Drag Strip Tapestries

Stock car racer Robert Newton wanted to design a tire compound to gain an advantage against fellow racers. This was done by retreading street tires in order to obtain a compound that would adequately gain enough traction. Using an abandoned barn in his home state of Indiana to start his business, he began sales to local racers, making him the first producer of specialty tires for competition use.

Carlsbad Raceway was a motorsport facility located in Carlsbad, California that featured a ¼ mile drag strip and motocross track, which first opened in 1964. The track was popular with local street racers as it hosted Saturday afternoon grudge races where drivers could square off against their friends (and enemies) in a classic 'run what you brung' event. Motorsports activities were shut down in August 2004 and a business park was erected on the land once occupied by the raceway.

Oswego Drag Raceway opened in Illinois in 1955 as one of the first purpose-built drag strips in the country. Most drag strips were built on abandoned runways, but Oswego was built from scratch by Dan and Wally Smith. The brothers had inherited the farmland it sat on from their parents. The Oswego Dragway became a go-to hangout for the youth in the greater Chicago area, but increasingly fierce competition made it much more than a hangout for diehard racers. The Oswego Drag Raceway operated until 1979 and the remnants of the drag strip can still be seen from Route 34, west of Oswego if you know where to look as you pass by.

Like many early drag strips, Deer Park began life as an airfield and as post-war America went crazy for drag racing, runways previously used by the military during the war effort were the perfect place to scratch that itch. After opening in 1953, it wasn’t very long before Deer Park Drag Strip was the straight line scene’s place to be in the Spokane, Washington area. The track’s history was interesting and varied, and like all drag strips, there were plenty of great and not-so-great things about the place over the years. As drivers started pushing the limits of the speeds the track could safely support, construction began on a more modern track facility, Spokane Raceway Park, ending the nearly 20-year run of Deer Park Drag Strip.

This Pennsylvania-based performance legend started out as a maker of motor mounts for engine swaps and floor-shifters back in 1958, but they steadily expanded their product line through the 1960s. Hurst wheels, Line/Loc, and Swifter Shifter gloves were developed among other items, and later, Airheart Brakes and the Schiefer Manufacturing Company, which made clutches and other driveline components, were acquired. Hurst Performance floor-shifters were skillfully engineered, reliable and stirring in appearance, plus, their marketing was in tune with the times, catering to the flourishing muscle car movement of the 1960s. Their shifters infiltrated the drag racing, stock car racing, off-road racing and many other areas of motorsports.

While organized drag racing came about in 1951, it was in the early '60s that the big three started paying attention. Detroit began quietly building stock-looking cars stuffed full of high-performance parts and no factory warranty, aimed squarely at taking drag strips by storm. With this new breed of off the lot drag racers, increasing numbers of people were suddenly able to get into drag racing without having to build a car from scratch, and boy did they ever. Once the bug had bitten them, they were all in as drag nuts and their stock racers began the never-ending modification process that all hot rodders go through in pursuit of speed.

V8 Chevy Nova, racing into the streets and into your closet. The Chevy Nova II - 2 - is a force to be reckoned with. Wear your American pride with fast cars, original photos!

The early days of drag racing were largely a run what you brung affair, but by 1954, the true dragster shape and form had emerged and was a refinement of the earlier “slingshot” concept. Built using haphazardly assembled tube steel pipes, these cars gained the nickname “rail jobs.” In 1956, Both Scotty Fenn (on the west coast) and Pat Bilbow (on the east coast) decided it was time for a dragster chassis built of quality materials and welded by professionals. Scotty called his new company “Chassis Research, Inc.” and Pat retained his firm’s already established name, Lyndwood Welding Co. and by 1957, both had produced a pro built dragster chassis and both claimed to be the first, though depending on who you ask, that remains up for debate.

This World War II era airfield was located ten miles north of Green Cove Springs off of U. S. Highway 17 opened up in 1960. Drag races were held on the northern east-west asphalt runway of the Fleming Island Naval Outer Landing Field and was named after the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft that flew out of the base. The track was back-lit by two big WWII surplus searchlights that would go from idle to full light when the cars staged. Starting was by a liberated traffic light hanging across the track, so no Chrondek type tree here. Races were first every Sunday, but later in 1961, changed to the first and third Sunday.

The early days of drag racing were largely a run what you brung affair, but by 1954, the true dragster shape and form had emerged and was a refinement of the earlier “slingshot” concept. Built using haphazardly assembled tube steel pipes, these cars gained the nickname “rail jobs.” In 1956, Scotty Fenn decided it was time for a dragster chassis built of quality materials and welded by professionals. Scotty called his new company “Chassis Research, Inc.” and by 1957 he had produced the first pro built dragster chassis that would lead the way to an expansive line of chassis and components that would go on to make and break records throughout the drag racing world.

Due to its naturally swooping lines, the '37 Chevy Master Coupe is one of the more popular bodies to hot rod or in this case, builder a hopped-up gasser. Whether it's cruising the street or throwing down at the strip, these old coupes only get better with age.

Most longtime drag racing fans are familiar with the ultra-swoopy Wonder Wagon Vega that he debuted at the 1973 U.S. Nationals, and some may even remember that the sponsorship program actually began with a completely different team at the end of the 1972 season. The Wonder Wagon was one of the most popular funny cars ever fielded amongst fans, but it’s driver frequently stated that it was the most dangerous too, mainly due to the car’s aerodynamics, or lack thereof. Dangerous or not, the cars and the sponsor was something different, and these bread truck inspired wagons really resonated with race fans.

More American Graffiti is set over the course of four New Year's Eve holidays beginning in 1964 and tells four separate stories, one of which is that of John Milner, the head honcho of the racing scene in the first film, as his drag racing career advances. John's story follows him and the Milner Racing Team crew through a series of personal and professional ups and downs, culminating in a fatal finale. This Milner Racing Team design is a replica based on a screen used tee, ensuring it's accurate to those seen in the film.

2SS LS7 5th gen drag race

This Pennsylvania-based performance legend started out as a maker of motor mounts for engine swaps and floor-shifters back in 1958, but they steadily expanded their product line through the 1960s. Hurst wheels, Line/Loc, and Swifter Shifter gloves were developed among other items, and later, Airheart Brakes and the Schiefer Manufacturing Company, which made clutches and other driveline components, were acquired. Hurst Performance floor-shifters were skillfully engineered, reliable and stirring in appearance, plus, their marketing was in tune with the times, catering to the flourishing muscle car movement of the 1960s. Their shifters infiltrated the drag racing, stock car racing, off-road racing and many other areas of motorsports.

Founded in 1964 in Columbus, Ohio, Nationwise was a chain of auto parts stores in the United States. In 1974, Nationwise partnered with Columbus-based engine builders, The Rod Shop, sponsoring a series of highly successful drag racecars. In stores, a Rod Shop section was created as kind of a speed shop inside of a parts store. In addition to go fast goodies from all the big names, Nationwise also sold Rod Shop branded performance parts. These parts were typically embossed with NRS (Nationwise Rod Shop), making them easy to identify by collectors, even decades later. The Rod Shop partnership ended in 1987, and less than a decade later, Nationwise became insolvent, and closed all stores on Sunday, October 15, 1995 at 3:00 PM.

Among the dealership-based supercar builders of the 1960s and ’70s — including Yenko, Nickey, Grand Spaulding Dodge, and Royal Pontiac, most of these dealerships of the muscle era offered what was known as a 'supercar' service, which essentially provided a brand new, stock-bodied vehicle with plenty of extra horses, using either a highly tuned factory power plant or a high-performance crate engine. Baldwin Chevrolet took a slightly different approach, taking new Chevys sold through is dealership in Baldwin, New York (Long Island), and then delivered them to Joel Rosen’s Motion Performance speed shop (also in Baldwin), where they became street-legal, turn-key drag cars. many of which had optional wild custom body kits

Super Stock & Drag Illustrated was founded by John "Monk" Reynolds, publisher of Eastern Drag News and owner of Pennsylvania's US30 drag strip. The first issue was November 1964 and the magazine published continuously until June 1996 when it was re-titled 'Drag Racing' and only made it a few more years until a final issue in March 1999. The magazine was a thoughtful mix of drag racing coverage, tech articles, and street machines, which gave it pretty diverse appeal to gear heads of all sorts.

Weber Speed Equipment started out in 1945 as Weber Tool Company, making some of the first aluminum performance fly wheels. As the company continued to expand their speed parts catalog with cams, clutches, and heads, becoming increasingly popular with hot rodders and racers alike, they changed their name to Weber Speed Equipment. Aside from making high quality, extreme high-performance parts, one of their biggest claims to fame was their 'blow up proof' guarantee on their flywheels, something that was a big draw to those pushing higher horsepower and revs in the early days of drag racing.

Irwindale Raceway, was located unironically in Irwindale, California, and opened up in 1965 just after the San Gabriel Drag Strip closed in 1963. Compared to the likes of Orange County and Lions, Irwindale wasn’t a fancy track by any means, but had its charms to say the least. Irwindale the place to be in Southern California on a Saturday night and thanks to the (then) remote location, they ran well into the small hours and the crowds were there for it! Like all too many drag strips, pressure by development ruined a good thing. In 1977, the City of Irwindale bought the property and essentially gave it away for development of a large brewery facility.

As an avid dry lakes racer, Paul Schiefer developed his own clutches and flywheels that could take the abuse involved in propelling his racers to increasingly higher top speeds. He set up shop in 1947 and began manufacturing his clutches and flywheels for his fellow dry lakes enthusiasts and as word got out, his products became popular in other motorsports well. By 1956 Schiefer was mass-producing explosion-proof clutches which quickly became the clutch of choice for hardcore drag racers and by the mid-'60’s, the company had become the single largest manufacturer of specialty racing drive train components in the world.

Hurst Drag Racing Shifters

White Pro Street style drag racers were really a big deal in the '80s, this 1973 iron-on featuring a tricked-out '64 Impala serves as an example that they were alive and well in the preceding decade as well.

In My Drag Racing Era Racing Motorsports Cars Drag Strip Racetrack

Hurst Performance 1958

Speed-O-Motive got their start manufacturing custom pistons for flathead racing engines, but eventually began distributing speed parts and offering high-performance engine rebuild kits for pretty much every V8 application out there. If you couldn't swing by their Los Angeles area shop, you could mail order your parts, even complete engines after they begin offering turn key balanced and blueprinted crate racing engines. These crate strokers all ran Speed-O-Motive racing pistons, and the rest of the build leveraged top shelf goodies from other manufacturers.

Founded in 1925, Mallory initially developed OEM ignition systems for many early cars, but by the '50s, they were known for their aftermarket systems for hot rods and drag racers who needed more oomph to get their high-compression engines to light and for those needing more adjustability for fine-tuning and keeping their monster motors humming along. Mighty Mallory was a fun superhero inspired character introduced in 1962 and was most commonly found on decals handed out at drag racing events.

In My Drag Racing Era Racing Motorsports Car Racing Race Track Drag Strip Street Racer

This Pennsylvania-based performance legend started out as a maker of motor mounts for engine swaps and floor-shifters back in 1958, but they steadily expanded their product line through the 1960s. Hurst wheels, Line/Loc, and Swifter Shifter gloves were developed among other items, and later, Airheart Brakes and the Schiefer Manufacturing Company, which made clutches and other driveline components, were acquired. Hurst Performance floor-shifters were skillfully engineered, reliable and stirring in appearance, plus, their marketing was in tune with the times, catering to the flourishing muscle car movement of the 1960s. Their shifters infiltrated the drag racing, stock car racing, off-road racing and many other areas of motorsports.

"Dyno" Don Nicholson earned his nickname while working at the big Pasadena Chebby dealer, using the dynamometer to tune customer cars. With the aid of his dealer connections, his prowess on the track caught the attention of Bowtie's racing gurus in Detroit, and Nicholson was one of the first to receive a 409 when it debuted in 1961. He put that 409 to good use, winning the Top Stock Eliminator at the first Winternationals in his Bel Air. He repeated that feat in '62, by which time he had been lured to Atlanta to work his tuning magic for Nalley Chebby. Nalley would not ony sponsor his Bel Air, but also set him up with his own dedicated tuning garage, calling it the Nalley-Nicholson Dyno Shop.

Red Devil Racing Fuels were formulated in Los Angeles, exclusively with gasoline product out of the El Segundo Refinery from genuine California crude. With advertising that played on variations of 'hotter than hell,' their smoking devil was a common sight around the west coast drag strips, both on fuel drums and decals on drag racers. While others made various octanes, Red Devil only made their 110 high test which was known to be a good 5 octane higher than stated, something that would come back to bite them a few years down the road.

Life Goal Drag Racing Holeshot Wins Christmas Tree

Drag Racing Papa

More American Graffiti is set over the course of four New Year's Eve holidays beginning in 1964 and tells four separate stories, one of which is that of John Milner, the head honcho of the racing scene in the first film, as his drag racing career advances. John's story follows him and the Milner Racing Team crew through a series of personal and professional ups and downs, culminating in a fatal finale. This Milner Racing Team design is a replica based on a screen used tee, ensuring it's accurate to those seen in the film.

From its first issue in 1955 until it's last in 1971, Drag News was known as the bible for drag racers and their fans wanting to keep up on wins, losses, and records across the country as well as seeing ads for the latest go fast goodies from the preeminent builders of the day. Covering the earliest days of the sport all the way through the golden age of drag racing, Drag News was there and while many others tried to get a piece of the action, Drag News maintained it's spot as top dog throughout it's entire run.

Quincy's Auto Supply sat on the south side of Wilshire Blvd. in Santa Monica and started out as a muffler shop, but evolved into a comprehensive speed shop. They had lifts for muffler work, a speed equipment showroom, and even offered machining services such as boring and porting. Ray Alley was the muffler guy and did the porting work; he later became fairly famous as a top fuel wrench. The proprietor of the place was Bill Quincy Cox, hence the name of the business, and Quincy's had considerable credibility in the hot rod and racing scene through his sponsorships of some of the top drag racers and Bonneville competitors, most of whom set numerous records while flying the Quincy flag.