idea.....Bob Bleed, Talked of his uncle drivin his roadster in a big-ass parade. Tha would be kool do do again, would anyone be interested? Where can I find more info about "that" historic parade into the dragstrip????

 

Nick have you been in contact with anyone there yet? if memory is correct, MOFOCO actually owns the track, there on 1st and Capital, Broadway Bob, just hangs out there, going to see if i still know anyone at mofoco and see if i can help out that way...880 miles away...
gotta get my ass in gear, 31 pu would be fun to drive there...

keep up the great work!!!!

 

It's a kick-ass idea, and one I would attend... if it didn't conflict with other regional and HAMB events.
We put the Pig-N-Piston back into Sept. so it wouldn't overlap...

If you hold it on Sunday afternoon, and evening, of the WSRA corn roast, and cross promoted each other and wallpaper the the show in Fondy...???
There would be some extra rides within an hour.
I'd go on Sunday night. The HAMB drags was so fuckin' cool at night... blastin' toward the end of that strip... tight hairpin on the other end... single master cylinder... downshiftin' 'til the wheels bark... ass bitin' a hole in the seat...
The creatures come out at night....

I could help wallpaper the Fondy show... we do it anyway.

50 years... that's cool.


JOE

 

Alright folks, I work at da Grove as an announcer, and Nick and I are trying to get this thing together. I personally want it to be a sensory experience(food, music, CARS!)... The idea I had, besides the old-skool car show, is all kinds of kick-ass vintage racing action and displays. INCLUDING altered wheelbase A/FX cars, rails, and whatever else shows up. To me, drag racing is watching Landy doing a rosin burnout and a 1/2 track wheelie among other things. That's where the cutoff date for the carshow part of it comes into play.

I just got off da phone with the owners of the track, and I'll hopefully find out Monday on a date... Everyone is pretty hip to the idea, and there might be a possibility of getting some 'characters' out, like Arnie Beswick, etc. As soon as I hear something, y'all will be the first to know. I gotta talk to Broadway, and see if he's got any ideas...

Dietrich
91.7 WMSE Saturday Morning Cartunes
www.wmse.org
6-9 Sat. mornings

 

I like the idea of period correct also and some kind of cut-off should come into play. I can go to any strip and see a '67 Camaro or Mustang race. I could see some exceptions for original nostalgic funny cars or dragsters or super stocks that might break out of the cut-off date. Sounds like a cool event.

 

The Hot Rod Hucksters (rockabilly) might be interested in playing assuming the date doesn't conflict with any of my many weddings this summer.

 

Here's how our rail looked when we ran Union Grove's UDRA meet in '65. It still runs....

 

Junkyrad dog, Thanx for offerin ta toss out flyers in fon du lac area. If in a few months you see a heavy box, filled with paper ya know what ta do......make paper airplanes....& toss'em at the cruise nites Yeah, joe thanx & I'll be takin you up on the offer

 

Yes!
The more time goes on, the cooler this gets! I'd pay money to see Bleed again.

Hopefully, I'll get my '56 tuned & running strong by then.

There were some awesome floppers in the 70's. You can't leave them out. The racecars started sucking when the sponsors started taking over the car.
As much as Mustangs are poo-pooed at the traditional car shows, they were an important part of gasser history(even though they spelled the end of the Willys & the like).

 

I'd like to see "Some" discretion used..., seeing a 67 Mustang with a Straight axle excites me...! But not a PRO-Street 67 Mustang...!

The sixties had "Cool" cars but many have transitioned from "Nosebleed" handfuls of "Scary" horsepower..., to Slammed "aluminum 600 cube monster motors" on pro chassis with 40 inches of rubber and Kevlar body panels !!!!!!

Just my two cents...!!!

Mark

 

As read & finalize my thinkin.....I think to have the drags open to many forms of nostalgic racers.....But I think the car show could be MORE SPECIFIC..(to create the nostalgic mood)....inlcluding a cut-off year & dfined guidelines for admitted cars. Guides such as: primer, no billet, metalflake, stovebolts/ flatheads/ arduns, NO Tweed interior No trailers, roadsters, or leadsleds.

How to reach car show objective: Close eyes, Think Vintage Speed & culture. Think of the following terms- Hunnert Car Pile Up, Lonestar round-up, Hamb Drags, Paso Robles.........(sweet Dreams )....

 

IF you do the RIGHT thing regarding RULES, I will help promote up here at my local track..... Wisconsin International Raceway.... If you have only 14 second rat rods and goofball roadsters and 15 second shitbox CARS we'll stay home and run fast times at W.I.R... LUKESTER .... Appleton WI !!!!!!

 

Lukester I hear what you're sayin....And I'll try my best but I have to work with others such as the owners....But I know the Milwaukee goofballs. "Hey lets make my '32 w/ a 350 crate motor, have tweed interior, run dakota digitals, Win the world of wheels award & then park for the rest of the year! " words from that guy who never drives his car

 

Something close to home, I'm there.

 

I think Luke should stay home.

 

I agree, fag!

 

I ran there from '65 to '67...now if I can just find that '61 Chevy I had....Anyway, I'd be there.

 

I agree completely.
Gobs of uncontrollable horsepower belong in Altereds!

 

IDEA..car show...2 sections...1 which include muscle cars & and Hi-dollar cars, The other is the HIGHLIGHTED SHOW...Traditional Rods, kustoms, & Sleds. Whatcha think

 

Well, I just got a tentative date for the Nostalgia Drag/Gasser Day at da Grove... So far it looks like July 10th, which is the Sunday after Bugfest. I'll know for sure next week(the new year), but that's pretty much gonna be the day. Mark yer calendars! Folks who bring a rod to the car show will get a chance to run what ya bring, as long as it's relatively safe and might actually pass a race tech inspection(seat belts, puke tank, roll bar on open cars, all lugs on wheels..) You know, simple stuff like that. Anyway, more to come as I figger out how to get this thing going, and as I hear from people/bands/artists etc that wanna be there. Hell, I might even be able to slap the FED together for a display(no runs-I'm still broke and it needs a lotta shit!)

Here's a picture of the beest, and it hasn't gotten much farther along since this was taken. Anyone got any spare parts laying around?

 

I spent every Sunday at The Grove in 64 and 65. I have never seen Bob sober but he is in the Drag Racing Hall of Fame and I understand there is now a Broadway Bob bobblehead available. I saw him a few months ago conducting business on the pay phone in the entry way of a Culvers.

We're only 15 minutes away too. Count us in !!