@@Undeletedgold I'm in the middle of the video as I comment on your comment. Is there something further on that is racist? I haven't picked up on anything or any comment in this immediate thread that is racist. Why bring it up?
☑️ Yep, Don Prudhomme and Don "Shoe-maker"! It's funny that the announcer didn't bother taking 10 secs to ask how to properly pronounce the last name of one of the top racers in one of the top classes.
These were Drag Racing glory days. Some guys had all the best parts and pieces, others looked like they tore down the swingset in the backyard last week, welded a frame, and were out racing. Those teams, you literally could pick up a wrench, start working on the car, and you were part of the crew, good times.
Hahaha! Doorstops! That was a good one! I've said the exact same thing for years about them looking like real cars back then. I think that's why I love Street Outlaws so much.
@@davelowets Well, once racing to get every millisecond faster than your competition, every lbs of weight matters so yeah these funny cars are gonna have plastic n carbon fiber bodies.. But I've seen plenty metal ones going just as fast..
The coolest thing that happened to me was in 1972 at Englishtown NJ. In my 68 Chevelle 396 I’m at the line doing test runs. Running B stock. The starter comes to me and says shut your car off and don’t move. Suddenly a funny car pulls up in the other lane. Does his burn out, backs up and does his test run. Everything in my body vibrated. The most amazing feeling. When I got back in the pits my buddies were shocked. They said the track announcer was joking about the 396 Chevelle taking on a funny car.
I was born in 76 so a little of this was before my time. But every single weekend, while other kids only spend Saturday in their underoos watching cartoons, if they had waited a little bit NHRA came on. Grew up on Bob Glidden, the snake, flying Hawaiian, Big Daddy, and especially John Force. He was my favorite from a kid until retirement. Im easily becoming a fan of his daughters lol. Force would be 20 time national champion, the most winning driver ever, and get out of the car so excited he couldn't even talk in the win interview. He acted like every race was the 1st time he had ever won anything in his life hahaha
Thanks, brings back great memories. Hard to believe John Force still racing and winning. Really miss these old cars, just seems like they were so much more fun to watch
@@sergeantmasson3669 yeah, my dad use to carry me to the races as a kid and then I became good friends with Emil Fullerton, Larry's widowed wife. She introduced me to all the guys back in the early eighties when I would attend races with her. I dated her niece and got to be good friends with the family.
I was the same age in 74 and I also loved when drag racing came on wide world of sports...It didn't happen very often but it was so cool when it did. Always liked the opening of wide world of sports with that skier crashing...good old days.
Love the old funny cars, they look like the cars they were supposed to be. Modern funny cars all look alike. And old days didn't have foreign cars like Toyota .
One of the best half hours of RUclips watching for me. When Funny Car racing had so many quality competitors So many beautiful cars with unique paints and names unlike todays rolling billboards. Watching so many of my hero’s of the Quarter Mile. Today the NHRA has a hard time filling their 16 car fields…. Those of us that were there wouldn’t trade those memories for anything! Thank You for the Post….Reliving these memories was a beautiful thing! 👍🏻❤️🍻😎
Always enjoyed our local track in Rockingham, NC..... Nothing better than to take someone that's never experienced their organs vibrating and observing their reaction to the first romp down the strip......
I was 11 yrs old when my neighbor took me and my brother to Pomona to see the Winternationals for the first time, and we were hooked. I went with my brother and nephew to the Fall Nationals in Enis (Dallas) and watched a drag race for the first time in 51 years...STILL LOVE IT!!
Remember that they used to do their burnouts on BLEACH... It was called "the bleach box"... that's what Don Prudhomme was pouring at the beginning of the video. You can see them pouring bleach from bottles at several points in the video, like at 3:25
Thanks for posting...great footage. I grew up in the San Gabriel valley in So Cal, attending my first drag race at Irwindale Raceway in 64'. My Dad was in charge of the LA County Shops (where Sheriff's cars were repaired), and because they used LA County Fairgrounds for vehicle testing...we got comp tickets to the WinterNationals each year. I was also in attendance for the 75' World Finals shown in the video, at Ontario Motor Speedway....which was an Epic race!! Long live dry hops and Steve Evans (in our memories) ✌😎
Hey cool man I lived close to the Irwindale drag strip, in the city of La Puente, and was a teen in the 70s, I remember my buddy next door who's dad use to take us to the drags on the weekends in summer and what a wonderful time it was...miss it
...from Warner Robins GA... I used to be stationed there in the 90's, now I'm retired in france and lo and behold I stumble into this jewell and the man from Robins... Thanks!
These cars were basically, like he said, shortened AA Fuel dragsters with replica fiberglass bodies. The winner went 7.07 at 210. Cleetus McFarland's Mullet, an actual 3500 pound El Camino, went 6.54 at 221 mph. 50 years of technology, baby!
I always loved the sound of funny cars at Bandimere Speedway. It's on the west side of Denver, right up against the mountains and just up the road from Red Rocks. The echo and reverb was amazing! When they'd get on it for burnouts, you'd hear the initial blast of power, then echoing up and down the Rooney Valley. It was awesome. But you don't have to go back to the 70's to hear it, they still run 'em out there.
☑️ We get a similar audible effect at Maple Grove Raceway outside of Reading Pa. The track sits out in a somewhat rural area, in a valley surrounded by forested foothills, with a hill about 100 feet directly behind the starting area. The sound of top fuel cars is "concentrated" there.
@@davelowets Well, that all depends..... Sure, if you're driving a non-Ford powered car, then yes, you must fight for extra power in order to do well. But if you're driving a Ford powered vehicle, then you've already got all the power you need, and then some! Why do you think Mopar was always trying to get certain Ford engines banned? Because they were TOO powerful! [Just joking]😁
Calvin thanks so much for putting this together for us old fuel heads. Thanks for taking me back to my youth on the West Coast. Gordie Bonin, Jim Green, Ed The Ace, Don and Tom Frigging Far Out Man. Thanks again.
I was a little kid back in the mid sixties, living in St Paul Mn. My older brothers took me to the drag strip all the time. One day the announcer was walking through the crowd asking what a good name for the altered cars would be. He was right next to me when I said to my oldest brother, "Hey look at that funny car" The announcer went wild calling them funny cars, and took the credit. He came back and gave me a bag full of prizes, My brothers took it all from me but gave me the ticket for a free hot dog and a T shirt. I think the name of the Dragstrip was called northstar or something like that. It was the greatest time of my life to be at the races.
Wow great story. I'm from Minnesota too, 30 years old used to race 10 years ago in Brainerd in the 1/4 mile. Not like this though. This was an amazing time I'm sure.
Fantastic old footage Thanks for sharing We just recently finished year #6 of The Florida Dragstrip Riot Would be killer to have some of these old “ Floppers” in attendance
Brand X doing a fire burn out on the cover of Hot Rod. Got to strand 10' away from it at Aloe Field in Victoria TX when they lit it up after everyone had gone. Probably 1973. Hooked for life 🔥🔥🔥
As a young teenager I saw many of these cars. I once nearly bumped into Don Prudhomme in the pit area of our small drag strip. My first trip there was for a night race and we would sneak in to the track way down at one end of the strip, well beyond the shutdown and coast area - which is where we were when I first heard one of those engines. I'll never forget the sound of it, and remember it sounded in the dense, cold, humid air clearly to this day. It gave me chills and I stopped where I was planted by the sound of it. The track had hills on either side of it and the sound bounced around in there.
As a young teen, when we didn't have the money to get in, we'd climb a big tree on the other side of the creek that ran parallel to the our local strip. If you got there early, it was often the best seat too, because you could see everything. Money in my pocket or not, I'd head to the track as soon as I heard the 1st car fire up; an unforgettable sound indeed. They never hassled us about being in the tree either-> I think it was because they knew that anytime we had the money, we'd pay to get in, so we could hang out in the pits between rounds.
This is the best! I remember all this so well ... I read CarCraft and Hotrod cover to cover as a teen. I made the Revell models. I had Snake and Mongoose Hot Wheels drag racing set by Mattell ... grew up in Indy, went to the Nationals, Indy 500, even saw USAC Stocks at Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP), Dan Gurney, AJ Foyt, Parnelli Jones on IRP's road course ... which used the 1/4 mile dragstrip as the straightaway. 60's 70's 80's, the greatest era in auto racing. My all time fave was USAC Stocks on dirt at the big Indy Fairgrounds mile oval. So fortunate. No city in the world had more world class racing than Indianapolis. - IRP with NHRA, IndyCar, and USAC on the road course. - IMS with the Indy 500 - Winchester and Salem high bank ovals w/Sprints, Midgets and Stock cars. - Speedrome for figure 8 racing - Anderson Speedway - Paragon dirt - Bloomington dirt (home of the Kinsers) - Terre Haute Action Track All nearby Indy.
Yeah! me too. grew up in Indy, saw Don Garlits run his T/F record --- etc, etc, Bob Glidden drove his early 427 fairlane from Gene Brown's up to the shell station I worked at in Beech Grove to put some super shell in it on a before that quiet Sunday. I've been trying to go fast ever since
@@stilldajoker Early Glidden, nice! Every Central Indiana race fan/gear head knew exactly where Glidden lived and where his shop was. I used to race karts down near his place.
I remember the funny car Manufacture's Meet each year at OCIR.. circa mid 70's. The only 64-car field I ever recall seeing. Prior to the race beginning all of the cars would line up with their backs to the guardrails and bodies lifted, and would all light up at the same time. Then they would run the tree down and everyone would wing their motor when it hit green. That burst of sound was like a nuclear bomb going off. Then everyone would tow back to the pits and the race would soon start. A real crowd pleaser for sure. Remember that??
Cut my teeth on drag racing at niagara Falls drag strip which wasn’t far from the base housing and next to a national guard base. This was in the 70s and I was 13-17 years old. Saw all the big names of the time. What memories! Garlits, tv Tom Ivo, cha cha Muldowney, snake& mongoose , the awesome wheelie cars. Best of times!
I remember wide world of sports covering this as a kid. Was a treat on Sunday afternoon TV when you only got 2 1/2 Chanel's sometimes chanel 4 from Detroit on a good weather day. Had all the matching Hot wheels lol.
Revell had some terrific 1/16th scale models. They were hard to get in the UK. I built Tom McEwen’s Mongoose FC, a Jeb Allen TF and another slingshot whose name I don’t remember, but it was light blue colour. Happy days wiring the magnetos!
Having been a crew member on an alcohol funny car back in the70's. I have seen all of these cars run. Good times for drag racing. Could still make money match racing.
I was born in 1970 so I really didn’t get to see these cars race. Thanks for sharing this. I bought diecast of these cars and really love them but never really got to see them race thank you very much. I’m like a kid in a candy store.
Born in 69 fortunately I got to see most all hese cars at OCIR in the 70s and 80s. Even though I was just a kid I remember walking the pits watching Al Segrini, Billy Meyer, the Snake and Mongoose, Tim Grose, Gary Denshams Teachers Pet, Raymond Beadle, etc wrenching their cars. My dad was a drag racing fanatic and we rarely missed a drag race there. 64 funny cars was the one to see though. The funny cars would line up down the track and fire up together at once and pound the ground with cackle. What a site. It was truly a geat time to be a kid. We liked the boat drags too in the late 70s early 80s when Eddie Hill (the Texan) dominated in blown fuel hydro. Thanks for the memories dad. 🚦🚗🚕, 🚦🚤🚤 😊
I lived 15 minutes away from the drag strip in Irwindale Ca in the 70s. I remember my buddy next door who's dad would take us there to watch the races on the weekend and man seeing this video really brings me right back to that wonderful time in my youth! Thank you!
@@randytaylor1258 yes, they are. there are many, the most famous being mullet from cleatus mcfarland. a 6 second el camino. he towed a trailer across the country with it. there are 5 second street cars in fact, but those are far more rare. a street car is any car that can be legally driven on the street. telsa plaid runs 9.2 with my cocker spaniel driving it which in the 70s would beat 99% of the cars at the strip on a test n tune
@chrismcdanielproductions5410 5 second quarter miles with working lights, front brakes, and DoT street legal tires? Serious racing hasn't been the same since IHRA allowed turbos and nitrous on gassers and instantly competed with Top Fuel cars. How about I declare that Good Humor trucks run faster than the sound barrier and 5-second cars populate the country? You're right -- go tell Guinness
For a minute there I thought that was Famoso but it was Amarillo. I was out at Famoso in '84. Drove all the way from OC. Beck and Minor were ripping 5.40s @ 260 with incredible consistency in the Miller Lite T/F dragsters.
Thanks for sharing this! Had wonderful experiences back then. My Dad and my Mom loved going Sunday Drag Races. Dad work as a mechanic with many of the greatest Races in Early 70s.
Great racing days for me as an eleven-year-old in 1972 at the Winter Nationals. 'Beeline Drag Way' Phoenix, Arizona (My race heroes being: "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, Shirley "Cha Cha" Muldowney, and "The Snake" (Hawaiian) Don Prudhomme)
If you love early drag racing you have to see the Big Daddy Don Garlits museum in Central Florida. We spent 3 hours and took 260 pictures. Absolutely amazing. Cool video.
If you said someday these sexy machines would be replaced by “squatted” trucks id call you a liar. Such a beautiful time forgotten. But now brought back. Thank you!
Ramchargers shop was just a few miles down the road from Detroit dragway and my home. I was riding my bike on king rd. Which was at the end of the track and missed Shirley Moldowny's famous flight into the woods across the track by minutes. Could you imagine watching a dragster fly over your head 😂 Talked to quite a few drivers back in the day and they all were crazy and had balls of titanium to drive those nitro machines, especially at night. They would do fire burnouts, run 4cars on just 2 lanes AT NIGHT 😮. They would do whatever it took to entertain their fans. That's lost today. And you could tell the cars apart from each other. Damn I miss the 70's
Literally everything about this is better than a modern NHRA broadcast.
You won’t find anyone disagreeing with that statement. Big fat thumbs up
@@Living_Legend85 I actually couldn't disagree more.
UNQUESTIONABLY!
Ah yes, when racism was way more tolerable. Can't forget that element
@@Undeletedgold I'm in the middle of the video as I comment on your comment. Is there something further on that is racist? I haven't picked up on anything or any comment in this immediate thread that is racist. Why bring it up?
Truly, the 60's and 70's were the GREATEST eras of drag racing!
Naaaaa, I prefer the shapeless, unrecognizable, zillion dollar blobs they run today.
Greatest of everything
Greatest of everything
I remember going to school with my metal Don 'Snake' Prudhome lunchbox! Truly the Golden age! Thanks for posting this!
IMHO, drag racing died when the NHRA shortened the track for nitro cars.
I'm suddenly nine years old again watching this and funny cars are still the coolest thing in the world
Legendary drivers and legendary cars. Loved this era of funny cars.
☑️ Yep, Don Prudhomme and Don "Shoe-maker"! It's funny that the announcer didn't bother taking 10 secs to ask how to properly pronounce the last name of one of the top racers in one of the top classes.
@@sweetsunnyvibes they're calling dragsters as funny cars
Makes the modern funny cars look kind of sad. Great stuff, most enjoyable.
@@jimmycline4778 For a start I believe it's only 1,000ft not the full quarter, and style beats speed any day in my book. To each their own I guess.
@@mreckes9967 I couldn't agree more. 1972 seems like yesterday at New England Dragway.
@@timothy4557 I grew up in CT as a kid went to CT dragway and NH👍👍👍🙂
@@mreckes9967 pretty sure there going full quarters
now a days we have street cars going 5.77 and under 6.50 on a regular basis
I had a few of these as hotwheels cars. They hauled ass!
These were Drag Racing glory days. Some guys had all the best parts and pieces, others looked like they tore down the swingset in the backyard last week, welded a frame, and were out racing. Those teams, you literally could pick up a wrench, start working on the car, and you were part of the crew, good times.
Grew up watching the Snake and Mongoose battle's.
I did too. Great cars, great drivers.
I got these cats down stairs on a slot track, 13 foot run
Don Garlits
The funny cars then looked far better than todays!
This brings back memories. When they looked like real cars. The ones today are the ones that are funny. They look more like door stops
i agree, them promods look like plastic now..
Hahaha! Doorstops! That was a good one! I've said the exact same thing for years about them looking like real cars back then. I think that's why I love Street Outlaws so much.
@@P71ScrewHead The funny cars were plastic back them too... 🤷🏻
@@davelowets Well, once racing to get every millisecond faster than your competition, every lbs of weight matters so yeah these funny cars are gonna have plastic n carbon fiber bodies.. But I've seen plenty metal ones going just as fast..
love how the funny cars looked like the stock cars they were meant to depect.
yeah I was like they don't look that funny lol
They looked pretty "Funny" to me... 🤷🏻
Can he run without a chute? Race official: "sure why not."
The coolest thing that happened to me was in 1972 at Englishtown NJ. In my 68 Chevelle 396 I’m at the line doing test runs. Running B stock. The starter comes to me and says shut your car off and don’t move. Suddenly a funny car pulls up in the other lane. Does his burn out, backs up and does his test run. Everything in my body vibrated. The most amazing feeling. When I got back in the pits my buddies were shocked. They said the track announcer was joking about the 396 Chevelle taking on a funny car.
I had a Chevy Vega when I was a teenager, but it wouldn’t run 200mph😂
lucky it ran at all
The 70's were so badass, the cars,
the music, and the all natural ladies...
I never liked pubes in my teeth.... 👎
Braless and halter tops were the thing.
@@johnnyx9892 They looked nice at the time, but the extra saggy tits later were a price to pay for the earlier day's view.
Natural...and hairy ladies 🙂. Greets from germany...
@@SN-1006🤣🤣🤣🤣
This was the greatest period in drag racing history right here... I'm so glad I got to see these cars when I was younger
No computers,just driver and good engine man,
I was born in 76 so a little of this was before my time. But every single weekend, while other kids only spend Saturday in their underoos watching cartoons, if they had waited a little bit NHRA came on. Grew up on Bob Glidden, the snake, flying Hawaiian, Big Daddy, and especially John Force. He was my favorite from a kid until retirement. Im easily becoming a fan of his daughters lol. Force would be 20 time national champion, the most winning driver ever, and get out of the car so excited he couldn't even talk in the win interview. He acted like every race was the 1st time he had ever won anything in his life hahaha
Adrenaline rush from this race, are you kidding me !?
We were outside riding bikes after cartoons
Great smoky burnouts & those awesome dry hops!! Sure do miss them.
Thanks, brings back great memories. Hard to believe John Force still racing and winning.
Really miss these old cars, just seems like they were so much more fun to watch
Butch Cassidy, John Force started his own team in the early 90's. Previous to then, he drove for other teams beginning in 1971.
@@sergeantmasson3669 yeah, my dad use to carry me to the races as a kid and then I became good friends with Emil Fullerton, Larry's widowed wife. She introduced me to all the guys back in the early eighties when I would attend races with her. I dated her niece and got to be good friends with the family.
@@butchcassidy3373 This video is about the 70's, not the 80's. Two different eras.
@@sergeantmasson3669 John Force has never driven for anyone else. He's always owned the car he drove going back to mid late '70s.
@@bbigjohnson069 FALSE. John Force began his funny car career driving for Jack Chrisman in 1971.
RIP Good ole days of drag racing
The good old days of everything for that matter. Everything was better….i would give up my stupid phone and computer to go back in a heartbeat.
When "Sponsors" were Sponsors to have their names on cars and didn't control the Drivers unlike today..... I envy any Team that can go it independent.
I was 13 in 1974 and I loved watching racing and Wide World of Sports on ABC. Never missed it!
I was the same age in 74 and I also loved when drag racing came on wide world of sports...It didn't happen very often but it was so cool when it did. Always liked the opening of wide world of sports with that skier crashing...good old days.
@@brianclintone308The agony of defeat 🙂
I loved drag racing in the 60s and 70s growing up in So Cal
Hey Linda what's up?
Love the old funny cars, they look like the cars they were supposed to be. Modern funny cars all look alike. And old days didn't have foreign cars like Toyota .
I miss this creativity in drag racing..it was speed with artistry
One of the best half hours of RUclips watching for me.
When Funny Car racing had so many quality competitors
So many beautiful cars with unique paints and names unlike todays rolling billboards.
Watching so many of my hero’s of the Quarter Mile.
Today the NHRA has a hard time filling their 16 car fields….
Those of us that were there wouldn’t trade those memories for anything!
Thank You for the Post….Reliving these memories was a beautiful thing! 👍🏻❤️🍻😎
Always enjoyed our local track in Rockingham, NC..... Nothing better than to take someone that's never experienced their organs vibrating and observing their reaction to the first romp down the strip......
This is so raw, nothing but white knuckles, still still so addictive to watch.
i think, this footage gonna be a huge trasure sometimes! loved it. in my mind i smelled the fuel and tires. thank you!
The voice of the announcer
Legendary as well ... great video!
Better looking cars than now , better racing, & dry hops. No wonder the stands are packed.
ill watch this till my eyes no longer see - 70`s muscle cars are the sexiest body styles on any race track
I was 11 yrs old when my neighbor took me and my brother to Pomona to see the Winternationals for the first time, and we were hooked. I went with my brother and nephew to the Fall Nationals in Enis (Dallas) and watched a drag race for the first time in 51 years...STILL LOVE IT!!
Remember that they used to do their burnouts on BLEACH... It was called "the bleach box"... that's what Don Prudhomme was pouring at the beginning of the video. You can see them pouring bleach from bottles at several points in the video, like at 3:25
They were doing fuel burnouts in early 70's until it was outlawed.
Brings back so many memories, Thank you.
The engines, the narrator. Huge 1960’s NASCAR vibes. Love it.
Thanks for posting...great footage. I grew up in the San Gabriel valley in So Cal, attending my first drag race at Irwindale Raceway in 64'. My Dad was in charge of the LA County Shops (where Sheriff's cars were repaired), and because they used LA County Fairgrounds for vehicle testing...we got comp tickets to the WinterNationals each year. I was also in attendance for the 75' World Finals shown in the video, at Ontario Motor Speedway....which was an Epic race!! Long live dry hops and Steve Evans (in our memories) ✌😎
Yeah the dry hops went away in '86-'87 with the onset of a single gear there was no need to seat the clutch discs anymore.
Hey cool man I lived close to the Irwindale drag strip, in the city of La Puente, and was a teen in the 70s, I remember my buddy next door who's dad use to take us to the drags on the weekends in summer and what a wonderful time it was...miss it
...from Warner Robins GA... I used to be stationed there in the 90's, now I'm retired in france and lo and behold I stumble into this jewell and the man from Robins... Thanks!
These cars were basically, like he said, shortened AA Fuel dragsters with replica fiberglass bodies. The winner went 7.07 at 210. Cleetus McFarland's Mullet, an actual 3500 pound El Camino, went 6.54 at 221 mph. 50 years of technology, baby!
Yessir, still badass tho in there day
I always loved the sound of funny cars at Bandimere Speedway. It's on the west side of Denver, right up against the mountains and just up the road from Red Rocks. The echo and reverb was amazing! When they'd get on it for burnouts, you'd hear the initial blast of power, then echoing up and down the Rooney Valley. It was awesome. But you don't have to go back to the 70's to hear it, they still run 'em out there.
☑️ We get a similar audible effect at Maple Grove Raceway outside of Reading Pa. The track sits out in a somewhat rural area, in a valley surrounded by forested foothills, with a hill about 100 feet directly behind the starting area. The sound of top fuel cars is "concentrated" there.
It's just too bad that horsepower is so far down at Bandimere from the huge elevation there. One has to fight quite a bit for power there.
@@davelowets
Well, that all depends..... Sure, if you're driving a non-Ford powered car, then yes, you must fight for extra power in order to do well. But if you're driving a Ford powered vehicle, then you've already got all the power you need, and then some! Why do you think Mopar was always trying to get certain Ford engines banned? Because they were TOO powerful! [Just joking]😁
@@HighlanderNorth1 Be careful! Those are "fightin words" to some folks on youtube here.... 😜
Unfortunately Amazon has bought bandimere speedway and they along with the nearby residents are forcing racing out.
As a high school kid we got to go to Green Valley Raceway and watch bad ass cars. Going to Ennis is awesome but I think green valley was tops
When I was a kid watching this, I always thought the way the car always shaking was so SO COOL. So much power.
Calvin thanks so much for putting this together for us old fuel heads. Thanks for taking me back to my youth on the West Coast. Gordie Bonin, Jim Green, Ed The Ace, Don and Tom Frigging Far Out Man. Thanks again.
I agree!
As a younger fuel head here, I’d like to thank you guys for keeping the energy of this sport alive
Fremont raceway...good times.
I was a little kid back in the mid sixties, living in St Paul Mn. My older brothers took me to the drag strip all the time. One day the announcer was walking through the crowd asking what a good name for the altered cars would be. He was right next to me when I said to my oldest brother, "Hey look at that funny car" The announcer went wild calling them funny cars, and took the credit. He came back and gave me a bag full of prizes, My brothers took it all from me but gave me the ticket for a free hot dog and a T shirt. I think the name of the Dragstrip was called northstar or something like that. It was the greatest time of my life to be at the races.
Wow great story. I'm from Minnesota too, 30 years old used to race 10 years ago in Brainerd in the 1/4 mile. Not like this though. This was an amazing time I'm sure.
Lots of great memories. I saw most if not all of these drivers race at US 131 Drag Way in Martin, Michigan.
Fantastic old footage
Thanks for sharing
We just recently finished year #6 of The Florida Dragstrip Riot
Would be killer to have some of these old “ Floppers” in attendance
Brand X doing a fire burn out on the cover of Hot Rod. Got to strand 10' away from it at Aloe Field in Victoria TX when they lit it up after everyone had gone. Probably 1973. Hooked for life 🔥🔥🔥
As a young teenager I saw many of these cars. I once nearly bumped into Don Prudhomme in the pit area of our small drag strip. My first trip there was for a night race and we would sneak in to the track way down at one end of the strip, well beyond the shutdown and coast area - which is where we were when I first heard one of those engines. I'll never forget the sound of it, and remember it sounded in the dense, cold, humid air clearly to this day. It gave me chills and I stopped where I was planted by the sound of it. The track had hills on either side of it and the sound bounced around in there.
As a young teen, when we didn't have the money to get in, we'd climb a big tree on the other side of the creek that ran parallel to the our local strip. If you got there early, it was often the best seat too, because you could see everything. Money in my pocket or not, I'd head to the track as soon as I heard the 1st car fire up; an unforgettable sound indeed. They never hassled us about being in the tree either-> I think it was because they knew that anytime we had the money, we'd pay to get in, so we could hang out in the pits between rounds.
Used to go to Lions Drag Strip all the time when I was young. Loved the 70's and being in the pits smelling the nitro cars..
This is the best!
I remember all this so well ... I read CarCraft and Hotrod cover to cover as a teen.
I made the Revell models.
I had Snake and Mongoose Hot Wheels drag racing set by Mattell ... grew up in Indy, went to the Nationals, Indy 500, even saw USAC Stocks at Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP), Dan Gurney, AJ Foyt, Parnelli Jones on IRP's road course ... which used the 1/4 mile dragstrip as the straightaway.
60's 70's 80's, the greatest era in auto racing.
My all time fave was USAC Stocks on dirt at the big Indy Fairgrounds mile oval.
So fortunate.
No city in the world had more world class racing than Indianapolis.
- IRP with NHRA, IndyCar, and USAC on the road course.
- IMS with the Indy 500
- Winchester and Salem high bank ovals w/Sprints, Midgets and Stock cars.
- Speedrome for figure 8 racing
- Anderson Speedway
- Paragon dirt
- Bloomington dirt (home of the Kinsers)
- Terre Haute Action Track
All nearby Indy.
Classic! Respect.
Yeah! me too. grew up in Indy, saw Don Garlits run his T/F record --- etc, etc, Bob Glidden drove his early 427 fairlane from Gene Brown's up to the shell station I worked at in Beech Grove to put some super shell in it on a before that quiet Sunday. I've been trying to go fast ever since
I still have my car craft center folds from the late60's.most are ford's.
@@stilldajoker
Early Glidden, nice!
Every Central Indiana race fan/gear head knew exactly where Glidden lived and where his shop was.
I used to race karts down near his place.
@@FOH3663Great memories FOH. I believe the Snake/Mongoose set was Hot Wheels not Matchbox. I had it too. 🙂
Old funny cars are the best period.
I used to watch this with my dad when I was a kid, listening to these races could lull me to sleep. I can smell the smoke and fuel, love this 👍👍
Good Lord, this really takes me back! I grew up at OCIR and it was fantastic!
I remember the funny car Manufacture's Meet each year at OCIR.. circa mid 70's. The only 64-car field I ever recall seeing. Prior to the race beginning all of the cars would line up with their backs to the guardrails and bodies lifted, and would all light up at the same time. Then they would run the tree down and everyone would wing their motor when it hit green. That burst of sound was like a nuclear bomb going off. Then everyone would tow back to the pits and the race would soon start. A real crowd pleaser for sure. Remember that??
Cut my teeth on drag racing at niagara Falls drag strip which wasn’t far from the base housing and next to a national guard base. This was in the 70s and I was 13-17 years old. Saw all the big names of the time. What memories! Garlits, tv Tom Ivo, cha cha Muldowney, snake& mongoose , the awesome wheelie cars. Best of times!
Oh yea, these were great days. I remember seeing a few blowers pop off. The Snake was my favorite.
Mine also, The Snake was the best funny car driver in the 70s with that Army car👍✌️
check out those lawn chairs i havent seen those since the 80s. a golden time of racing we'll never get back
I remember wide world of sports covering this as a kid. Was a treat on Sunday afternoon TV when you only got 2 1/2 Chanel's sometimes chanel 4 from Detroit on a good weather day.
Had all the matching Hot wheels lol.
Great-looking cars !!! Snake, Schumacher's Stardust, the Ramchargers, the Hawaiian (LOVE that Charger body !!!). The stars of my youth !!!
Best years of my life! Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!!!!
I remember as a kid seeing these cars as model kits for sale in the stores. Even put some together.
Ah models! Something that was lost through the generations. Spent hours at night at my building table.
Revell had some terrific 1/16th scale models. They were hard to get in the UK. I built Tom McEwen’s Mongoose FC, a Jeb Allen TF and another slingshot whose name I don’t remember, but it was light blue colour. Happy days wiring the magnetos!
@@tomcoon9038 , and I wonder how much damage was caused from the styrene glue. But ya, building model cars was great.
I thought the same thing. Oh that glue!
I had the Blue Max funny car, but it was a toy.
Thank you for bringing back my childhood for a half hour I was back in time😁
Having been a crew member on an alcohol funny car back in the70's. I have seen all of these cars run.
Good times for drag racing. Could still make money match racing.
Respect, sir
My dad took me to races in the 80s, he lived this era and I loved watching it.
I was born in 1970 so I really didn’t get to see these cars race. Thanks for sharing this. I bought diecast of these cars and really love them but never really got to see them race thank you very much. I’m like a kid in a candy store.
Born in 69 fortunately I got to see most all hese cars at OCIR in the 70s and 80s. Even though I was just a kid I remember walking the pits watching Al Segrini, Billy Meyer, the Snake and Mongoose, Tim Grose, Gary Denshams Teachers Pet, Raymond Beadle, etc wrenching their cars. My dad was a drag racing fanatic and we rarely missed a drag race there. 64 funny cars was the one to see though. The funny cars would line up down the track and fire up together at once and pound the ground with cackle. What a site. It was truly a geat time to be a kid. We liked the boat drags too in the late 70s early 80s when Eddie Hill (the Texan) dominated in blown fuel hydro. Thanks for the memories dad. 🚦🚗🚕, 🚦🚤🚤 😊
I lived 15 minutes away from the drag strip in Irwindale Ca in the 70s. I remember my buddy next door who's dad would take us there to watch the races on the weekend and man seeing this video really brings me right back to that wonderful time in my youth! Thank you!
You can see the times getting smaller and Busters belly getting bigger !!!! 😀😀😀😀😀😀🚘🚘🏁🍺🍺🍺🍺
Nice to see how the v8s rip before turbos started dominating.
The great Keith Jackson announcing👍👍
The 71-73 Mustang F/C was the BEST looking of all time ......
No racing event in the world to match the sound and spectacle of funny car races at night!
Takes me back to my youth, these cars were so fun to watch
looking at the times of these cars, have we really advanced that much with todays times? 40+ years ago running 7's! Love it!
Well street cars are running 6s so yeah
@@stickboslightning
Street cars are not running 6-second quarter-miles.
@@randytaylor1258 yes, they are. there are many, the most famous being mullet from cleatus mcfarland. a 6 second el camino. he towed a trailer across the country with it. there are 5 second street cars in fact, but those are far more rare. a street car is any car that can be legally driven on the street. telsa plaid runs 9.2 with my cocker spaniel driving it which in the 70s would beat 99% of the cars at the strip on a test n tune
@@randytaylor1258 false, cleetus has been mid 6s in mullet and out over 5000 miles on it last year. 100% street legal
@chrismcdanielproductions5410
5 second quarter miles with working lights, front brakes, and DoT street legal tires?
Serious racing hasn't been the same since IHRA allowed turbos and nitrous on gassers and instantly competed with Top Fuel cars.
How about I declare that Good Humor trucks run faster than the sound barrier and 5-second cars populate the country? You're right -- go tell Guinness
Schumacher surname was strong in autosport since old times. Schumacher is a synonym of race driver 😁
Brings back memories of famoso drag strip and the old march meets i used to go to back in the late 70s and early 80s
For a minute there I thought that was Famoso but it was Amarillo. I was out at Famoso in '84. Drove all the way from OC. Beck and Minor were ripping 5.40s @ 260 with incredible consistency in the Miller Lite T/F dragsters.
Great vid to watch over and over again, love the Nostalgia!!!!! 👍👍
I remember just starting to follow them in '68 ....I used to have dozens of Hotrod, Carcraft and anything on drag racing back then 😁
Thanks for sharing this! Had wonderful experiences back then. My Dad and my Mom loved going Sunday Drag Races. Dad work as a mechanic with many of the greatest Races in Early 70s.
Great racing days for me as an eleven-year-old in 1972 at the Winter Nationals. 'Beeline Drag Way' Phoenix, Arizona (My race heroes being: "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, Shirley "Cha Cha" Muldowney, and "The Snake" (Hawaiian) Don Prudhomme)
If you love early drag racing you have to see the Big Daddy Don Garlits museum in Central Florida. We spent 3 hours and took 260 pictures. Absolutely amazing. Cool video.
Wally Parks NHRA Museum at Pomona Fairgrouns. Lost an entire day there.
Yep. Just north of Ocala and South of Gainesville. I used to watch him in his rear engine dragster at Gatornationals.
@patrickvanrinsvelt4466
I don't know how far Garlits's goes back but the Parks museum goes back to time trials at Bonneville in the 1940s.
I watched everyone of these cars run at the Pomona Speedway as a kid 45/47 years ago.
A great time to be a kid watching these races on TV, and collecting the trading cards.
Wow! The flashbacks. Thank you so much for posting this, brings me back to when I was a little kid
This is what dragging racing was all about.
This is a great compilation! I've seen a lot of earlier videos, but you have some footage that I saw for the first time. Thanks for posting this!
I was a kid watching the Wide World of Sports each weekend. Many times NHRA was the treat! I love how raw this racing was back then.
If you said someday these sexy machines would be replaced by “squatted” trucks id call you a liar. Such a beautiful time forgotten. But now brought back. Thank you!
These were the days! Brings back all the memories.
It’s cool to see these funny cars get longer and longer throughout the 70s
This is fantastic old footage of great looking FC s .👍🏆💪🏼💥💥💥
Love the way the Trojan horse sit down on the ground in the rear. Very pretty
Ramchargers shop was just a few miles down the road from Detroit dragway and my home. I was riding my bike on king rd. Which was at the end of the track and missed Shirley Moldowny's famous flight into the woods across the track by minutes. Could you imagine watching a dragster fly over your head 😂
Talked to quite a few drivers back in the day and they all were crazy and had balls of titanium to drive those nitro machines, especially at night. They would do fire burnouts, run 4cars on just 2 lanes AT NIGHT 😮. They would do whatever it took to entertain their fans. That's lost today. And you could tell the cars apart from each other. Damn I miss the 70's
Everything was just better in the 70s ..man!! So glad I was there ....
Every car had it's own individual character .... In my opinion , the greatest era in drag racing 👍👍
THE MOST AMAZING FUNNY CARS IN THOSE YEARS! LOOK AT THOSE BODIES, WHEELS, THE SLANT OF THE BODY.
I worked at Thompson in 1969 - 71 and saw the Coca-Cola Cavalcade of Stars, what a show that was.
Love and so miss those nasty dry hops!!!🔥🔥
Those were truly the best days of drag racing! Thanks for sharing your video.
The Blue Max was my car!! I even had a model i put together of it!! We watched Drag Racing on Wide World of Sports in those days!!