I was in Vietnam by the time this race came off. But I and my girlfriend drove up from OKC for the first world finals two years earlier at the 1965 event. Really great memories. In 66 I did see an early funny car event held OKC. Still have color pictures I took at the event.
Absolutely fascinating footage! I just got back from the finals in Pomona last week, what a contrast! To see Don and Connie, and to have them still with us, makes me realize that this sport is still in its first generation, yet the technological advancements made from 1967 to 2024 are beyond what any one person could imagine. Thank you for posting!
"first generation"?? Lol. The ticket prices are definitely NOT "first generation." I used to go but now with the cost at well over $100 with food and parking it's a total rip off and overrated. No thanks.
The biggest change is in the track prep and tires. I kinda wish they'd eliminate all the glue sprayed on the track and go back to a natural surface. They had to slow the Top Fuel and Funny Cars down by shortening their races and a better way (IMHO) would have been to eliminate the artificial adhesion which would slow them down to safer speeds while making it more entertaining to watch.
Great job thank you...i heard Garlits talk about a flag start and later in life i raced motocross and he said watch the flag man's elbow when it moves go, it worked i never got anything worst than 3rd in the start...always wanted to thank him..love the show
Great post here! I live close to the Pomona drag strip, and I've loved this sport with all my heart 'n soul since I was in grade school! I was only 7 when this event took place!
February 5 1967, Don was working on his rear engine dragster that would change it all. He said some changes people wouldn't believe in his comment at the last of the show. Thanks for sharing.
Don't think I've ever seen BIG in a suit before fan's now days probably didn't know that back then the door slammer classes S, SS & MP were as popular as fuel cars Garlits did great job explaining everything
Never saw Big Daddy with a coat in a tie before. He was always casual like me just pants and a t-shirt. He came over once and visited us at nostalgia night at Fremont dragstrip California.
Man, this is quite a time capsule. I was a young teen at the time, and a super fan. I was addicted to Hot Rod magazine, Car Craft, and a couple of others. Every month I would buy a few at the drugstore magazine rack. The only place to watch races within reachable distance was Lakeland Drag Strip near Memphis. But they had top names on occasion, and I got to see most of the guys in this video.
I moved to Baytown, Texas in 2020 anticipating regular visits to Houston Raceway Park. It closed at the same time, sold for warehouse distribution real estate 😕
I can't even imagine what this would be like on Bias ply tires. I don't think they had radials back then but I may be wrong. If only they knew at the time how much those "exotic" cammer ford motors would be worth. Big money.
I wonder if anybody has spent more on a single drag racing team than Connie has over the years. Not always the fastest or quickest, mean SOB, but boy has he ever put his money were his mouth is over the years.
Really does not capture the experience of being there in person. The smell. The noise. The sound waves hitting your chest so hard it affects your breathing and heartbeat. Pure adrenaline.
- You could have won the top fuel easily if you had known to do a burnout first and avoid the smoking tires down the run. I wonder - would it have been against the rules or would you get disqualified if you had done a burnout - or would they just have thought you were crazy until you won the race? I'm surprised it took so many years to figure out the value of a burnout. Who was the first person to do it and did it catch on quickly?
I believe that Steve Carbone was the first to do the burnout in the late 60's, but it didn't catch on until Don Garlits started doing the burnout in '69. There were no rules against it in those days as no one had thought to do it yet.
@@CalvinWalker2000 Amazing it took that long. There was advanced engineering that went into engines but nobody thought about why the tires are smoking (spinning, loss of grip) and how to deal with it - heat up the tires first, or get a better grip). Did they do any track prep back in those days to make the tires stick better?...and when did they first start doing that and who thought of it? - Don G. ? - he was a real innovator. I'm surprised the genius sponsors and their engineers did not figure that out !!
@@lw216316 I'm not sure on when track prep became so important, however, a lot of the problems with smoking tires back in those days was partly due to the transmissions. The transmissions were real bad and it applied all the horsepower to the wheels causing them to spin.
In a Plymouth Belvedere. I read a little on him. What an interesting story his career was. From a garage with mechanic friend with that car against that competition. Impressive.
Месяц назад
why in these old films do they purposely not show the a/af alterds
Front engine rail cars... Don Garlits lost part of his foot racing one when the engine blew up. This saw him in his hospital bed, design a rear engined rail car.🤔
While I have never driven one of these old dragsters, I have sat in them. The diff is positioned right under the old nutsack! I wonder how many drag racers were neutered by their dragsters?
But what did those People record the film with? And didn't they realize at that time that the sound of the documentary sucks? a disaster and all done reluctantly... Because they can't film a car in its entirety, they only show you parts but never the entire car. What's wrong with the cameras? To show a car completely, they are placed very far away and if they are placed 5 steps away, the car can no longer be seen well.
Actually back in the day, Fram was one of the best oil filters on the market. Then corporate greed and cost cutting with overseas and south of the border manufacturing results in the product we have today.
Today in the 1/8 mile a VW is doing over 130mph. Faster than those super stocks. A turbo VW would do a 8 second 1/4 mile. Back then they were just maybe coming into the that with a top fuel dragster.
I was in Vietnam by the time this race came off. But I and my girlfriend drove up from OKC for the first world finals two years earlier at the 1965 event. Really great memories. In 66 I did see an early funny car event held OKC. Still have color pictures I took at the event.
Thank you for your service and sacrifices.
Thank you for your service in Vietnam. I would LOVE to see those photos you have
Thank you Sir for your service and bravery ❤
Thank u for ur service n for sharing…may God bless u and our country 🙏✝️
I was only 16 when I attended that final, I only lived 5 miles down the road. Great memory thank you for sharing.
Absolutely fascinating footage! I just got back from the finals in Pomona last week, what a contrast! To see Don and Connie, and to have them still with us, makes me realize that this sport is still in its first generation, yet the technological advancements made from 1967 to 2024 are beyond what any one person could imagine. Thank you for posting!
"first generation"?? Lol. The ticket prices are definitely NOT "first generation." I used to go but now with the cost at well over $100 with food and parking it's a total rip off and overrated. No thanks.
It's still (Air,Fuel,ignition).
@@discgolflife true story
Pretty raw eh.
The biggest change is in the track prep and tires. I kinda wish they'd eliminate all the glue sprayed on the track and go back to a natural surface. They had to slow the Top Fuel and Funny Cars down by shortening their races and a better way (IMHO) would have been to eliminate the artificial adhesion which would slow them down to safer speeds while making it more entertaining to watch.
Great job thank you...i heard Garlits talk about a flag start and later in life i raced motocross and he said watch the flag man's elbow when it moves go, it worked i never got anything worst than 3rd in the start...always wanted to thank him..love the show
HEY CAL IM 70 YEARS I LOVE ALL THIS OLD STUFF KEEP IT COMING MAN
Don G's personality and his ease in front of the camera certainly developed over the years!
Loved it. I didn't start racing until 76 but as a teen, I watched. :)
Now that there is some REAL drag racing!!! I remember my father taking me to the Atco dragway in NJ when I was very young...
I used to race at Atco in the 90s, unfortunately there will be no more of that.
Such awesome questions and answers! I feel like a pro already. Interesting.
Thank you for sharing this!!! So cool..what amazing History ..
Great post here! I live close to the Pomona drag strip, and I've loved this sport with all my heart 'n soul since I was in grade school! I was only 7 when this event took place!
Awesome mannlove the nostalgia 😎 😍 keep em coming brother 💪 🙌 God bless ya sir
February 5 1967, Don was working on his rear engine dragster that would change it all. He said some changes people wouldn't believe in his comment at the last of the show. Thanks for sharing.
This was my first fascination in motorsports. Some familiar names made me smile of memories forgotten.
Thanks a ton Calvin, as always you are The Man! 🤔...Well, You, Big & Snake anyways! 😂👍
This is drag racing !
What a time !
Don't think I've ever seen BIG in a suit before fan's now days probably didn't know that back then the door slammer classes S, SS & MP were as popular as fuel cars Garlits did great job
explaining everything
I was thinking that too.
Never seen Mr. Garlits in a suit.
I WAS THERE WHEN IT HAPPEND
Beautiful front engine rails - wow!
love the commentary by big daddy.
Never saw Big Daddy with a coat in a tie before. He was always casual like me just pants and a t-shirt. He came over once and visited us at nostalgia night at Fremont dragstrip California.
Man, this is quite a time capsule. I was a young teen at the time, and a super fan. I was addicted to Hot Rod magazine, Car Craft, and a couple of others. Every month I would buy a few at the drugstore magazine rack. The only place to watch races within reachable distance was Lakeland Drag Strip near Memphis. But they had top names on occasion, and I got to see most of the guys in this video.
Excellent show thank you.
And they're "still" finding Early Chrysler Hemis, , and they are still a force to be reckoned with !
Dawn garlits at 2:45 closely cropped hair and a suit and tie. Never seen him like that before
I used to run a '69 Road Runner at Freemont. Wed nite " Run What Ya Brung". Love the old footage before they started doing burnouts to heat the tires!
Love watching this stuff especially in child hood.
as always thankyou calvin👍👍👍
Awesome!
Im from pomona and 1967 was my first time at the drags in pomona, big daddy don garlits, rear engine dragster debut
Awesome channel
CHEERS from AUSTRALIA
sitting behind the rear wheels , amazing
This is Fabulous 👌
5 months old when this happened i was born in 67 March 3rd
You have to give a nod to the music on some of the TV Commercials, It’s Happening Man ! Great color coverage! No AA/FA ? No AA/FC yet .
1500 hp and low 7 second runs..... wow have things changed.
The 427 SOHC was big in the Fuel cars. The first three cars after Brock n Big Daddy left the finish were Ford SOHC powered.
I moved to Baytown, Texas in 2020 anticipating regular visits to Houston Raceway Park. It closed at the same time, sold for warehouse distribution real estate 😕
Dragsters and their drivers looked so bad ass back in the day
When Men were Men 💪
And Sheep were terrified 😅😂🤣
God bless Don G
$10,000.00 was a lot of money back in the day.
I can't even imagine what this would be like on Bias ply tires. I don't think they had radials back then but I may be wrong. If only they knew at the time how much those "exotic" cammer ford motors would be worth. Big money.
Who knew that the guy they interviewed at 14:39 would one day own his own airline and have a net worth of over $200 million!
I wonder if anybody has spent more on a single drag racing team than Connie has over the years.
Not always the fastest or quickest, mean SOB, but boy has he ever put his money were his mouth is over the years.
Connie tells his airline personnel, "This is what we have to do to keep drag racing."
My dad worked at that race
I miss Fremont.
I can poop out 4 times what those fuel dragsters made back then. It’s an amazing time for making easy HP.
Fram...how far you have fallen since then.
So weird to not see burn outs before the run then massive tire smoke for half the run lol
FRAM!
I did some work for Brock and Pam.
Really does not capture the experience of being there in person. The smell. The noise. The sound waves hitting your chest so hard it affects your breathing and heartbeat. Pure adrenaline.
woohoo Socks & Martin.
2:30 Farm Truck?
a little cleaner,lol.
I'm waiting to see John Milner make a pass.
- You could have won the top fuel easily if you had known to do a burnout first and avoid the smoking tires down the run. I wonder - would it have been against the rules or would you get disqualified if you had done a burnout - or would they just have thought you were crazy until you won the race? I'm surprised it took so many years to figure out the value of a burnout. Who was the first person to do it and did it catch on quickly?
I believe that Steve Carbone was the first to do the burnout in the late 60's, but it didn't catch on until Don Garlits started doing the burnout in '69. There were no rules against it in those days as no one had thought to do it yet.
@@CalvinWalker2000 Amazing it took that long. There was advanced engineering that went into engines but nobody thought about why the tires are smoking (spinning, loss of grip) and how to deal with it - heat up the tires first, or get a better grip).
Did they do any track prep back in those days to make the tires stick better?...and when did they first start doing that and who thought of it? - Don G. ? - he was a real innovator. I'm surprised the genius sponsors and their engineers did not figure that out !!
@@lw216316 I'm not sure on when track prep became so important, however, a lot of the problems with smoking tires back in those days was partly due to the transmissions. The transmissions were real bad and it applied all the horsepower to the wheels causing them to spin.
@@CalvinWalker2000 good point, today clutch management is a big part of winning races
Flat on the WOOD. 👍🏻🇺🇸
Ed Miller. Never knew of him. Rochester NY drag racer?
In a Plymouth Belvedere. I read a little on him. What an interesting story his career was. From a garage with mechanic friend with that car against that competition. Impressive.
why in these old films do they purposely not show the a/af alterds
Driver to the rear. Balls won't get smashed by tires.😂😂
Front engine rail cars... Don Garlits lost part of his foot racing one when the engine blew up. This saw him in his hospital bed, design a rear engined rail car.🤔
While I have never driven one of these old dragsters, I have sat in them. The diff is positioned right under the old nutsack! I wonder how many drag racers were neutered by their dragsters?
I am not sure how they prevent wheelies...
World champ🤣🤣🤣🤣
Today you can buy a family car Tesla and easily outrun the pro-stocks of those days.
Pre Cannonball Brock! Now we know where trump got his hairdo.
But what did those People record the film with? And didn't they realize at that time that the sound of the documentary sucks? a disaster and all done reluctantly...
Because they can't film a car in its entirety, they only show you parts but never the entire car. What's wrong with the cameras? To show a car completely, they are placed very far away and if they are placed 5 steps away, the car can no longer be seen well.
Love the races hate the filters
Actually back in the day, Fram was one of the best oil filters on the market. Then corporate greed and cost cutting with overseas and south of the border manufacturing results in the product we have today.
Up until the late 80’s Fram was as good as Wix it and then the bean counters got control
W 🌍 R L D
🤣
Today in the 1/8 mile a VW is doing over 130mph. Faster than those super stocks. A turbo VW would do a 8 second 1/4 mile. Back then they were just maybe coming into the that with a top fuel dragster.
Just Wow, Don calling it for what it is! No Bullshit poppycock announcer shit.
Lots of yacking & not enough racing.
Traction optional
Too much Don and not enough racing
...