Coolest off track and historic drag racing photos ever (1 Viewer)

Was the Garlits photo shot at Indy? He had taken this car there one year, to do a 1/8 mile exhibition run. Of course, Big ran it all the way thru the 1/4 mile. Fans loved it & NHRA let him know about it. :p
 
Was the Garlits photo shot at Indy? He had taken this car there one year, to do a 1/8 mile exhibition run. Of course, Big ran it all the way thru the 1/4 mile. Fans loved it & NHRA let him know about it. :p

Yes. It was Indy in 1979 for the 25th anniversary.
 
I recall seeing this rig on the highway at night after a big event at NY National. Probably ‘68. We were honking and waving at them and they were back! :)
 
Beaver Bros in a Train Yard with a Caddy (isn't that part of the game 'Clue' ?)











And who wouldn't faint of they found these beauties in a junkyard? Real magnesium TORQ Thrusts....woof!



Just a nice, clean pair of aviator goggles


Bill Tidwell







And now blurring the lines between offtrack/shop theme and just uploading nice quality shots.





A couple of old Pomona shots





All alone and still looking good....

Is MT’s car way out in the pits at Pomona?
That’s where I met my late friend :( Slammin’ Sammy Miller. He was way out there on Sunday morning, all alone, with Prudhomme’s Hot Wheels ‘Cuda #1. The body was stripped of anything to do with HW and Prudhomme.
 
Two young pioneers....

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Looks like Buster and Don are maybe checking some misplaced staging lights?

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Fairly sure that’s HW ‘Cuda #1.
Is that at Stardust Raceway Vegas?
Milt, no, that's the 2nd Snake Hot Wheels Cuda, taken at the Nov. '70 AHRA World Finals, Bee Line AZ.
I believe it was the 2nd outing for the new Snake Cuda, the OCIR Mfg. Meet being the first, 1 week prior.
The 1st Hot Wheels was an Exhibition Engineering creation (Ronnie Scrima) while the 2nd was by John Buttera.

Although they looked similar here are some key differences to note:
---you can see the '71 Cuda quad headlights in this photo.
---the Coca-Cola logo was in a red box for '71 w/ no box for '70.
---the '71 ran these prototype Cragar Super Trick wheels (note the chrome centers) while the '70 had outdated Cragar SS wheels.
---this '71 Cuda body was much slicker and scaled down vs. the original '70.

The yellow paint job for this No. 2 only raced from Nov. through Dec. '70.
The new paint job debuted at Irwindale's New Year's Day FC bash (1-1-71). This was the white Cuda w/ big blue panels on the doors and red flames on
the hood, roof and deck lid.
 
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Is MT’s car way out in the pits at Pomona?
That’s where I met my late friend :( Slammin’ Sammy Miller. He was way out there on Sunday morning, all alone, with Prudhomme’s Hot Wheels ‘Cuda #1. The body was stripped of anything to do with HW and Prudhomme.
No, the '73 M/T Grand Am is not at the Pomona Fairgrounds.
I'm not sure of the location but it feels like Long Beach to me. The background buildings are too old to be anywhere in Orange County at the time.
Several of the SoCal pro photographers used to find these expansive parking lots to use for FC photoshoots.
 
A few months ago The Snake (our old neighbor down the street) came by Valley Head Service for a visit. Wanted to know what percentage of nitro we run in our '57 Chevy.

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Doesn't get any cooler than Willie working on the car in a rough rock pit area....

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A VERY early D.G.

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Two great minds....

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A great shot for you M/T admirers out there....

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Given the Garlits photo's date of Sept. '62 I bet it was taken at Indy.
Note the "not a Hemi" motor, a 413 Dodge wedge. Garlits says he build Swamp Rat IV w/ this gasoline motor specifically to compete at Indy
during NHRA's fuel ban. Crewman Archie Linderbrand was slated to debut as the driver but changed his mind at the last minute. This put Garlits in the seat, his 3rd "unretirement" after not driving in over a year. Garlits made it all the way to the final where he lost to Jack Chrisman in Mickey Thompson's Pontiac-powered dragster. Ironically, that M/T rail was using modified Hemi heads. This was Garlits' first NHRA final. He would return one year later and lose again, this time to Bobby Vodnik.

However, in between those Nationals Garlits won NHRA's first return to fuel, the '63 Winternationals.
For some unknown reason NHRA returned to "gas only" for the '63 Nationals. The first national event after the fuel ban was the '64 Winternationals, won by Jack Williams. Then, Garlits would make his way to his 3rd Nationals final and take the win, his first Indy!
Source: "Big Daddy, the Autoiography of Don Garlits" and the "Big Daddy Career Pictorial, Volume 1."
 
The Sox and Martin team at Prescott Raceway in the early '80s. I'm not sure if the track is still in existence. It was in the southwest corner of Arkansas, just off I-30. At the time, it was still a quarter mile track. But, I believe they went to 1/8 mile later on.

"Clean up in lane 2"
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