Interesting match race-Rhonda vs. Cowdrey (1 Viewer)

[TopFuel@Lions]

Lions Drag Strip had a really cool and interesting headlining match race in late April of 1966. Gas Rhonda's Russ Davis Injected Ford Mustang vs. Norm Cowdrey's Supercharged Austin Healy 1000. A best 2 out of 3. If you ever say Cowdrey's Huffer-topped beast, that things was a mess to drive. Traction with that ride was hard to come by.

TopFuel@Lions...……. open shows or match races, simply the best!

 

[Ramjet]

Funny Story about Norm. When we lived in Reseda I lived on a through street that was 1/2 mile between stop lights. At the time I was running Top Gas and we pushed the car down the street once in a while and fired it up. Oh - and the Cop Shop was also on the same street 1/2 mile farther down. Now Norm lived two streets over and 1 1/2 blocks down. He had just switched over to a Funny Car and he would static start it usually on Friday night before going racing on Saturday. We were both very familiar with LAPD who were pretty good about everything but they had to respond if it was getting late. WELL - 1 night at about 11:45 we were in the garage (about 30 feet off the street) and we herd a real good sounding Nitro burning motor and it Idled for about 2 minutes but it sounded closer than usual. Now My house was exactly 1320 feet from the stop light at Saticoy Blvd. right at my neighbors driveway. There was about 5 or 6 of us there and all of the sudden all HELL broke loose. We ran out and down the street house lights were lighting up like it was a show. A few seconds later here comes Norm and he clicked it as he came by between probably185 and 200mph. As we started howling here comes his pick up behind with a bunch of people screaming. I think he had to go through Sherman Way way over a hundred. We found out later they had the trailer on a side street and got it out of there by the time a swarm of cop cars converged on us. One yelled "You are all under arrest" and it took a little while to prove it wasn't us. I made them touch the cold motor. They demanded to know who it was and I said "How do I know they were going 200 MPH". They decided it had to be Cowdrey but he had taken the car somewhere else and his place was dark. Things were a little touchy for a while, but I am sure Norm Cowdrey has the Top Speed and Low ET for Van Alden Street Raceway to this day.

 

[Cliff]

HA!!! That is a funny story! Roger, do you remember Wild Bill Alexander and the Ernies Camera dragster? We had a cemetary in Glendale with a long road alongside. Story is that they fired up the Ernies car & Alexander made a pass down that street. This was probably 1962. I heard that story & wished I'd been there. I saw the Ernies car at San Fernando once with Tommy Ivo driving it. It had a Pontiac big block, and ran gas or nitro.

 

[TopFuel@Lions]

Roger, since I was a "valley boy" until I moved down yonder, I know those streets as well. Great story. I lved about 2 blocks from Dale Pulde's house in Van Nuys. I could hear him occasionally fire up, sometimes I would go over to his house and hope for a sniff.

TopFuel@Lions

 

[Ramjet]

HA!!! That is a funny story! Roger, do you remember Wild Bill Alexander and the Ernies Camera dragster? We had a cemetary in Glendale with a long road alongside. Story is that they fired up the Ernies car & Alexander made a pass down that street. This was probably 1962. I heard that story & wished I'd been there. I saw the Ernies car at San Fernando once with Tommy Ivo driving it. It had a Pontiac big block, and ran gas or nitro.

I know about the "Shutterbug" of Earnie Alverado's very well. It was a Fuller car that Wayne Ewing did the body for. It ran out of Ernies Camera along with Jim Camboor (sp) and last ran with Frank Pedregon Sr. . Also very aware of the races on Riverside Drive - "River Road". The first weekend I was in California (1961) we went to Toluca Lake Bob's and wound up there. When the Cops came and everyone ran my buddy and I got left and we hid in Forest Lawn until about 3:00 AM when we got picked back up. We had no idea where we were and thaught we would be left to starve in a Graveyard. One of the reasons I came to California was because my boss was from Glendale and his brothers best friend was Lee Gustafson who did the motor on the Accesories Limited dragster with Bob Noice driving. Don't know if you remember it but that injected small block was # 2 on the Drag News top fuel list at one time. Got lots of stories about the Glendale & Eagle Rock guys.

 

[Cliff]

My dad worked at Forest Lawn in Glendale when I was a little kid. He was like a traffic director, had to wear a suit & a cap. He loved it cuz he saw a lot of big Hollywood stars coming to funerals. River Road.... and Glenoaks Blvd, going from Glendale to Burbank. In the 1920's there was a train line / trolly that ran on Glenoaks, & they had a high wall going down the center of the street. So we used to race on one side & the cops couldn't see us. Also, there is a big wide road (can't remember the name now) in Glendale, going towards Burbank. Lots of industrial plants there. Anyhoo, in the early 1900's, it was actually an airport for the wealthy, who'd fly their private planes into Glendale. Made a great drag strip at night, until the cops got there. argh The Accesories Ltd dragster. Injected SB Chevy and at one time, say 1962, they could run heads up with the blown Chrysler cars. Then the tires got better and that was the end of it. I've watched Bob Noice run many times in various cars. Pet**** Noice & Levy come to mind, & I'm spacin' on the first name. Oh, Colorado Blvd, going from Glendale to Pasadena. Remember the Jan & Dean song, the Little Old Lady From Pasadena? That was the road they sang about. You'd drive over the Suicide Bridge to get to Pasadena. Was called that cuz people jumped from it.... argh I haven't been to Glendale since my mom passed in 2003. It has changed so much I hardly recognize it anymore. The Alex theater is still there.

 

[Ramjet]

My dad worked at Forest Lawn in Glendale when I was a little kid. He was like a traffic director, had to wear a suit & a cap. He loved it cuz he saw a lot of big Hollywood stars coming to funerals. River Road.... and Glenoaks Blvd, going from Glendale to Burbank. In the 1920's there was a train line / trolly that ran on Glenoaks, & they had a high wall going down the center of the street. So we used to race on one side & the cops couldn't see us. Also, there is a big wide road (can't remember the name now) in Glendale, going towards Burbank. Lots of industrial plants there. Anyhoo, in the early 1900's, it was actually an airport for the wealthy, who'd fly their private planes into Glendale. Made a great drag strip at night, until the cops got there. argh The Accesories Ltd dragster. Injected SB Chevy and at one time, say 1962, they could run heads up with the blown Chrysler cars. Then the tires got better and that was the end of it. I've watched Bob Noice run many times in various cars. Pet**** Noice & Levy come to mind, & I'm spacin' on the first name. Oh, Colorado Blvd, going from Glendale to Pasadena. Remember the Jan & Dean song, the Little Old Lady From Pasadena? That was the road they sang about. You'd drive over the Suicide Bridge to get to Pasadena. Was called that cuz people jumped from it.... argh I haven't been to Glendale since my mom passed in 2003. It has changed so much I hardly recognize it anymore. The Alex theater is still there.

It was Nick Pachulli and he ran with Bob all through Top Gas. No Mechanical help, but was his best friend and helped with the parts & finances. They were the first Spaghetti Benders car. You are right - the tires got them with the Accessories car. That thing sounded like a shot gun when he hit it. Bob is stilling running Bonneville with a Big Block Chevy with a guy that was a helper on our stuff way back when. Bob - Jimmie Brisette - Hippo - Kent Enderle and a bunch of others were the Glendale guys. Do you remember when you could get your Nitro from Francisco's on San Fernando Road or go talk to Barney Navarro or Pete Jackson if you wanted help on something way over your head. Before dragsters we used to get " Valley Street" clutches from Jim Ridge in his garage.

 

[Cliff]

Don Francisco, right? There were a bunch of shops on San Fernando Road. Barney Navarro did Indy Cars if I remember right. I used to go to Glendale Speed Shop. I don't know if it's still there, on Brand Blvd. Was started in 1950's I think. They ran a Chevy Nova at Lions that ran 9.90's around 1970.