you were fortunate to grow up in this era...im 28 and i go to the track and see 90s nissans that sound like lawnmowers racing each other, granted they ARE fast...but its just not the same...the highlight is seeing an 80s camaro tear it up...a far cry from the era of big blocks and raw power!
Thanks for posting this treasure! My first race attended was at Irwindale, 1964...at 6 years of age. Was fortunate to have a father who would take me to all the So Cal tracks (including Lions, OCIR, Ontario, and Bakersfield). And the bug bit me so hard, that I began racing in high school at Santa Maria, after being licensed in 74', and continue racing today in Super Pro and Nostalgia classes.
best strip ever ... spent many weekends there....still have a trophy decal and trophys...from 69-70 when cj hart was operating with ihra sanction......loved it ...you could almost touch the cars as they were on the line...used to get my clothes all bleach spotted from the bleach burnouts...always a good crowd and lots of cars......
Great home movie, thanks for posting it. I'll never forget those warm summer evenings at Lions. I can still smell the tire smoke and nitro fumes and hear the brain rattling sound of those fuel-burning dragsters. It was insane that you could get so close to the starting line. I lived near by and went religiously from the age of 15 in 1963 until it closed in 1972.
64-66 was me and my friends, in and just out of, high school muscle car days in So Cal. Friend had a '62 Galaxy, 406, tri-power, 4 sp; was our "main cruise" car in 65-66. A "GTO & Chevelle killer" on the streets of "L.A. Basin", as it was called then!! Burgers, fries, and cokes at Bob's, and we were "good to go" on the weekend nights!! And days, it was Lions, Irwindale, Fontana, Pomona all on the "circuit", going "around the horn" weekends in L.A. area. Winter Nationals, etc. etc. Recently got a '64 Caliente (Hi po 302) that I was inspired by it at one of these great drag strips (but it sported a 427 then!!), just before I got my "call to duty" in "67!! Bought a '67 Cyclone 390 GT just before (9 months) I bused off to ft. Ord, and beyond!! "Those were the days my friends, we thought they'd never end".... But sadly they did,.... but we can still get those great cars, right!!: I have another 67 Cyclone, was inspired by Dyno Don, a 64 Caliente as I mentioned, and a 64 Ranchero (fresh re-built 200 six, 5 sp), just for fun, and to "carry hay bales", And I'm Not done yet,...I hope!! ;D Thanks for the trip in the "time machine"!!!!
Fantastic memories of a special time in Southern California. We did Bob's too, my parents dated there in my dad's chevy hot rod. We went there as kids and then I liked the grilled cheese and fries. I grew up going to Lions, Irwindale, OC Raceway and more for that early drag action. I still go to Pomona for the Winter nationals and World Finals. Completely different now but nothing like it for us gear heads. Thanks for the comment and watching!
@@friedfilm Cool, glad at least Pomona is still open, but as you said "completely different" now. Hey, folks, if I want to watch something "Completely Different" now I'll watch Monty Python!! :D Not too interested in the "funny cars" with a common plastic shell and a big supercharged Toyota motor running low e.t.'s; who cares!!! It's big business now, so not interested. Sorry John Force, but you can't be inspired to go out and buy a cool car, on Monday, that you saw at the drags, on Saturday, like I did with the Cyclone and Caliente, right?!! Real drags, with iconic muscle cars, may they RIP.
Thank you for preserving and sharing this home video with the rest of us. It really is a rare treat. Your dad's video camera did a darn nice job of recording the scene and the action!
I swear one of those little kids is me. What a place to be back in '63 when my uncle was matched against Don Prudhomme in the Top Eliminator Final. Bob Sidebotham in the Bad News Coupe.Still holds the record in AA/FA for quickest pass at Lions that day.
We smoked the tires the full length of the track because this was the days before the slipper clutches. We tried to adjust different tires and tire pressures to match the track so we hopefully hooked up somewhere down the track. It was like driving a car on a slick road.....only you are running 200 mph !!!
I am not sure about the camera. It was just an 8 mm camera that my family used to film some of our adventures. The camera is long gone. Too bad... We came across a box of the old films in our attic and I had them loaded onto video. Thanks for watching!
Great video. I am sure is earlier than 69. I would have been there in Dick Harrell's crew, racing against Hubert Platt. This could be the day that Hubert, in a wheel stand contest against Dick, broke his Falcon. He then brought out the Mustang and dropped that one too hard too. He did win the contest, though!
@jjcczz5757 I just guessed about the date so you most likely are right about it being 1966. This was a home movie my dad took, I am in the frame at 8 seconds and I thought I looked about 9 years old - but looking again, I could have been 6 or 7 as well. Maybe I should change the title card! Thanks for watching.
I’m also thinking this movie is pre 1969 because it shows the old tower and the shorter grandstand on the far side of the track. I think the tower was removed and grandstand expanded by 1969 and I don’t think any of the stock cars look to be 1969 era. You might also research what year they began using the roller starter method in place of push starting the cars.
@@cmf1965 Yup, early Mopars!! Used to be a big fan,.... until "I saw the light" and went Blue Ovals! :D My uncle had a '64 Polara (383, torqueflite), and he used to let me drive it occasionally (I was about 19-20 then, in 65-66), much to his "chagrin",..... if you get my meaning!!! ;D
this footage is mostly likely 1966. could be very late 1965. I doubt it is more recent than late 1966 based on- Hubert Platt, Butch Leal, Nickey Chevy II, etc
Thanks Spiders, My Dad grew up here in So Cal and was into drag racing when it was just starting out. We would go to the drags often, thats me in the blue jacket at the fence 8 seconds. I was just guessing about the year based upon how old I looked, but it could easily be earlier. (see comment below from jjcczz5757) I don't want to update the title card as that means you lose all your views and start over. Maybe I will add a caption thru youtube as that doesn't re make the video file.
those were the days. its to bad things changed. now its all money then WE DID IT FOR LOVE. the world has changed too for the worst. too bad u kids didnt get to see it live. god bless my old time brothers.
In the big show it's all about the money, but at the local tracks near me, guys are out there almost every weekend still doing it for the love and trying to go just a little bit quicker.
you were fortunate to grow up in this era...im 28 and i go to the track and see 90s nissans that sound like lawnmowers racing each other, granted they ARE fast...but its just not the same...the highlight is seeing an 80s camaro tear it up...a far cry from the era of big blocks and raw power!
Thanks for posting this treasure! My first race attended was at Irwindale, 1964...at 6 years of age. Was fortunate to have a father who would take me to all the So Cal tracks (including Lions, OCIR, Ontario, and Bakersfield). And the bug bit me so hard, that I began racing in high school at Santa Maria, after being licensed in 74', and continue racing today in Super Pro and Nostalgia classes.
best strip ever ... spent many weekends there....still have a trophy decal and trophys...from 69-70 when cj hart was operating with ihra sanction......loved it ...you could almost touch the cars as they were on the line...used to get my clothes all bleach spotted from the bleach burnouts...always a good crowd and lots of cars......
Great home movie, thanks for posting it. I'll never forget those warm summer evenings at Lions. I can still smell the tire smoke and nitro fumes and hear the brain rattling sound of those fuel-burning dragsters. It was insane that you could get so close to the starting line. I lived near by and went religiously from the age of 15 in 1963 until it closed in 1972.
Great video..........great racing back then.
Great to see the goodies from another era, thanks !!
Man i love seeing old B bodys. I had a few.
Handful is right! And smoking the tires all the way down, what a show! Glad you liked it and thanks for watching!
64-66 was me and my friends, in and just out of, high school muscle car days in So Cal. Friend had a '62 Galaxy, 406, tri-power, 4 sp; was our "main cruise" car in 65-66. A "GTO & Chevelle killer" on the streets of "L.A. Basin", as it was called then!! Burgers, fries, and cokes at Bob's, and we were "good to go" on the weekend nights!! And days, it was Lions, Irwindale, Fontana, Pomona all on the "circuit", going "around the horn" weekends in L.A. area. Winter Nationals, etc. etc. Recently got a '64 Caliente (Hi po 302) that I was inspired by it at one of these great drag strips (but it sported a 427 then!!), just before I got my "call to duty" in "67!! Bought a '67 Cyclone 390 GT just before (9 months) I bused off to ft. Ord, and beyond!! "Those were the days my friends, we thought they'd never end".... But sadly they did,.... but we can still get those great cars, right!!: I have another 67 Cyclone, was inspired by Dyno Don, a 64 Caliente as I mentioned, and a 64 Ranchero (fresh re-built 200 six, 5 sp), just for fun, and to "carry hay bales", And I'm Not done yet,...I hope!! ;D Thanks for the trip in the "time machine"!!!!
Fantastic memories of a special time in Southern California. We did Bob's too, my parents dated there in my dad's chevy hot rod. We went there as kids and then I liked the grilled cheese and fries. I grew up going to Lions, Irwindale, OC Raceway and more for that early drag action. I still go to Pomona for the Winter nationals and World Finals. Completely different now but nothing like it for us gear heads. Thanks for the comment and watching!
@@friedfilm Cool, glad at least Pomona is still open, but as you said "completely different" now. Hey, folks, if I want to watch something "Completely Different" now I'll watch Monty Python!! :D Not too interested in the "funny cars" with a common plastic shell and a big supercharged Toyota motor running low e.t.'s; who cares!!! It's big business now, so not interested. Sorry John Force, but you can't be inspired to go out and buy a cool car, on Monday, that you saw at the drags, on Saturday, like I did with the Cyclone and Caliente, right?!! Real drags, with iconic muscle cars, may they RIP.
Thank you for preserving and sharing this home video with the rest of us. It really is a rare treat. Your dad's video camera did a darn nice job of recording the scene and the action!
I swear one of those little kids is me.
What a place to be back in '63 when my uncle was matched against Don Prudhomme in the Top Eliminator Final.
Bob Sidebotham in the Bad News Coupe.Still holds the record in AA/FA for quickest pass at Lions that day.
The kid at the fence in the blue jacket at 0:08 is me.... so very long ago
Thanks for sharing. Added to my favorites.
Love the old altered wheelbase cars
We smoked the tires the full length of the track because this was the days before the slipper clutches. We tried to adjust different tires and tire pressures to match the track so we hopefully hooked up somewhere down the track. It was like driving a car on a slick road.....only you are running 200 mph !!!
I am not sure about the camera. It was just an 8 mm camera that my family used to film some of our adventures. The camera is long gone. Too bad... We came across a box of the old films in our attic and I had them loaded onto video. Thanks for watching!
Thank you
No computers, no HEI, Carbs just cool old horsepower
Love this, thanks for sharing.
Those AWB sedans looked like a handful, and how's about those rails laying a batch all the way to the blinky? Wild!
Great video. I am sure is earlier than 69. I would have been there in Dick Harrell's crew, racing against Hubert Platt. This could be the day that Hubert, in a wheel stand contest against Dick, broke his Falcon. He then brought out the Mustang and dropped that one too hard too. He did win the contest, though!
thanks for the post!
@jjcczz5757 I just guessed about the date so you most likely are right about it being 1966. This was a home movie my dad took, I am in the frame at 8 seconds and I thought I looked about 9 years old - but looking again, I could have been 6 or 7 as well. Maybe I should change the title card! Thanks for watching.
Thanks for watching!
Thanks glad you liked it!
I’m also thinking this movie is pre 1969 because it shows the old tower and the shorter grandstand on the far side of the track. I think the tower was removed and grandstand expanded by 1969 and I don’t think any of the stock cars look to be 1969 era. You might also research what year they began using the roller starter method in place of push starting the cars.
Butch Leal's California Flash appears to be a '65 Dodge... Might help date this great footage.
It's a 1965 Plymouth Belvedere I two-door sedan...
@@cmf1965 Yup, early Mopars!! Used to be a big fan,.... until "I saw the light" and went Blue Ovals! :D My uncle had a '64 Polara (383, torqueflite), and he used to let me drive it occasionally (I was about 19-20 then, in 65-66), much to his "chagrin",..... if you get my meaning!!! ;D
Awesome footage! The audio track is a bonus. What was the camera model?
Thanks for sharing.
Thats me at the fence at 8 seconds.
does any of the people that went to loins in the late 50s and early 60s remember bob calkins or bob toyer they raced gasers
this footage is mostly likely 1966. could be very late 1965. I doubt it is more recent than late 1966 based on- Hubert Platt, Butch Leal, Nickey Chevy II, etc
Thanks Spiders, My Dad grew up here in So Cal and was into drag racing when it was just starting out. We would go to the drags often, thats me in the blue jacket at the fence 8 seconds. I was just guessing about the year based upon how old I looked, but it could easily be earlier. (see comment below from jjcczz5757) I don't want to update the title card as that means you lose all your views and start over. Maybe I will add a caption thru youtube as that doesn't re make the video file.
those were the days. its to bad things changed. now its all money then WE DID IT FOR LOVE. the world has changed too for the worst. too bad u kids didnt get to see it live. god bless my old time brothers.
In the big show it's all about the money, but at the local tracks near me, guys are out there almost every weekend still doing it for the love and trying to go just a little bit quicker.
Those weren't burn outs, those were runs
I know, what a hookup that dragster is moving!
Location of track is where?
2:09 like a bat outta hell!
Had to turn the BS sound down but its GREAT footage. Cool
Good old dsys