Wes they going to get Vandenburg open? or are you starting a rumor just to
see if it comes true? Wow that would be cool ..... K
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> From: Wester S Potter <wspotter@jps.net>
> To: Thomas E. Bryant <saltracer@awwwsome.com>
> Cc: land-speed@autox.team.net land-speed@autox.team.net
> Subject: Re: Santa Maria Drags
> Date: Saturday, November 27, 1999 9:59 AM
>
> Tom,
> Ain't nostalglia great? I was chatting with Don West (who almost had the
> first 200 mph door-slammer on the salt) a while ago and remembering some
> drag races at the old Salt Lake #2 Airport strip, mostly abandoned then
but
> now an active National Guard and private aviation facillity. He was
going
> fast in the early fifties with a '32 coupe/flathead combination. He said
it
> was nice to have timing reminders from those days to accommodate the "the
> older I get the faster I was syndrome." With around 2500 active drag
strips
> around the country it will be interesting to hear the war stories in
another
> twenty years from this crop of new racers. Lots easier to find an active
> strip today than it was in '52 in most of the country. Be nice to get
that
> Vandenberg AFB strip opened for land-speed racing, a la Maxton, only
longer.
> Wes in SLC
> ----------
> > From: "Thomas E. Bryant" <saltracer@awwwsome.com>
> > To: ARDUNDOUG@aol.com
> > Subject: Re: Santa Maria Drags
> > Date: Fri, 26 Nov 1999 12:58:52 -0800
> >
> >1 PM PST
> >
> >Doug,
> > I acquired my love for auto racing in 1951 while living in Council
> >Bluffs Iowa. They had an old ¼ mile dog track that was converted to
> >"jalopy racing". I really got addicted to it. I came to California in
> >October of 1952 and settled in La Harbra (Orange County). We were about
> >25 miles north of the Orange County Airport where the Santa Drags were
> >held. It took a couple of years for me to find my way there.
> >
> >I worked in Santa Fe Springs at the Productol Chemical Refinery where I
> >became acquainted with Bob James, a chemist there that had built a ½"
> >stroke by 3/8" bore flat head motor (324 cubic inch, I believe) and
> >installed it in a 1936 Ford coupe. It was a real ground shaker built by
> >Nelson Taylor and John Ryan in Whittier. After a ride down the street in
> >this car, the racing addiction returned and it wasn't very long before I
> >found myself at the Santa Ana Drags.
> >
> >In 1959, I quit the refinery and went to work for Emil Grissotti, owner
> >of Fullerton Muffler. During the two years I worked there I went to the
> >1st Bakersfield National Drags and made the Santa Maria trip. At that
> >time we held the top time records in our roadster class at all the
> >strips in the LA area except Long Beach. We had exceeded their record
> >but had not torn down to claim it.
> >
> >We were running a 300 cu. in. Desoto which was giving us top times
> >around 122 MPH and ET's in the high eleven second range. The first run
> >at Santa Maria re raise the record from 116 MPH to somewhere in the low
> >120's, I don't remember exactly. We were treated like Kings the whole
> >day. It was one our more memorable outings.
> >
> >I am enjoying this too much and I am beginning to worry about it. It is
> >said that spending too much time living in the past is a sign of old
> >age! I do look forward to meeting you and spending time bench racing.
> >All those names that you mentioned , Hashim (I got to meet Ernie and
> >spend time talking with him at this year's Gas UP) Art Chrisman, Fritz
> >Viogt, Jazzy Nelson, Glass Slipper, Nesbitts Orange special...they bring
> >back memories.
> >Tom, Redding CA
> >
> >ARDUNDOUG@aol.com wrote:
> >>
> >> Tom,
> >> Where were you living in 1960? You must have had quite a drive to
get
> to
> >> Santa Maria. What MPH and ET did the roadster turn? What kind of
power? A
> SBC?
> >> In the mid to late 50's there was a guy from the Valley (Madera, I
> think)
> >> named Hut Watkins who ran a fuel roadster sponsored by Ed Fant Buick
and
> >> powered by a Nailhead. He ran ET's about the same as my fuel Flatty
(10's
> on
> >> a good day at about 125-130). I always dreaded having to face him, but
he
> >> never was at SLO or Santa Maria when I ran. I see him regularly at El
> Mirage,
> >> Bonneville, and the Reunions. I'll introduce him to you sometime.
> >> Also from Madera were a couple of guys with a DeSoto powered
> slingshot
> >> Modified Roadster with a shark nose made from a late 30's Willys hood.
> They
> >> were Milt Alley & Herb DeWitt (I think), and the thing ran pretty
hard. I
> >> never had to run them either.
> >> Did you ever run into Harry Webster from Fresno? He had another
> slingshot
> >> 27 T Modified Roadster that ran 140+ at Kingdon (Lodi, CA) powered by
Joe
> >> Boghosian's fuel Ardun. Boghosian is still building racing engines and
is
> at
> >> the salt regularly, turning wrenches on the Indy Cammer SB Ford
powered
> fuel
> >> roadster of Ron Van Natta.
> >> I remember once in the 50's when Webster & Boghosian took the
Ardun
> and
> >> put it into a bone-stock 40 Ford sedan, adding only 8" slicks on the
> rear.
> >> The thing turned 118, phenominal for those days when George Santos
> (father of
> >> Rick Santos the "three-peat" Federal Mogul Dragster champ) and his
Flatty
> >> powered steel 5-window Deuce were dominating "A" Gas at 106 in the
13's.
> >> As a side note, one of the "heavy-hitters" of the mid 50's was
Ernie
> >> Hashim from Bakersfield, CA who had one of the first front-mounted GMC
> blown
> >> Chryslers in Calif. He was sponsored by Hylton Drilling Co. and the
car
> was
> >> driven by Bill Replogle. It was a pretty basic, very short WB
slingshot
> using
> >> what looked like Model T Ford frame rails.It consistently ran about
150
> in
> >> the 1/4 mile.
> >> In the mid 1980's I was at an old-time-rodders-reunion in Paso
> Robles, CA
> >> put on by Chic Cannon (the NHRA Safety Safari guy from the olden
days).
> Ernie
> >> Hashim was there and I had a long talk with him. Turned out that he
had
> no
> >> pics of his old car. I just happened to have one taken in 1955 at
Minter
> >> Field (near Bakersfield) at a meet put on by the Smokers. In those
days
> the
> >> promoter always had a photo-op before eliminations with all the cars
> lined up
> >> at the starting line. I was there from San Luis Obispo as a spectator
and
> >> snapped a pic and Hashim's car was the first in a line of about 10
fuel
> >> dragsters. The pic was taken with an old reflex camera using
> >> 2 1/4 X 2 1/4 film, so when I enlarged it 30 years later it was really
> clear.
> >> Ironically, in the picture are 3 Ardun powered dragsters. The rest
> include
> >> the Glass Slipper (Flatty powered), Art Chrismans old #25, the
> >> Nesbitts-Orange special, and a host of other then-famous cars.
> >> On a final note, the next pic took was the Top Eliminator race.
The
> cars
> >> running for the top spot were not included in the photo-op because
they
> >> weren't fuel dragsters. The race was between Fritz Voigt (later to be
> Mickey
> >> Thompson's wrench) in his Chrysler gas hemi dragster and Jim "Jazzy"
> Nelson
> >> in his legendary Flatty powered Fiat coupe. Jazzy got the
"Flathead-Jump"
> on
> >> Fritz, made a little noise, Fritz smoked the tires, and we had a
Flatty
> Top
> >> Eliminator.
> >> If anybody's interested I can post the photo-op lineup of all the
> fuel
> >> cars.
> >> .Ardun Doug in CA
> >
>
>
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