Old Drag Strips and Drive In Movies All seem to be removed From our Landscape North, South, East, West Sad End To An Era... Out of a Job Yet keep Buying Foreign....
I remember the Puyallup raceway that started out on the airstrip by a land fill. They called it Thun field for years. I can still remember when Jerry Ruth went 200 MPH the first one to do so on that strip. They used to call him Jerry (the king ) Ruth. I used to drive my 67 GranSport home from the drags with open headers. Went by a deputy sitting in his car one night:shock: be he didn't come after me.ray: The good old days.:beer Bob H
I was searching for pictures of the old Langhorne drag strip and came accross this list of old racetracks: http://www.wheelsofspeed.com/pahist.html can't find any good pics of drag racing, but here's a clip of a crash on the speedway... http://uk.youtube.com/watch?feature=related&v=VDZYXWL2ym0
As congested and over-developed as New Jersey is, I'm surprised we've held out this long! We've still got the three drag strips we've always had...Englishtown, Atco, and Island. E-Town is the one that's constantly being threatened, but luckily it's also the biggest, most successful track on the East Coast so they've been able to fight the good fight...so far.
Check this one.. Islip Speedway 1972.. Look at the cars.. Gremlin, a Pinto, a Vette and I think a Vega and some that are just hacked up wagons and old 30's coupes. Awesome.!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lkoz4mX3k00
Did anyone notice all the SNOW on the ground at the end of the video where it looked like an old funny car was running!!!
That Nova funny car was "Seaton's Super Shaker" back when real race cars had names! Real men back then didnt let a little snow get in the way of drag racing. here's the website I ordered the LI drag Racing video from. Highly recommended for any LI guy. He's got all kinds of other vintage videos too. http://beeonvideo.homestead.com/
Check out the 71 Road Runner/GTX on the extreme right.:TU: Man, I was just through Wayland, Missouri the other day. Spent the night at the Flying J. We used to have Keystone Dragways at one time, located about 30 miles east of Winnipeg. I spent many Saturdays and Sundays spectating there. I could never get myself motivated enough to actaully race my Mach 1, since I was always out til 4:00 or 5:00 AM on weekends, and needed my sleep. ou: ou: When it closed in the late 70's, due to Trans Canada Pipelines needing the land for gas pipelines, we were without a track for several years. Then one opened up in Gimli, which is about 1 hour north of the city, at an abandoned military airfield. I did some bracket racing there with my 351 Cleveland powered 66 Galaxie, but never won anything. That race track later became famous (sort of), when an Air Canada plane ran out of fuel while enroute from Montreal to Edmonton. The pilots were able to glide the 767 to a landing at the track. Fortunately, it wasn't in use that day. There was a TV movie made from that, starring William Devane. Story here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider Wikipedia refers to the race track as the "Industrial Airport", which it was prior to becoming a track.
That 69 442 in the right lane is currently sitting on my trailer in my driveway! :TU: Or whats left of it anyway
I never even noticed that 4-4-2.ou: That Mopar caught my eye, and would not relinquish it. I have an affinity for that particular model.
Mark, Was Northstar the one near whats now 35W and 85th Avenue? This place isn't closed as far as I know but its the coolest strip I've ever been to. I had to drive 775 miles to get there but it was worth it. George Ray's Wildcat Dragstrip in Paragould, Arkansas: http://www.schooltube.com/video/12504/George-Rays-Wildcat-Drag-Strip
Tom, with no scoops on the hood (fake or otherwise) I'm leaning towards that being a Satellite. On the subject of those particular cars...my neighbor had a white '71 or '72 Satellite Sebring when I was a kid in the 70s and a buddy of mine has a '71 Hemi GTX that he ordered brand new when he was 17.
75-80 might rise again! http://members.boardhost.com/street-freaks/msg/1231808869.html http://www.dragracingonline.com/features/vii_10-7580-1.html
Doug, I suppose it sould be a Satellite, however I'm not 100% certain that the scooped hood was mandatory on the RR/GTX. Your buddy with the Hemi GTX has one rare Mopar.:TU: Got any pics of it?
No pics of the GTX, but I've only seen it once. I didn't meet him until 1992, which was after he parked it, but I'll ask him if he's got any. He also has a real '68 Hemi Dart that he campaigned in SS/AA for many years BF (Before Family) and he held the record (9.17, I think) back in the late 80s or early 90s. He has been updating the Dart so he'll be competitive nowadays, since those cars (now SS/AH) are faster, lower, and more sophisticated than they were when he was a regular. He actually won the US Nationals three times, possibly in a row. My memory is a little faded.
Saw The Shaker, Jungle Jim, Hawaian, Ramcharger, etc. a few times when they would have the yearly funny car gatherings at Riverside Raceway west of Nashville, TN. (currently abandoned, see picture) It was spectacular to see 32 floppers lined sideways on the track under the lights, bodies propped up. The sights, sounds, and smell of those nights left a big impression on this 10yr old boy.
