Get A Load Of This From Lions (1 Viewer)

[TopFuel@Lions]

Just another gem from Lions Drag Strip. On November 2 of 1968,the track presented this show. The East vs. West "open" Funny Car Championships.

It featured "four" 8-car fields of qualified Funny Cars!!! 32 cars with over 40 entered,over 40!
1. 1st 8-car ladder paid $1500-to-win if pre-entered.
2. If not pre-entered it paid $1000-to-win.

3. 2nd 8-car qualified field paid $1200-to-win if pre-entered.
4 .If not pre-entered paid $1000-to-win.

5. 3rd 8-car qualified field paid $750-to-win.
6. 4th 8-car qualified field paid $500-to-win

The admission was $4.00 dollars, kids under 12 free (not me lol) Pit passes were $1.00. So for the 2 of us it cost my dad $10.00 dollars in 1968, not chump change.

That same night Irwindale had a booked-in East vs. West round robin FC meet with 16 cars! So that November weekend had nearly 60 Funny Cars running at 2 tracks with 30 miles of each other, oh the choices and options!



TopFuel@Lions
Talladega Announcer

 

[Cliff]

Yeah, that was the "problem". What track to you wanna go to Sat night? Lions, OCIR, Irwindale, Carlsbad if you wanted to travel a bit. Wish I had that problem today!

 

[Z28LT1]

The admission was $4.00 dollars, kids under 12 free (not me lol) Pit passes were $1.00. So for the 2 of us it cost my dad $10.00 dollars in 1968, not chump change.

In 2019 dollars, that's almost $74. Fairly in line with today's money for 1 day at a national event (for one person, not 2).

 

[Butch]

So even back then, Promotors couldn't work together. lol

 

[TopFuel@Lions]

At that point in time is So-Cal there were so many "hot" Cars back then (supercharged and /or nitro) it was easy for the big 3 tracks to book shows every weekend. As Cliff pointed out there were so many good options for Saturday nights and always San Fernando on Sundays. For myself and my father it was always, repeat always Lions first, if there was a really good show elsewhere, I mean a really good show, we would sometimes bypass Lions.


TopFuel@Lions

 

[Cliff]

Yeah there were times when paying $4 to get in was about like $25 today. I would always have $ to go to the drags & I would spring for the pit pass. Sometimes I didn't want to pay that much but the chance to go see the cars up close was worth it. I worked a job around 1969 where I made $80 a week. Paid rent, groceries, gas for the car, $ for the drags, etc. Good thing I was single.