I was there that day. I was 16 years old, and drove down with one of my buddies to see our neighbor Howard Parks run his 426 Hemi Powered '67 Plymouth Belvedere. He won his class, but the whole day took on a different slant when this guy R.L. Peyton pulled up to the line. We didn't pay much attention because his rail job didn't look nice, like Tom Hoover's and Don Garlits. Next thing I know, R.L. pulls his rail crossways in the middle of the track, and then got out and pulled his Riviera into the other lane as you can see in the photos on the video. Everybody started booing R.L. because he was holding up things with his protest. From where I stood I don;t think anybody there was supporting R.l by their actions. We were all pissed because of his presumably bogus protesting. I could tell by the appearance of the car that he was a low-budget racer. About Ten minutes went by and the beer cans and bottles started flying onto the track by the thousands. The photo shown doesn't really reflect the true amount of glass and cans that were thrown that day. I took a picture of it, but haven't seen it in years. The bottles and cans were a foot deep in some places, and had to be removed with a front-end loader! This very event was forever more the reason that glass bottles were not allowed anymore at sporting events. Especially in Bristol!
I seriously doubt it was a foot deep of cans and bottles, rednecks back then wouldn't waste their beer like that, I've seen similar trash piles, but only at festivals of hundred or tens of thousands of ppl, and emptying their coolers around the corners and perimeters.
Everything about today's life is boring compared to years ago, in the 1970's America was like the wild west, people actually had their freedoms back then, they'd cruise the strip, bar hop through half the night, now all people do is stay at home on their computers either thinking about the good old days or wondering what they were like. America's a great big yawn fest compared to what it used to be.
@@joshuagibson2520 It's because the cops nowadays are assholes, anyone who'd go around jamming up as many citizens as they can over all these bullshit petty laws they've stacked on the books the past 40 years while real criminals like the one that murdered my son are running around because the big bad tough guy police spend all their time sticking it to citizens is an asshole, period. In the mid 80's when that MADD mothers movement started the cops of that era were a little reluctant to jam up some working guy who stopped and had a beer on the way home from work because they seen how ridiculous the penalties were getting for having one beer in you, no incident or anything like that, they seen it was ridiculous and wasn't right, but 10 years later and ever since the cops that came in got no problem doing it to people, and in the meanwhile they themselves will go out with their buddies on the weekend carrying on because they know nothing's going to happen to them because they're in that club. When I got out of the Army un 86 I could have gotten a job with the State Police, but it's like I told everyone I'll bust my ass working construction or something honest like that before I'll stick it to a citizen, only a little wanna be tough guy pussy would do something like that.
@Briian Good stuff.. Racing always expensive .. always a good way to clean dirty money. The reason IMSA in the 70's was nicknamed The International Marijuana Smuggling Association. Eg Whittington Brothers,. R.L. wasn't the sharpest tool in the box.. Thanks..
Same here Saturday I'll be 72 and just finished 540c.i. dual Nitrous Street car. But TBS /Alka Digger help me out with intercooler 10-71 to help speed up the elderly. Our premier drag strip silently was sold even with weekly sell out crowds multi million dollars track boom gone ! Apartments for our new democrat guest... Now street racing has increased, deaths, and state has a healthy increase in revenue..
Early Drag Racing was a golden era, but also a Wild West! At the early California Hot Rod Reunions, some of the stories I heard where way too crazy to be true, but, as time went on and I learned more, they where true! Thanks Brian, for keeping the History alive! Warts and all!
Love those stories from the "wilder" times of Drag Racing.. Running on the proverbial shoestrings and having a wild time doing so, much like NASCAR of the time NHRA and IHRA were a sport of run what ya brung, and however you got it there.. Way more fun than the semi-corporate PR controled Automotive Sports of today... Thanks Brian as always... such great story telling
Gotta hand it to ya. Your enthusiastic storytelling on the podcasts brought me here. They helped to make my jobs go better when doing tedious stuff, but the visuals on UA-cam are like icing on the cake! Great job and continued success.
The characters in drag racing are not all boy scouts. What a great story. Goodfellas meets Heart Like a Wheel. Thank you for this fabulous piece of history. Keep 'em coming.
I am pretty sure those beer cans on the Bristol Drag Strip were pull tab steel cans. Aluminum beer cans didn’t enter the drinking scene until the late 1970’s. I missed the steel cans. I always felt beer stayed colder in steel cans rather than aluminum.
Wow!! I had never heard of this!! Unbelievable!! 'Transporting restricted substances'.... sounds like Gary Balough and the Whittington bros of the roundy round set!! Happy New Year, Brian! Fantastic as always! You never disappoint!
Cool stuff! Boy, when you started talking about some of the unsavory characters in the early days of drag racing I was almost frozen with fear. Thank you for not mentioning Gene Snow.
@@edgarbeat2851 sexual relations? He had many scrapes with the law starting in 1978 with his final conviction in 2000. One of the charges against him was sexual assault of a child under the age of 15. One boy claimed he sexually abused him for over six years. The boy was 17 years old when he made the statement. Snow took a plea deal pleading guilty to causing bodily injury to a child under the age of 15.
Super cool to see advertisements for New London Dragway and EastSide Speedway. Two tracks close to me. Both now closed. Never got to race at New London but have spent many weekends at EastSide
@@brianlohnes3079 I'm not 100% sure. Only had maybe 4 races last year. Havent heard of any plans for 2024. The property is for sale but like always the land value is worth way more then the business.
I live like 10 mins from New London.. Never raced there but, went there many times as a kid with my Dad and watched and was there for the last race before they closed... Sucks that it's gone and most likely, never coming back 😢 loved seeing that old flyer though!
What an incredible story! I've never heard of this guy to my memory, and I'd not seen the beer can-littered track photo either. What a great job coming up with this story and all the information surrounding it. Excellent work once again, Brian!
Glad you do these stories... lots of the original licensed fuel drivers are passing away faster the mile markers on the highway.. their stories need shared... On the "Fueling cards" most of the gas companies required a "authorization" number over $25 in the early 70s.. no idea when it started... I wasn't a petroleum transfer engineer till my HS days in the mid 70s..
I'm 77 years old and raced nationally in the seventies. I don't remember R.L. Payton but there were quite a few marginal cars running Top Fuel back in the day. At the NHRA Nationals they has 32 car fields because of the roller starters. It was cool to watch Top Fuelers make run after run with little delay between runs. I used to have a friend that would travel with me to National events to crew on these budget fuelers. Some of these cars could law down reasonable qualifying passes usually expiring at the end of the quarter. Several would qualify and some would actually go a couple of rounds. I remember a few names ( Dick Lahie from Michigan, Chris Karmasines from Chicago, John Logenecker from Ohio and Grant Stoms from the east coast. Be nice if you could do an article on these back end qualifiers. Lot's of neat stories.
@@mikebaker9574 Yeh, I got Paul's first name wrong. Lohgge chassis in Lansing built Dick's chassis. I had a Anglia with a Lohgge chassis for awhile, was going to make it into an Eco Altered. Never happened, got married instead. Paul was a really sharp and nice guy. I didn't follow IHRA events, didn't know about that. When Pro Stock first started he was an early adopter, had a weird pink metallic Camaro. Ran pretty quick too until the names got involved. He would have been a champion if he had funding. He worked his but off. Looking at your last name I wonder if you are related to Dick Baker. He ran a Buick in NHRA stock eliminator.
Paul Longenecker had a clutch explosion incident during a pass in Union Grove WI back in 1977 that killed a woman in the stands from flying debris. Paul was arrested at the track for involuntary manslaughter and released shortly after the paperwork procurement but on a different note from what I remember, 32 car Top Fuel field was only at the US nationals in Indianapolis. By the time I started attending national event races in the late 1970s, Top Fuel had crank drive starters by then.
This was my uncle. I heard all kinds of stories..now I find this. Crazy my other uncle Harrison Peyton is working on turning this into a movie Called Wild man...crazy hope it becomes a movie the stories I could tell about this guy
My god that was awesome . What an amazing story. I got addicted to this channel after stumbling onto your great expo on art alfons. This is the greatest channel period thankyou for creating it 👍👍👍
Wow! Brings back old memories. Came across your channel as recommended. I'm hooked. Liked and subscribed. Looking forward to watching more of your videos. I learn so much from the great comments on here. Great bunch of people with similar interests and stories. Thanks for doing this. I know it must be a lot of hard work and time consuming. Thanks!
It just kills me that this channel doesn't have millions of subscribers. I mean it's Brian Lohnes delivering cool drag racing history for dang sake, how can any self-proclaimed "car guy" not be watching these?!?
You should be nominated as one of the all time greatest story tellers. Yet again I had heard of the cans and bottles being thrown on the Bristol track. But had no idea of what circumstance it was centered around.
Great story! Drag racing in it's infancy was the wild wild west! Loved seeing the Grove! Thanks Brian! More please... (How about a Broadway Bob story?)
I stopped this at 1:12. I was born in 1965. My father, like all of his friends were drag racers and car club members. My parents were no different than my friends parents but they were in motorcycle clubs. I always wondered why 'car clubs' never got a bad rep like the 'bikers'. Same people back then just different ways of going fast on pavement. (edited for this) Liked and subscribed.
Now that is an interesting and unusual story about a guy I never heard of !! Very well done . Many thanks Brian for another wonderful and entertaining story. PS : I always wondered about all those cans.
That would make a great movie 😂could u possibly do a video on the two midwest classic drag strip's of Great Lakes Dragway in Wisconsin and US30 Dragstrip in Indiana please, such a big part of being a 1970s kid
Great job Brian! This reminds me of some of my dads stories about hot rodding while growing up in the 50s and early 60s. Dad would tell some of the craziest stories and swear they were true. Dad was an honest man and never ever known to tell a lie, yet some stories seemed too crazy to be true. I began to wonder if they were simply embellished to a point where maybe things didn't happen the way he said they did. I heard all the stories many times. They always remained the same, no detail varied. Well later in life something weird began to happen as dad got older. We might be at a family reunion on top of a mountain in eastern Kentucky. Dad would be far away in his wheelchair, as dad became permanently disabled from an on the job accident and lived his last 25 years this way. First time this phenomenon happened i remember walking up and hearing somebody else telling one of dads stories, as this particular person was there for that particular story. I was floored when every detail matched dads story! It was crazy things like some feller had a new 1957 chevrolet 4 door hardtop. With 4 guys in it they were going too fast and left the road, rolling the car 4 times. Dad was in passenger front seat when the car landed on all 4 tires...but dads rear end was stuck between the seat and the crushed roof. After getting out with help nobody was hurt. They decided the best thing to do was take the bumper jack and raise the roof enough to drive the car home, which they did. Of course they went home 4 wheel drifting the curves in the same way that got them in that mess in the first place. In the end, since the car was almost new, insurance cut the top off, welded a new one on and car was "just like new" again. It was endless stories like that which dad told. And more time went on i would hear other peoples accounts of dads stories, again giving complete confirmation of every one. Later in life dad said "i should write a book about my life, but nobody would believe it. Id have to call it fiction. Dad died in March 2016 at 75 years old and life has not been the same since i lost my best friend and father, both being the same man. Im 54 now and disabled myself, going blind and then MS, now heart disease with a minor stroke. It sucks still having your wits about you but the old body can't do what it used to. As a life long mechanic and drag racer and overall "car guy" its getting rough watching people do what i can't do anymore, but one must go on and i wish the very best for all y'all out there doing your thing with vehicles and having a good time doing so amd making their own true stories! I happen to have a few of my own...😎
@@brianlohnes3079 I believe we met one time...didn't you used to work for Hot Rod mag and Peterson publishing at one time? I also think we have a common friend named Mark Cornea "Dr Decal"? And didn't you own a yellow Olds '70 442 at one time? If all these are true we all met up together somewhere around Indy for a Hot Rod Power Tour with all 3 of our 1970 442s and cruised the last 2 legs of that event together. Id have to say that was around 1995... Edit : I could be way off on the year but know it was in the 1990s for that particular event..
I actually met mr peyton in 1991 at the atlanta dragstrip. We had been hauling our car up and down the entire east coast that year competing for the fastest street car in america title (which we finally acheived and held for 8 months, it was not an easy task!) Anyway, mr peyton introduced himself to us as an old top fuel racer from the 1960's, i had never heard of the guy before and didn't know him from the man on the moon. I asked him if he was running a car on that particular day and he said no, i got into a bit of legal trouble in the late 60's and had to hang up my helmet, but, i miss it every single day. He even pulled out an old worn and tattered A.H.R.A license from the 60's and showed it to us. He talked about racing against the greats back in the day, Don prudhome, garlits, bill dunlap etc etc. I had no idea if anything this middle aged guy who was sucking down copious amounts of old milwaukee were true or not, but, he was a very polite and interesting guy and i couldn't help but to listen to the tons of stories he had to tell. I never saw mr peyton again after that one day in atlanta georgia. After watching this video i now know that this man was very much legit with everything he had told us. It's a real shame that he could not continue doing the sport that he obviously loved so very much. Rest in peace Mr. R L Peyton!
@@9rjharper those are roller starters. Back when the cars had to be push started an idea was hatched to speed up the process. The starters would be near the starting line, typically. You pulled the car on, put the clutch in, the roller were powered by an engine and then you let the clutch out and hit the magneto switch and boom! Your car was fired and you were off to the races
Hey man I’m not into drag racing. Really don’t know much about it but I really enjoy good content… and this was really interesting. I’m going to sub Keep em coming
Thank you Brian for giving substance to the sport from an angle that should never be forgotten and thank you for mentioning my company name at national events that I sponsor in Top Fuel (Nelson Trucking)
I think the first time the Paytons ran their TF late model Hemi was at Spruce Creek(they were one of the first to run one). McMillan was going to go first. I was told that the fastest thing he had driven up to that time was his Corvette. Any way T Payton was having trouble mixing the fuel so he just dumped 100% in. After they got it cranked McMillan stalled it right off the line. Trying to get out he dumped the chute out so instead of repacking Payton just cut it off with a knife? I thought they were done for the night but they cranked it up again and made a half pass with no chute. Before the dragster they had a AAF Altered made out of exhaust tubing. It had a 413/426 Wedge in it I believe. After a few runs the tubing was bent out of shape. Some how they managed to get one of the 427 Chev motors and put it in a 57 Chevy. They had to have gotten it from Ray Fox or Smokey Yunic since they were the only ones to have them at that time I believe. Money Talks.
Brian, this was a great story/video. Thanks for sharing. Just about any successful adventure (like the NHRA) has a variety of "personalities" that help make it what it is today. It takes all types - right? LOL! Looking forward to seeing yourself and Tony on Sundays and getting the 2024 season underway! Praying for Robert Hight's health and recovery.
Wow, what a story! I followed drag racing closely back then so I recalled this character's name but somehow missed (or maybe forgot) the Bristol incident. And I definitely didn't know about Billy Stepp's background! Thanks!
In the early 70's a pro stock car from a the states turned up in the uk🇬🇧 called the LONDON HEAVY it was far and away the fastest pro stock car in the country and won just about every event it entered. My father was racing in pro stock( big john 289 mustang fast back) and was gifted a pair of new slicks by the heavy's driver as a thank you for help during a race weekend. My dad (sadly passed) told me years later, any favour asked or given by the cars driver was accepted with out question as the guy who owned the car in the states, was not a man to mess with. The London heavy was the same body/ trans and engine,and painted identically to the Brookland heavy.
I read his book, given to me by a friend of his brothers, here in Orlando. My friend says all these stories are true and he was a legit wild man. My last trip to the Garlits Museum, about 2 months ago, I wanted to ask Don, about R.L., but his hearing is so bad, hard to have a conversation with him. Thanks for sharing JT: Orlando Fla Florida Dragstrip Riot LLC
First 5:10 58 Top Fuelers capable of 200 MPH 1n the late 60's is one hella show boys and girls. Second 15:37 Thats one sick ass groove they be lay'n down. Thank you for your hard work and passion BL . Appreciate you!!
I was born in 1965, my Uncle, Billie Chapman robbed pharmacies in the Cincinnati Tri state area. He claims to have worked with RL on some "transportation" jobs. He did say RL was a wild man, Billie was fearless and enterprising in his own right. RIP, RL truly lived fast ...
I wondered if Broadway Freddy would make an appearance, and you did not disappoint. Did you know that Broadway and the late Don Schumacher had history? Schumacher had a brand new Funny Car stolen from him, and shortly thereafter Freddy showed up with an identical car. When Shoe confronted Freddy, it was said that a gun or knife was displayed, and Shoe was warned to mind his own business.
I made a multiple hour podcast on Freddy. My podcast series is called the Dork-o-Motive podcast and there is an episode called, “the mafia killer who loved funny cars”. There is some awesome first person story telling involved!
,,,,,,,,,thanks again as always , for the work , research , and dedication to drag racing.......As a kid,,,,,Richie Di Nome was a friend of mine,,,,,He told me racing stories involving his older brother,,,,,Freddie ,,," Broadway Freddie " ....
In the early 80s I worked with a old guy, he went by the name POPS. He was retired LAPD. He told me about the time he had arrested DON (THE SNAKE) PURDOME. He did mention that Don had got caught up in a bum wrap.
And that is why all cans and bottles were banned from drag racing events. I remember late 70's and early 80's going to SIR and they would search your cars for alcohol. Now days you dont get to park close to the fences, and they look in all coolers and such to enter the event.
I remembered that picture of their pro stock with them dressed up as gangsters! I always wondered Billy the Kid was a cowboy. Why are these guys dressing up as gangsters?!
I wonder what that truck is around the 1:33 mark. Looks like the body of a pick up on a longer and bigger frame. Obviously it's really hard to tell in an old black & white picture like this, but the axle isn't under the wheel well and it looks like the back of the bed is cut down on an angle from the rear towards the wheel? Eather that or it was just something that was in a massive wreck LOL. Thank you for your time and effort, I love history like this. I just jumped on board. Looks like you have a ton of great history to check out
My momma warned me about these dirty drag racers. This is why businesses literally cut-up credit cards if declined or rejected 🤔😳😎… And I met Billie and he was a hoot and charming too. What about the Chicago Tuff Rabbit group ?
You have to think. Ww2 ended not long before Nascar and NHRA got started up. Most of the guys that started both series are ex military men. Still looking for the adrenaline rush like the war.
@roberthevern6169 . Thank you. It's a realization I had just before making the comment. I never thought about the war years in contrast with the start-up series years. Lol
Brian you are so good at your job and amazing story teller sucks I’m so young cuz I’d love to see this stuff happen thank you for all you do for the sport and keeping it alive
Here it is 2024 and I am reading about the Bristol race I attended where the bottles and cans stopped the race, "a day that shall live in infamy". If my memory is correct Peyton also attended the Bristol race in years prior to the year of the riot. At one of the races his operation was so budget strapped that he hauled the dragster backwards in the bed of a pickup truck with the front wheels extended well beyond the open tailgate. Can anyone confirm this happened or has it been so long ago that my memory is not correct??? I definitely remember some of the most impressive runs were those of "The Big Bamboo". Great reporting keep-up the good work.
Thanks Brian, what a story. Can you do a story about a young Prudhome, when allegedly there was a remodeling of a motel, or Big Jim Dunn's alleged hero fireman driver to set the records straight.
I loved see the New London flyer, I spent many a Sunday there in the 70's and 80's. By then no T/F cars would come there, but some Alky funny cars did. Good memories
In 1970, while I was in high school, I began working in the restaurant of a Ramada Inn along I-75 just north of Dayton, Ohio. Bill Stepp would occasionally come and eat there. He always had a body guard with him and he never ate in the dining room area because it was too dimly lit according to some of the older employees who knew about him. He once left a $20 tip for a young, attractive waitress which was a big deal at the time and caused a bit of a stir among the other waitresses. At the end of the video it was said that “where ever R L Peyton is right now you can pretty much guarantee he’s having a great time.” I beg to differ.Unless he had a serious reckoning with his Creator he is definitely not having a great time now.
I was there that day. I was 16 years old, and drove down with one of my buddies to see our neighbor Howard Parks run his 426 Hemi Powered '67 Plymouth Belvedere. He won his class, but the whole day took on a different slant when this guy R.L. Peyton pulled up to the line. We didn't pay much attention because his rail job didn't look nice, like Tom Hoover's and Don Garlits. Next thing I know, R.L. pulls his rail crossways in the middle of the track, and then got out and pulled his Riviera into the other lane as you can see in the photos on the video. Everybody started booing R.L. because he was holding up things with his protest. From where I stood I don;t think anybody there was supporting R.l by their actions. We were all pissed because of his presumably bogus protesting. I could tell by the appearance of the car that he was a low-budget racer. About Ten minutes went by and the beer cans and bottles started flying onto the track by the thousands. The photo shown doesn't really reflect the true amount of glass and cans that were thrown that day. I took a picture of it, but haven't seen it in years. The bottles and cans were a foot deep in some places, and had to be removed with a front-end loader! This very event was forever more the reason that glass bottles were not allowed anymore at sporting events. Especially in Bristol!
This is amazing!
Cool story, Bro !
@@HorseMalone lol
I seriously doubt it was a foot deep of cans and bottles, rednecks back then wouldn't waste their beer like that, I've seen similar trash piles, but only at festivals of hundred or tens of thousands of ppl, and emptying their coolers around the corners and perimeters.
😅
These stories make today's drag racing sound pretty boring. Thanks for sharing this history with everyone.
These types of stories are still happening, they just can’t be told until the statute of limitations runs out. 😂
@@proracer382dahhh, very astute observation! Go to the head of the class!
Everything about today's life is boring compared to years ago, in the 1970's America was like the wild west, people actually had their freedoms back then, they'd cruise the strip, bar hop through half the night, now all people do is stay at home on their computers either thinking about the good old days or wondering what they were like.
America's a great big yawn fest compared to what it used to be.
@@dukecraig2402somehow all the pousy's took over. I miss those days you speak of.
@@joshuagibson2520
It's because the cops nowadays are assholes, anyone who'd go around jamming up as many citizens as they can over all these bullshit petty laws they've stacked on the books the past 40 years while real criminals like the one that murdered my son are running around because the big bad tough guy police spend all their time sticking it to citizens is an asshole, period.
In the mid 80's when that MADD mothers movement started the cops of that era were a little reluctant to jam up some working guy who stopped and had a beer on the way home from work because they seen how ridiculous the penalties were getting for having one beer in you, no incident or anything like that, they seen it was ridiculous and wasn't right, but 10 years later and ever since the cops that came in got no problem doing it to people, and in the meanwhile they themselves will go out with their buddies on the weekend carrying on because they know nothing's going to happen to them because they're in that club.
When I got out of the Army un 86 I could have gotten a job with the State Police, but it's like I told everyone I'll bust my ass working construction or something honest like that before I'll stick it to a citizen, only a little wanna be tough guy pussy would do something like that.
I can not express how much i love learning about this side of drag racing!
Thank you, Brian, for all your hard work!
I’m super thankful you enjoy watching!!
@Briian Good stuff.. Racing always expensive .. always a good way to clean dirty money. The reason IMSA in the 70's was nicknamed The International Marijuana Smuggling Association. Eg Whittington Brothers,. R.L. wasn't the sharpest tool in the box.. Thanks..
I’m 73 and followed racing since I was a kid and never heard this story. Your narration and info is priceless. Thanks for preserving the history.
Same here Saturday I'll be 72 and just finished 540c.i. dual Nitrous Street car. But TBS /Alka Digger help me out with intercooler 10-71 to help speed up the elderly. Our premier drag strip silently was sold even with weekly sell out crowds multi million dollars track boom gone ! Apartments for our new democrat guest... Now street racing has increased, deaths, and state has a healthy increase in revenue..
Early Drag Racing was a golden era, but also a Wild West! At the early California Hot Rod Reunions, some of the stories I heard where way too crazy to be true, but, as time went on and I learned more, they where true! Thanks Brian, for keeping the History alive! Warts and all!
Appreciate you watching!
Also interesting is the almost complete lack of engine maintenance between rounds in the top fuel dragsters and other classes.
Love those stories from the "wilder" times of Drag Racing.. Running on the proverbial shoestrings and having a wild time doing so, much like NASCAR of the time NHRA and IHRA were a sport of run what ya brung, and however you got it there.. Way more fun than the semi-corporate PR controled Automotive Sports of today... Thanks Brian as always... such great story telling
Appreciate you watching!!
Gotta hand it to ya. Your enthusiastic storytelling on the podcasts brought me here. They helped to make my jobs go better when doing tedious stuff, but the visuals on UA-cam are like icing on the cake! Great job and continued success.
Thank you William!
I have to watch them. He has so many good pics, video, etc.
Another incredible story Brian! Love it, keep 'em coming!
Thanks for digging them!!
The characters in drag racing are not all boy scouts. What a great story. Goodfellas meets Heart Like a Wheel. Thank you for this fabulous piece of history. Keep 'em coming.
Appreciate you taking the time to check it out!
I am pretty sure those beer cans on the Bristol Drag Strip were pull tab steel cans. Aluminum beer cans didn’t enter the drinking scene until the late 1970’s. I missed the steel cans. I always felt beer stayed colder in steel cans rather than aluminum.
You are 100% right. I screwed that up.
Man, this was awesome. Never would've known about this if I hadn't clicked on it. Thanks!🤘🏁
Appreciate you giving it a shot!
@@brianlohnes3079Cool video, very interesting stuff, thanks for making them.
Great content, as usual. Thank you for keeping drag history alive
Thank you for watching it!
Wow!! I had never heard of this!! Unbelievable!! 'Transporting restricted substances'.... sounds like Gary Balough and the Whittington bros of the roundy round set!!
Happy New Year, Brian! Fantastic as always! You never disappoint!
Thank you
Thank you Brian, I have been a fan since 1965 and this was a fun story new to me.
Cool stuff! Boy, when you started talking about some of the unsavory characters in the early days of drag racing I was almost frozen with fear. Thank you for not mentioning Gene Snow.
Was Gene Snow an outlaw? I mean, they did call him the "Sno- man".🤔
@@stepanbandera5206 convicted child molester. Banned from NHRA.
@@stepanbandera5206I think he was done for having relations with an underage boy.
@@edgarbeat2851 🤦Didnt know that. Sad.
@@edgarbeat2851 sexual relations? He had many scrapes with the law starting in 1978 with his final conviction in 2000. One of the charges against him was sexual assault of a child under the age of 15. One boy claimed he sexually abused him for over six years. The boy was 17 years old when he made the statement. Snow took a plea deal pleading guilty to causing bodily injury to a child under the age of 15.
Hey Brian, I've been following drag racing since 1967 at age 10 & I never even heard of this guy. Great story! Thanks & Happy New Year.
Super cool to see advertisements for New London Dragway and EastSide Speedway. Two tracks close to me. Both now closed. Never got to race at New London but have spent many weekends at EastSide
I have been to both places. I think EastSide may be coming back?
@@brianlohnes3079 I'm not 100% sure. Only had maybe 4 races last year. Havent heard of any plans for 2024. The property is for sale but like always the land value is worth way more then the business.
I live like 10 mins from New London.. Never raced there but, went there many times as a kid with my Dad and watched and was there for the last race before they closed... Sucks that it's gone and most likely, never coming back 😢 loved seeing that old flyer though!
What an incredible story! I've never heard of this guy to my memory, and I'd not seen the beer can-littered track photo either. What a great job coming up with this story and all the information surrounding it. Excellent work once again, Brian!
Thanks!!
Glad you do these stories... lots of the original licensed fuel drivers are passing away faster the mile markers on the highway.. their stories need shared... On the "Fueling cards" most of the gas companies required a "authorization" number over $25 in the early 70s.. no idea when it started... I wasn't a petroleum transfer engineer till my HS days in the mid 70s..
$25 was an ass load of fuel back then too. So most vehicles on the road would never see a $25 bill normally.
that is correct. I was at a Shell station on US50 bypass in Pueblo CO at the time..(Mid 70s) You would get change back on a ten spot..
I'm 77 years old and raced nationally in the seventies. I don't remember R.L. Payton but there were quite a few marginal cars running Top Fuel back in the day. At the NHRA Nationals they has 32 car fields because of the roller starters. It was cool to watch Top Fuelers make run after run with little delay between runs. I used to have a friend that would travel with me to National events to crew on these budget fuelers. Some of these cars could law down reasonable qualifying passes usually expiring at the end of the quarter. Several would qualify and some would actually go a couple of rounds. I remember a few names ( Dick Lahie from Michigan, Chris Karmasines from Chicago, John Logenecker from Ohio and Grant Stoms from the east coast. Be nice if you could do an article on these back end qualifiers. Lot's of neat stories.
Dick LaHaie became a NHRA world champion as well as crew chief on other world champions, Paul Longnecknecker won a couple of IHRA events.
@@mikebaker9574 Yeh, I got Paul's first name wrong. Lohgge chassis in Lansing built Dick's chassis. I had a Anglia with a Lohgge chassis for awhile, was going to make it into an Eco Altered. Never happened, got married instead. Paul was a really sharp and nice guy. I didn't follow IHRA events, didn't know about that. When Pro Stock first started he was an early adopter, had a weird pink metallic Camaro. Ran pretty quick too until the names got involved. He would have been a champion if he had funding. He worked his but off. Looking at your last name I wonder if you are related to Dick Baker. He ran a Buick in NHRA stock eliminator.
@@davidmarvosh5354 no kin to anyone lol. Just a longtime drag racing fan/ nut.
Paul Longenecker had a clutch explosion incident during a pass in Union Grove WI back in 1977 that killed a woman in the stands from flying debris. Paul was arrested at the track for involuntary manslaughter and released shortly after the paperwork procurement but on a different note from what I remember, 32 car Top Fuel field was only at the US nationals in Indianapolis. By the time I started attending national event races in the late 1970s, Top Fuel had crank drive starters by then.
There was also a guy from North Dakota, Struksness?? That ran top fuel at most national events.
This was my uncle. I heard all kinds of stories..now I find this. Crazy my other uncle Harrison Peyton is working on turning this into a movie
Called Wild man...crazy hope it becomes a movie the stories I could tell about this guy
Oh wow. What’s the story with the house at the beginning that caught on fire?
Never gets old listening to a great storyteller !! Thanks Brian !!
My god that was awesome .
What an amazing story.
I got addicted to this channel after stumbling onto your great expo on art alfons.
This is the greatest channel period thankyou for creating it 👍👍👍
Wow! Brings back old memories. Came across your channel as recommended. I'm hooked. Liked and subscribed. Looking forward to watching more of your videos. I learn so much from the great comments on here. Great bunch of people with similar interests and stories. Thanks for doing this. I know it must be a lot of hard work and time consuming. Thanks!
It just kills me that this channel doesn't have millions of subscribers.
I mean it's Brian Lohnes delivering cool drag racing history for dang sake, how can any self-proclaimed "car guy" not be watching these?!?
Hey, I am glad ANYONE wants to watch ‘em!
I just found it and clicked Subscribe as fast as I could. This stuff is great
Caught a new one today! Subbed!👍
One of the better stories I've heard so far this year, thanks!
Totally Awesome Video,Thank You Brian,That Was Fun Stuff !!!
You should be nominated as one of the all time greatest story tellers. Yet again I had heard of the cans and bottles being thrown on the Bristol track. But had no idea of what circumstance it was centered around.
Thanks Mitch!
Great story! Drag racing in it's infancy was the wild wild west! Loved seeing the Grove! Thanks Brian! More please... (How about a Broadway Bob story?)
Thanks for these historical videos Brian, it helps with the long New Hampshire winters!
I stopped this at 1:12. I was born in 1965. My father, like all of his friends were drag racers and car club members. My parents were no different than my friends parents but they were in motorcycle clubs. I always wondered why 'car clubs' never got a bad rep like the 'bikers'. Same people back then just different ways of going fast on pavement. (edited for this) Liked and subscribed.
This was excellent, im amazed at how much research you must of done. Great channel.
Thanks..
Thank you!
This was a good one man. Thanks Brian? Duck race anytime soon? You know, just to hang out?
See you in Kenny's pit...😉🤪
I’d love to if I had the free time!
Wow that's a crazy story! Keep them coming!
US 13 Dragway is my home track. I love the old clippings from there. I would love to know where you found them. Thanks for a great video
Newspaper searches yielded them.
@@brianlohnes3079 thank you
Is (or was?) the drag strip in Delmar on the same property as the dirt oval track?
Yes it is. The dirt track is still there
Wow. That was an awesome piece of history that I had never heard of! Thanks!
Thank you for the amazing stories from the past as always!!!!!!!
Awesome. Thanks for ur hard work!
Now that is an interesting and unusual story about a guy I never heard of !! Very well done . Many thanks Brian for another wonderful and entertaining story. PS : I always wondered about all those cans.
Thanks for watching!!
Love the Jack Approved Decal on the scoop at 29 seconds!!
Cool, right?!
Awesome story! 7:25 RL Hoover was credited with steeling Hoover’s fuel. I’m not sure if there is a way to edit that 😉
I remember that photo. I think it was on car craft,that may not right my memory is not what it used to be. Thanks for sharing. Love your channel. 👍👍👍🏁
What a story!
I don't care much for drag racing but this channel is way more than that.
Great stuff! 👍
Thanks for that!
Another great story! Thank you Brian!
Hoover’s car is a beauty, but then every car he had was ! Wonder how far out the engine was on this car ? Great post as always,thanks!
Can we do a video on Brooklyn Heavy , the name alone sounds like a great story waiting to be told!
It’s a fascinating tale. He did a lot of good for racers and a lot of bad for drug addicts.
This is a fantastic episode! Thank you!
Thanks for watching!
I am 39, but run a FED. I wish I was around back then. Those days seemed so rowdy. I love drag racing and salt flat history.
Another great one. Thanks for the hard work.
Another awesome story! Thank you again!!
That would make a great movie 😂could u possibly do a video on the two midwest classic drag strip's of Great Lakes Dragway in Wisconsin and US30 Dragstrip in Indiana please, such a big part of being a 1970s kid
Funny I was thinking the same thing, if this was the 80s, Burt Reynolds, in cast,
@@user-bl6ne3hc6n, absolutely, Reynolds
Great to see the flyer from Great Lakes in Union Grove,Wi probably only track but Bristol still in operation. Broadway Bob is gone but not forgotten
Great watch! Thanks Brian 👍🏼
This was awesome but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do one of these stories on Brooklyn Heavy!
Great job Brian!
This reminds me of some of my dads stories about hot rodding while growing up in the 50s and early 60s. Dad would tell some of the craziest stories and swear they were true. Dad was an honest man and never ever known to tell a lie, yet some stories seemed too crazy to be true. I began to wonder if they were simply embellished to a point where maybe things didn't happen the way he said they did. I heard all the stories many times. They always remained the same, no detail varied. Well later in life something weird began to happen as dad got older. We might be at a family reunion on top of a mountain in eastern Kentucky. Dad would be far away in his wheelchair, as dad became permanently disabled from an on the job accident and lived his last 25 years this way. First time this phenomenon happened i remember walking up and hearing somebody else telling one of dads stories, as this particular person was there for that particular story. I was floored when every detail matched dads story! It was crazy things like some feller had a new 1957 chevrolet 4 door hardtop. With 4 guys in it they were going too fast and left the road, rolling the car 4 times. Dad was in passenger front seat when the car landed on all 4 tires...but dads rear end was stuck between the seat and the crushed roof. After getting out with help nobody was hurt. They decided the best thing to do was take the bumper jack and raise the roof enough to drive the car home, which they did. Of course they went home 4 wheel drifting the curves in the same way that got them in that mess in the first place. In the end, since the car was almost new, insurance cut the top off, welded a new one on and car was "just like new" again. It was endless stories like that which dad told. And more time went on i would hear other peoples accounts of dads stories, again giving complete confirmation of every one. Later in life dad said "i should write a book about my life, but nobody would believe it. Id have to call it fiction.
Dad died in March 2016 at 75 years old and life has not been the same since i lost my best friend and father, both being the same man.
Im 54 now and disabled myself, going blind and then MS, now heart disease with a minor stroke. It sucks still having your wits about you but the old body can't do what it used to. As a life long mechanic and drag racer and overall "car guy" its getting rough watching people do what i can't do anymore, but one must go on and i wish the very best for all y'all out there doing your thing with vehicles and having a good time doing so amd making their own true stories!
I happen to have a few of my own...😎
What an amazing story. Sorry for your hardships and loss. Thank you for taking the time to watch this.
@@brianlohnes3079 I believe we met one time...didn't you used to work for Hot Rod mag and Peterson publishing at one time?
I also think we have a common friend named Mark Cornea "Dr Decal"? And didn't you own a yellow Olds '70 442 at one time? If all these are true we all met up together somewhere around Indy for a Hot Rod Power Tour with all 3 of our 1970 442s and cruised the last 2 legs of that event together. Id have to say that was around 1995...
Edit : I could be way off on the year but know it was in the 1990s for that particular event..
Good stuff Brian, i've only read little bits of the RL Peyton story.
I actually met mr peyton in 1991 at the atlanta dragstrip. We had been hauling our car up and down the entire east coast that year competing for the fastest street car in america title (which we finally acheived and held for 8 months, it was not an easy task!) Anyway, mr peyton introduced himself to us as an old top fuel racer from the 1960's, i had never heard of the guy before and didn't know him from the man on the moon. I asked him if he was running a car on that particular day and he said no, i got into a bit of legal trouble in the late 60's and had to hang up my helmet, but, i miss it every single day. He even pulled out an old worn and tattered A.H.R.A license from the 60's and showed it to us. He talked about racing against the greats back in the day, Don prudhome, garlits, bill dunlap etc etc. I had no idea if anything this middle aged guy who was sucking down copious amounts of old milwaukee were true or not, but, he was a very polite and interesting guy and i couldn't help but to listen to the tons of stories he had to tell. I never saw mr peyton again after that one day in atlanta georgia. After watching this video i now know that this man was very much legit with everything he had told us. It's a real shame that he could not continue doing the sport that he obviously loved so very much. Rest in peace Mr. R L Peyton!
Awesome stuff! 1960s and ‘70s drag racing has always fascinated me. The Surfers were my heroes as a kid and would make a great story.
Amazing story. Yes. Brilliant guys with the perfect driver/
Out of curiosity, do you know what is happening at 16:56 in this video? It looks like a small block dragster is running on rollers.
@@9rjharper those are roller starters. Back when the cars had to be push started an idea was hatched to speed up the process. The starters would be near the starting line, typically. You pulled the car on, put the clutch in, the roller were powered by an engine and then you let the clutch out and hit the magneto switch and boom! Your car was fired and you were off to the races
@@brianlohnes3079 Aha! Sounds familiar now. Thanks!
That's a well put together story!...very enjoyable.
Awesome story. Thank you!
Hey man I’m not into drag racing. Really don’t know much about it but I really enjoy good content… and this was really interesting.
I’m going to sub
Keep em coming
Thank you Brian for giving substance to the sport from an angle that should never be forgotten and thank you for mentioning my company name at national events that I sponsor in Top Fuel (Nelson Trucking)
I think the first time the Paytons ran their TF late model Hemi was at Spruce Creek(they were one of the first to run one). McMillan was going to go first. I was told that the fastest thing he had driven up to that time was his Corvette. Any way T Payton was having trouble mixing the fuel so he just dumped 100% in. After they got it cranked McMillan stalled it right off the line. Trying to get out he dumped the chute out so instead of repacking Payton just cut it off with a knife? I thought they were done for the night but they cranked it up again and made a half pass with no chute. Before the dragster they had a AAF Altered made out of exhaust tubing. It had a 413/426 Wedge in it I believe. After a few runs the tubing was bent out of shape. Some how they managed to get one of the 427 Chev motors and put it in a 57 Chevy. They had to have gotten it from Ray Fox or Smokey Yunic since they were the only ones to have them at that time I believe. Money Talks.
Money talks, but it sounds like with this guy, 5 finger discounts walk.
Amazing story. Thanks for sharing Brian.
Brian, this was a great story/video. Thanks for sharing. Just about any successful adventure (like the NHRA) has a variety of "personalities" that help make it what it is today. It takes all types - right? LOL! Looking forward to seeing yourself and Tony on Sundays and getting the 2024 season underway! Praying for Robert Hight's health and recovery.
Wow, what a story! I followed drag racing closely back then so I recalled this character's name but somehow missed (or maybe forgot) the Bristol incident. And I definitely didn't know about Billy Stepp's background! Thanks!
In the early 70's a pro stock car from a the states turned up in the uk🇬🇧 called the LONDON HEAVY
it was far and away the fastest pro stock car in the country and won just about every event it entered.
My father was racing in pro stock( big john 289 mustang fast back) and was gifted a pair of new slicks by the heavy's driver as a thank you for help during a race weekend.
My dad (sadly passed) told me years later, any favour asked or given by the cars driver was accepted with out question as the guy who owned the car in the states, was not a man to mess with.
The London heavy was the same body/ trans and engine,and painted identically to the Brookland heavy.
Woah! Never knew he shipped one over!
I read his book, given to me by a friend of his brothers, here in Orlando. My friend says all these stories are true and he was a legit wild man. My last trip to the Garlits Museum, about 2 months ago, I wanted to ask Don, about R.L., but his hearing is so bad, hard to have a conversation with him.
Thanks for sharing
JT: Orlando Fla
Florida Dragstrip Riot LLC
Even Hap's book is toned WAY down. RL was not a nice person.
Brain keeps you on the edge of your seat while
telling the most amazing stories ever! 😎 💯 😎
Thanks for tuning in!
Very interesting story. Thanks for sharing it with us.
First 5:10 58 Top Fuelers capable of 200 MPH 1n the late 60's is one hella show boys and girls. Second 15:37 Thats one sick ass groove they be lay'n down. Thank you for your hard work and passion BL . Appreciate you!!
You just can't make this stuff up. Keep the great stories coming.
Wow. Now that was a history lesson. Thanks Brian. Another great video.
Glad you enjoyed it
I was born in 1965, my Uncle, Billie Chapman robbed pharmacies in the Cincinnati Tri state area. He claims to have worked with RL on some "transportation" jobs. He did say RL was a wild man, Billie was fearless and enterprising in his own right. RIP, RL truly lived fast ...
This was AWESOME 😊!! .Thank you for sharing this content
Buddy your really good with the history of this sport....an I thank you deserve more credit an appreciation 👍👍👍👍
Hey, no credit necessary. I am just happy people enjoy this stuff.
Flipping EPIC! Thanks Brian.
I wondered if Broadway Freddy would make an appearance, and you did not disappoint. Did you know that Broadway and the late Don Schumacher had history? Schumacher had a brand new Funny Car stolen from him, and shortly thereafter Freddy showed up with an identical car. When Shoe confronted Freddy, it was said that a gun or knife was displayed, and Shoe was warned to mind his own business.
I made a multiple hour podcast on Freddy. My podcast series is called the Dork-o-Motive podcast and there is an episode called, “the mafia killer who loved funny cars”. There is some awesome first person story telling involved!
,,,,,,,,,thanks again as always , for the work , research , and dedication to drag racing.......As a kid,,,,,Richie Di Nome was a friend of mine,,,,,He told me racing stories involving his older brother,,,,,Freddie ,,," Broadway Freddie " ....
In the early 80s I worked with a old guy, he went by the name POPS. He was retired LAPD. He told me about the time he had arrested DON (THE SNAKE) PURDOME.
He did mention that Don had got caught up in a bum wrap.
Wow!
And that is why all cans and bottles were banned from drag racing events. I remember late 70's and early 80's going to SIR and they would search your cars for alcohol. Now days you dont get to park close to the fences, and they look in all coolers and such to enter the event.
Awesome! Thanks Brian. You do such a great job.👍👍❤
Thank you!!
I remembered that picture of their pro stock with them dressed up as gangsters! I always wondered Billy the Kid was a cowboy. Why are these guys dressing up as gangsters?!
Hahaha
Cuz they were gangsters.....??!!
Oh, yeah, the seedy underbelly....
One year at the U.S.Nationals, they dressed like that for the pre-race Pro Stock parade.
I wonder what that truck is around the 1:33 mark.
Looks like the body of a pick up on a longer and bigger frame.
Obviously it's really hard to tell in an old black & white picture like this, but the axle isn't under the wheel well and it looks like the back of the bed is cut down on an angle from the rear towards the wheel?
Eather that or it was just something that was in a massive wreck LOL.
Thank you for your time and effort, I love history like this. I just jumped on board. Looks like you have a ton of great history to check out
I think that is something next to the truck.
My momma warned me about these dirty drag racers. This is why businesses literally cut-up credit cards if declined or rejected 🤔😳😎…
And I met Billie and he was a hoot and charming too.
What about the Chicago Tuff Rabbit group ?
This was awesome!!! Thanks for sharing!
Wow! What a character! Thanks Brian for the great history lesson.
Thank you for digging it!
You have to think. Ww2 ended not long before Nascar and NHRA got started up.
Most of the guys that started both series are ex military men. Still looking for the adrenaline rush like the war.
You said it perfectly!!
Nailed it
@roberthevern6169 . Thank you.
It's a realization I had just before making the comment.
I never thought about the war years in contrast with the start-up series years. Lol
Great story, Brian. Thank you!
Brian you are so good at your job and amazing story teller sucks I’m so young cuz I’d love to see this stuff happen thank you for all you do for the sport and keeping it alive
Thanks for watching!
It didn't happen at New England dragway, those pictures are of Bristol.
Great story, thank you for sharing !!
Here it is 2024 and I am reading about the Bristol race I attended where the bottles and cans stopped the race, "a day that shall live in infamy". If my memory is correct Peyton also attended the Bristol race in years prior to the year of the riot. At one of the races his operation was so budget strapped that he hauled the dragster backwards in the bed of a pickup truck with the front wheels extended well beyond the open tailgate. Can anyone confirm this happened or has it been so long ago that my memory is not correct??? I definitely remember some of the most impressive runs were those of "The Big Bamboo". Great reporting keep-up the good work.
You're an absolute legend Brian
Thanks!! I’ll take it! Haha
Thanks Brian, what a story. Can you do a story about a young Prudhome, when allegedly there was a remodeling of a motel, or Big Jim Dunn's alleged hero fireman driver to set the records straight.
So many stories to tell. Will get them on my
List
I loved see the New London flyer, I spent many a Sunday there in the 70's and 80's. By then no T/F cars would come there, but some Alky funny cars did. Good memories
Brian - You have found your calling in life !! - Thanx for your Voice
Thank you for watching!!
Great story. Thanks for the video.
In 1970, while I was in high
school, I began working in
the restaurant of a Ramada
Inn along I-75 just north of
Dayton, Ohio. Bill Stepp
would occasionally come
and eat there. He always
had a body guard with him
and he never ate in the
dining room area because it
was too dimly lit according
to some of the older employees who knew about
him. He once left a $20
tip for a young, attractive
waitress which was a big deal at the time and caused
a bit of a stir among the other
waitresses.
At the end of the video it was said that “where ever R L
Peyton is right now you can pretty much guarantee he’s having a great time.” I beg to
differ.Unless he had a serious
reckoning with his Creator he
is definitely not having a great
time now.
Best story ever Brian Lohnes! I've seen that Beer Can Strewn photo several times and wondered the story behind it.