Sunday will never be the same... (1 Viewer)

[TopFuel@Lions]

Thank you Jim, really sir, thanks. This was in my view one the best threads of all of 2020.



[email protected] December 1/2 is just around the corner.

 

[Gone Dead Train]

Same here Jim. This thread was the first one I looked at each day when I got home. Thanks for all the effort that you put into it.

Richard thank you and your welcome!

 

[Gone Dead Train]

Thank you Jim, really sir, thanks. This was in my view one the best threads of all of 2020.



[email protected] December 1/2 is just around the corner.

Thanks Mark, coming from a true fan of the sport like yourself, is really cool.

 

[Cliff]

I think there were some lower class cars that went down after the TF final, so it depends on how you define the last pass.

Actually, it WAS the last race. Larry Sutton pulled up the Tree high so no one could steal it. They were worried someone would grab it. People took the Last Drag Race sign in 2 pieces. There was a guy trying to hack up a piece of the starting line (no it wasn't me, altho I thought about it). People were trying to pull apart the guard rails before the last races & they had to stop racing for a while. I think lots of things were taken as souvineers. I remember staying there for an hour or so, didn't want to leave. Finally just left cuz had a long ride back to Glendale. Oh, when we found out Lions was closing, i was one of the guys that went around to speed shops & what have you, handing out Save Lions flyers. Hadn't thought about that for years.

 

[ocdart]

Thank you Jim, for bringing back so many memories that have been stored in my brain for a lot of years.
Growing up is SoCal during that time period was such a special time: the cars, Whittier Blvd. on Friday and Saturday nights, Big Willie and the International Brotherhood of Street Racers at York Field in Whittier, standing at the fence all day at the Winternationals at Pomona, and racing at both Irwindale and OCIR. I still get nostalgic every time I drive by the Sand Canyon exit on the southbound I-5 freeway. Those were great years and good times.
Thanks again for bringing all the memories back with your outstanding photos.

 

[Gone Dead Train]

Thank you Jim, for bringing back so many memories that have been stored in my brain for a lot of years.
Growing up is SoCal during that time period was such a special time: the cars, Whittier Blvd. on Friday and Saturday nights, Big Willie and the International Brotherhood of Street Racers at York Field in Whittier, standing at the fence all day at the Winternationals at Pomona, and racing at both Irwindale and OCIR. I still get nostalgic every time I drive by the Sand Canyon exit on the southbound I-5 freeway. Those were great years and good times.
Thanks again for bringing all the memories back with your outstanding photos.

Thank you Ken. Let me make something clear here. I did not take any of these photos on this thread. They are from my magazines, handouts and
photos. The drag rags (read magazines) are the best for doing this. I have endless boxs and I mean endless boxs. If I was to guesstimate on how
many magazines I have atleast 1500 if not more, really. For example I got Super Super & Drag Illustrated sent to me in the mail from January 1971
to December 1989 or early 1990 the last issue ever. 12 issues a year, 19 years thats 228 issues. Some pictures had no captions, so I had to write a
caption, hopefully it was correct? The real credit should go to the Drag Racing Photographer's of days gone by who took these fantastic pictures!
And once again thanks to my son who took time out of his busy schedule (read girl friend) to set up his ton of gear. So I could do this.

 

[Gone Dead Train]

Above ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I have no idea why it turnd out that way?

 

[Gone Dead Train]

Here is a video pictorial of Fremont Raceway, back in the day

 

[Gone Dead Train]

I had mention on page 2 of this thread, about the fantastic magazine Elapsed Times. Bar none the best Drag Racing magazine
since the last issue of Drag Racing USA, June 1975. Only 9 issues from Sept 2012 to January 2016 I have extra copys if anyone
is interested in purchasing the magazine. THEY ARE IN PRISTINE CONDITION!!! Better deal then eBay.
I guess you can shoot me a message on this site? I can't take them with me, when I kick the bucket.

 

[ocdart]

I had mention on page 2 of this thread, about the fantastic magazine Elapsed Times. Bar none the best Drag Racing magazine
since the last issue of Drag Racing USA, June 1975.

Jim, your 100% right on Elapsed Times magazine. I hunted the grocery store magazine stands for it when it was expected out. The articles and coverage was outstanding and never failed to bring back a flood of memories. I was so sorry to see the magazine go away.
I periodically 'thin the herd' of my many car magazines but will not dispose of any of my Elapsed Times.
I strongly recommend any readers of this thread take you up on your offer.

 

[Gone Dead Train]

Jim, your 100% right on Elapsed Times magazine. I hunted the grocery store magazine stands for it when it was expected out. The articles and coverage was outstanding and never failed to bring back a flood of memories. I was so sorry to see the magazine go away.
I periodically 'thin the herd' of my many car magazines but will not dispose of any of my Elapsed Times.
I strongly recommend any readers of this thread take you up on your offer.

Ken you are so right about having to hunt Elapsed Times down. I'm from a small town with 2 grocery stotes, and only 1 magazine stand.
Sometimes I would have to drive 30 minutes to the next town. just to get it. Well worth the drive. I was told back in 2014? the reason
for no subscription was they just didn't know how long the magazine was going to be around.

 

[Nick Name]

Back in the day I was a crewman on Phil Poynters big block Chevy TF car. We ran Lions, Irwindale, OCIR and San Fernando. I have no photos of the car. Everytime I come across a thread like this I think "just maybe".

e car

 

[Gone Dead Train]

Back in the day I was a crewman on Phil Poynters big block Chevy TF car. We ran Lions, Irwindale, OCIR and San Fernando. I have no photos of the car. Everytime I come across a thread like this I think "just maybe".

e car

Jay
Starting today 11/27/2020 I will be going threw every single
issues of my drag racing magazines from 1964 to atleast
1973. I need to find some articales, pictures that I bin thinking
about. I will look for pictures of Phil Poynters AA/FD also.
Just something fun to do this winter. looking at all the boxes
I will be at this for weeks to come, if not months.

 

[M Jones]

Looking at this thread and the San Fernando thread and I realized the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway has been open quite a bit longer than most of the places featured here. It makes me feel old to realize the Strip at LVMS has been open 20 years ... can't imagine how you guys feel about places that have been closed for 50 years. In any event, thanks for sharing.

FYI, the first drag strip on what would become the LVMS was the 1/4 mile speed drome, opened in 1972, the bull ring circle track is were the track used to be

 

[Cliff]

What was the first commercial drag strip in USA? Santa Ana, CJ Pappy Hart? That would be around 1950? Pomona 1951, San Fernando & Lions 1955, the late Speedworld in Phoenix around 1961 & Beeline also around the same time. Might be some tracks still open from 1950's. The track that the first Nationals was held in 1955 is still open, Great Bend? They had a Divisional race there not long ago. I have seen old footage of Pomona & others from early 1950's. A dragster would run 140 & people would get excited. Wow - 140 MPH! Well, back then, that was fast. 6" wide slick, helmet & goggles & a t-shirt & a roll bar that maybe went over your head......

 

[TopFuel@Lions]

Cliff, what about Saugus and Goleta?



TopFuel@Lions

 

[Gone Dead Train]

Pacific Raceway 1960. My home track and only 10 minutes down the dirt highway from home.

 

[Cliff]

Saugus was early 50's, right? Not sure about that one. Goleta was the site of the first organized race in 1948, run on a public road that was blocked off for the event. Fran Hernandez was the first Top Eliminator.

 

[vegasnitro]

FYI, the first drag strip on what would become the LVMS was the 1/4 mile speed drome, opened in 1972, the bull ring circle track is were the track used to be

Yup, we covered that in another thread not long ago. I went to the old Speedrome many times, in fact it was one of the first things I did when I got to Vegas in August of 94, went to the "Gambler Nats" in September of 94. The BullRing was there alongside the drag strip, though it wasn't called the BullRing at the time. When Bruton took over the property, he knocked down the old grandstand on the east side of the track and built a permanent grandstand on the west side of the track, but it is the same oval track. I once saw an IndyCar race on that little track! The American Indy Series, guys running outdated equipment but it was fun to watch. Saw the late Chris Trickle win some races there, and after he was killed, some guy named Kurt Busch took over the #70 Star Nursery ride. When you go through the gate for the BullRing off of Las Vegas Boulevard, that is the old Speedrome gate.

But none of that compared to the excitement I felt when they were building The Strip at LVMS. The newest and best drag racing facility in the World was being built in my town. Me and my dad would drive out there just to check on construction progress. There was a "soft opening" in March of 2000, about 3 weeks before the first National Event. George Marnell did a couple of burnouts on the starting line in his Vegas General Construction Pro Stocker. Looking at the facility that day, we thought NO WAY they will be ready for the National Event. There were no bleachers on the main grandstand, the pits weren't paved and they couldn't get the tree to work when Marnell did his burnout. We were the first people in line on Wednesday at noon the week of the first national event when the campground opened. They weren't ready for us and we ultimately had to move our camper 3 or 4 times that first day, but no big deal. There was a National Event right in my own backyard!!! To this day, the Strip at LVMS is my favorite place on Earth (well ... tied with Rupp Arena in Downtown Lexington, Kentucky aka the Center of the Known Universe). The idea that all of this happened 20 years ago is baffling to me.

 

[TopFuel@Lions]

Chris, you ever go to Stardust? I loved the Speedrome, went about 15 times, mostly the excellent Division 7 shows.



TopFuel@Lions