dragstrip nostaglia

[priderocks]

Anyone have any dragstrip nostaglia stories?

My uncle owned Alton Dragway, across the river from St. Louis in Illinois. I worked there for many years, from 1960 to 1970 or so. Ten years, nearly every weekend and Wednesday night. This was a cool time to be in the dragstrip scene. I started handing out time slips, then moved up to working the timeclocks. I was probably the kid who gave Chris Karamasines his time slip when his top fuel car broke 200 mph for the first time (1962 I think). The clocks weren't real sophisticated units back then, old Chrondeks that just gave et and mph, no 60 ft. times. I remember NHRA officials coming out to check the clocks and certify Karamasines' run.

In a way, I think racing seemed much cooler back then. A 5-second top fuel machine is pretty awesome, but I don't think it evokes the crowd excitement that top fuel matches did back then. I remember a AA/F matchup, I think Garlits and Prudomme, and it was pretty incredible to watch these two machines smoke their tires the entire 1/4 mile. There would be so much tire smoke, no one could see the rails in the traps. Just two huge rooster tails of smoke. The crowd would go beserk just over the smoke.

This was the time all the big names in S/S were active. I've hand the privelege of watching them all- Landy, McCandless, Lindamood, Sox and Martin- plus other favories like Lil Red Wagon, Hemi Under Glass-I'm sure this boy passed out the time slips to them all.  What a privelege. Didn't realize it then.

One night I recall some runoffs in AA/altered. A car caught fire in the traps. My brother staged the cars at the lights, so he grabbed a fire extinguisher and hitched a ride (things were pretty loosy-goosy back then) from the next car in line for staging, which happened to be Stone, Woods and Cooks machine. The driver opened the door and my brother climbed in, no seats, of course. My brother says the next thing he remembered was being plastered up against the back window!

Illinois got it's share of summer showers, so if the track was wet, everyone, employees included, would climb in their cars and make continuous loops down the track and up the return road to dry out the asphalt. Can you imagine that happening today? Insurance lawyers would have a stroke.

[cudaspaz]

I don't think anyone can top that one, but my Brother just happens to live directly acroos the street from cecil country dragway in maryland.

[Alaskan_TA]

Got any photos?

 

[71chally416]

Cecil County is like stepping back into the 50's. Everything looks just like it did then. 

[426HEMI]

That is a really cool story.  Never made it to that dragstrip.  Wish I had seen what you did for sure.  Gordon

[71chally416]

I remember when they used to flag off cars at the old Strato rods strip on McQuire AFB next to Ft Dix. My Mom used to drop me off there when I was a kid on sundays. I saw Bob Reed's Hemi cuda run there against Bob Banning's Hemi Dart. One wrecked into the fence and the other red lighted. That's the track I saw a '66 Satelite Hemi 4 speed car drive in and beat all the race cars. All they got back then were trophies. Nothing like a concrete landing strip for a track.     

[snowdog]

Ya had ta ask, didn't ya.  Well let me bore you with one of my drag strip story from Deeetroit Dragway.  It was mid 1970s (I guess) and we we're watching Top Fuel Racing.  For those of you that haven't been at Detroit Dragway back in the day, it was basically a dragway with little to no safety features (like many of the day), no guard rails, no traffic direction in the pits, no security and a big dip 3/4 of the way down the trap that the funny cars would scrap their headers on (sparks a flying).  But anyways here is my story;  it was a typical hot Sunday at the dragway, me and a couple of by buddies were in the pits with a couple hundred other people when thru the crowd Connie Katlitia's (sp?) crew was pushing his Top Fuel dragster thru the crowd to the starting line.  All of a sudden a track truck rams right into Connie's Rail RIGHT in front of us, just rear of the front wheel.  The kid probably couldn't see the rail cause of all the people so close, really wasn't anybodies fault, except the track's for letting that many people on the return road.  Anyways, just as soon as that happened, Shirley Muldowny (sp?) push her way though the crowd and got right in the track truck drivers face.  She started yelling at him that "You better get your wallet out" and other such stuff.  Then this big guy with curl hair and a tie dyed tank top next to us told her "Hey, you can't talk to people like that".  Shirley wheeled around like a female Nazi officer and pointed her finger in his face and scream "Shut up, you just Shut up" and stormed off, bumping into one of my buddies.  Then Connie and his crew pick up the front end and spun the front wheel to see if it was bent.  He went on and ran with bent tube on the frame structure.  It was good run too.  Anyhow that's my old drag racing story.

See ya Snowdoggie

PS, sorry for all the miss spelled words.

[vinb]

I started racing SuperStock back in '75 , man am I getting old..
Speaking of Cecil Co. , Island Dragway hasn't changed either.........
SS/A Dart E-town 1968
SS/AA Cuda Gainsville 1974
SS/AA Cuda Gainsville   1976-77?
Last one , me in my '72 Cuda J/SA Stocker (far lane) racing against my old '71 SS/JA SuperStocker down at Budds Creek, Md. in 1983..

[xblade]

Anyone have any dragstrip nostaglia stories?

My uncle owned Alton Dragway, across the river from St. Louis in Illinois. I worked there for many years, from 1960 to 1970 or so. 

I think my sister inlaw, Pualette, worked there about that time.

[sadil340]

I was at the Las Vegas strip the last race held there in '96. Shirley Muldowney made an exhibition pass in a Top Fuel rail and signed autographs for us afterward. She seemed very nice, must have calmed down since the Kalitta story.

[snowdog]

I was at the Las Vegas strip the last race held there in '96. Shirley Muldowney made an exhibition pass in a Top Fuel rail and signed autographs for us afterward. She seemed very nice, must have calmed down since the Kalitta story.

Yep, that's quite a few years to calm down    Hey, everybody has a bad day and the track conditions were ridiculous to put it mildly.  She used to bring in her red 1977 Lincoln Mark V to the dealership I worked at and she always seemed nice there.  Her custom vanity plates were "T Fuel"

Snowdoggie

[DoNotChallengeHer]

Here's a pretty cool video. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o76vJLVtlU&feature=channel_page

[vinb]

Hey Jackie, that was pretty neat video....
Thanks for finding it....

[Mr. 6pak2go]

i met ronnie sox at our little drag strip here elk creek dragway any ways it was so cool! they had 3 sox and martin 68 barracudas only one of them where racing i think it was called the silver bullet or something like that? anyways i ran into ronnie by accident i was at a vender stand and i had just bought a 8x10 pick of a hemi barracuda and we started to walk off i heard someone yell hey kids wait a min!! we i just turned around and it was ronnie sox standing there I said yes sir he said you want an autograph i was like heck yea anyways we where standing there talking and racing and the hemi dart/barracuda (hemi A bodys) and this was around the time he was diagnosed with cancer so he wasnt driving anything he was just talking to people and signing autographs but his driver was in to smoke box with the silver car while i where talking to him well his car staged and when he left he got sideways and bounced the car off the concrete gaurdrail it was bad!! ronnie was like well i gotta got boys He was pissed!! he died about 3-4 years later!! but that was a cool day and i have a picture with and autograph tp prove it so i can tell my kids and grandkids this story and show them the pic!! WELL later

[hemiken]

Here's a pretty cool video.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o76vJLVtlU&feature=channel_page

Hey Jackie, that is a way cool video.  Thanks for sharing