Lions Drag Strip (3 Viewers)

[TopFuel@Lions]

As usual this date is super special to me and to my late father, as yesterday December 1st, a Friday, the first of the two day Last Drag Race at Lions with the final day, like today December 2nd.
With some comments and thought at the end, here are just a few special or scary moments that dad and I saw at 223rd & Alameda in no order.

*My first Top Fuel show in March one week after my first drag race at San Fernando.
*Former NHRA starter Rick Stewarts wreck in his AA/FD into the right lane weeds not knowing the Watts riots were going down.
*The best Front-Engine Rear Engine Top Fuel race ever, Weibe and the Snake's side-by-side 6.17s'.
*Alabama's Clayton Harris Setting the National Record at Lions.
*Pat Fosters track record setting 6.29 in AA/FC at the last race then running off the end of the track.
*The wild Grand premiere that had Burgin in a 2 car wreck and Bob McFarlands horrible fire.
*Leroy Chadderton's record 6.76 in his bad AA/FA.
*Sitting in the top end seats and witnessing John Hoffmans fatal wreck in the Snoopy Jaguar funny car.
*C.J. "Pappy"Hart buzzing around on the little motorcycle.
*The ridiculous and dangerous wheelie feud between Chuck Poole and Bill Golden that ended up with Poole wrecking in the sand trap and out onto the street.
*The weekly 16-car AA/FD shows that had anywhere from 30 to 40+ cars all finishing right around 11:00pm.
*The best 1-day Top Fuel Race ever, the 1967 P.D.A. Championships with a beyond SRO crowd.
*The highly competitive Junior Fuel shows.
*The Drag Racing Magazine Funny Car meets.
*The roller starters.
*The curved guard rail on wheels moved below the tower for traditional push starts.
*The Lions sign in the left lane.
*Larry Sutton sporting his striped shirt, black hat and pipe.
*Bernie Mather behind the mic or Jon Lunberg plus Steve Evans.
*Garlits clutch ka boom.
*The incredible in my view total 1967 season.
*Lew Arrington's tranny va voom in August of 67.
*Dale Pulde doing burnouts in the pits with the Vicious Vette.
*Seeing the oddballs like Maynard Rupp's Chevoom, Durachrome Bug, Zahcary's El Dorado, Vanerwoudes top less Dart and Ken Ellis in the 3-wheel dragster.
*Chile dogs and chili Tamales.
*The invisible hand stamp for the pit stand that came alive under the light.
*The UDRA Dragster races, huge fields.
*The friends we made sitting in our seats for 8 years at nearly 200 races.
*The early Jet Cars and Arfons Green Monster.
*The very serious match races between Gas Rhonda and Hayden Proffitt.
*S-W-C vs. Mazmanian AA/GS match races.

Just a few and so many. It was in my view the best weekly drag strip ever with the best shows, good bite, good air and not ever to hot even in the summer. Well run shows at a fair price, good race story write ups by Dave Adler in Drag News. Just a great place that after it closed was so missed.
I have been to now 159 tracks and 2031 races so far but still to this day none had the overall magic and feel of Lions. Wearing my Lions shirt today.

"DRIVE THE HIGHWAYS....RACE AT LIONS."
TopFuel@Lions
Talladega Announcer

 

[Cliff]

Of all the memories I have in drag racing, Lions stands out, and The Last Race is on top. Man, having that track close was like loosing someone in the family.

 

[J. S.]

Hi Mark:

Thanks for this thoughtful and Nostalgic post. That's really something that you were there for so many races and saw all that action. Almost all very good times. but a few bad moments.

Hard to believe that Lions was only open for roughly 15 short years.

So the great 1967 PDA race was only ONE day? Wow. But I guess when almost nothing else was run but dragsters, it as do-able.

 

[roscoe37]

anyone that loved Lions, needs to check out the lions dragstrip museum. just a cool place and well done, but you need to check their hours before going

 

[Flicka]

We traveled from Illinois with our AA/ gas dragster. For the 67.
PDA Don't remember if we qualified LO. L..

 

[Dragracer]

We (Cernys) ran the PDA meet in Junior Fuel.

 

[twostep]

My first and only trip to Lions was in 1967 while vacationing with my grandmother in Simi Valley. Her across-the-street neighbor was as big of a drag racing nut as I was and we visited both Lions and OCIR (which had just opened). I'd read about Lions and all those famous cars; getting to actually see them was something I'll never forget. The race I attended wasn't any sort of a final but I do recall several of the cars Mark mentioned, including one that still stands out - a green '55 Chevy running a 427 BBC on nitro. It was like a 9-flat ride and the quickest doorslammer I'd ever seen. And I recall at least half a dozen twice-engine dragsters and how loud they were.

I didn't know who Larry Sutton was at the time but I do now. Always nice to see you posting, buddy...56 years later.

 

[Nick Name]

Was at Lions almost every Saturday. Saw many of the things in this post. Another one that stands out to me was when Gary Dyer had run an 8 second pass back east in the Mr Norm car and people out west were skeptical. When it was announced they were coming to Lions, the place was a zoo.

The line was so long to get in that people were leaving their cars up on the freeway and walking down to the track.
He did run an 8 that night.

Then there was the wheelstand by Seaton Shaker where it stood up vertical on the line for what seemed an etrenity. You could have heard a pin drop as thousands waited to see which way it was going to come down.

 

[Ramjet]

My first and only trip to Lions was in 1967 while vacationing with my grandmother in Simi Valley. Her across-the-street neighbor was as big of a drag racing nut as I was and we visited both Lions and OCIR (which had just opened). I'd read about Lions and all those famous cars; getting to actually see them was something I'll never forget. The race I attended wasn't any sort of a final but I do recall several of the cars Mark mentioned, including one that still stands out - a green '55 Chevy running a 427 BBC on nitro. It was like a 9-flat ride and the quickest doorslammer I'd ever seen. And I recall at least half a dozen twice-engine dragsters and how loud they were.

I didn't know who Larry Sutton was at the time but I do now. Always nice to see you posting, buddy...56 years later.

Funny you were visiting your Grandmother in Simi Valley when you went to Lions. The Green 55 Chevy you mentioned was called the "Green Scene" and it was owned by a guy from Simi named Fred Darrow. It did have a 427 C.I. BBC engine unblown on 60%. I am pretty sure it was basically Chevrolet parts with a Enderly "Stack" injector. The car actually over performed for what it was.

 

[Oldwino]

My first time at the drag’s was at Lions in the late 60’s. Match race between the orange Brutus car and Gas Rhonda.
no better place to get up close to the action as a fan but I never much liked running there. Tracks at OC and Irwindale were much better for the driver IMHO

 

[Cliff]

Fred, what didn't you like about driving at Lions? Just curious. I do remember going to OCIR in 1968 when I got out of the Air Force. Was astonished at the lay out but Lions always had better ET & MPH, especially for T/F.

 

[Oldwino]

Fred, what didn't you like about driving at Lions? Just curious. I do remember going to OCIR in 1968 when I got out of the Air Force. Was astonished at the lay out but Lions always had better ET & MPH, especially for T/F.

Something about the closeness of the fans. Always felt claustrophobic to me. Track itself was fine

 

[LAZYC]

Something about the closeness of the fans. Always felt claustrophobic to me. Track itself was fine

July 1971, My first pass in a F/C

 

[Nitro Fiend]

Very cool photos. I grew up in Ohio and we would occasionally get to see a two car funny car match race. I was jealous of all the tracks on the west coast that seemed to have large Funny Car or Top Fuel shows every week.

 

[DG]

Fred, what didn't you like about driving at Lions? Just curious. I do remember going to OCIR in 1968 when I got out of the Air Force. Was astonished at the lay out but Lions always had better ET & MPH, especially for T/F.

On Saturday afternoon at Lions, the "Rare Air" would come in and make the final qualifying and eliminations much quicker than earlier in the day!

The "Rare Air" was just the fact that Lions was much closer to the ocean with no hills in-between, like OCIR, In the afternoon, the normal "offshore" air flow from the warmer inland areas was replaced by the "onshore" airflow from the nearby ocean.

All we had in those days to tune to was a K&N Air Density gauge or a war surplus altimeter. With either one, the dials would move a bunch to the "Good Side" and performances almost alway greatly improved.

 

[glofria]

The guys at the Famoso Speed Shop have found and is restoring the original Durachrome Bug AA/FC.

\\

 

[dr flames]

The guys at the Famoso Speed Shop have found and is restoring the original Durachrome Bug AA/FC.

View attachment 14055\\

Bugs have great curves to show off a beautiful candy paint job, great job guys

 

[Cliff]

That white VW Bug looks like an AA/FA with a VW body. I remember a few AA/FA that converted to F/C, but kept the short wheelbase. I hope the Durachrome Bug gets to make a few runs when it's done. I remember seeing it at Lions. There is a British VW nitro F/C that runs fairy well.

 

[glofria]

Bugs have great curves to show off a beautiful candy paint job, great job guys

I agree. Posted today:

Randy | Facebook

www.facebook.com

 

[twostep]

Wow....'Green Seen'....that's interesting. I don't know why that car stuck in my memory but I remember it plain as day. Were you racing at Lyons around that time, Roger?

Looked around a bit and found of picture of it: