Burn Up That Quarter Mile
Drag Racing's Pioneers
By Ed T. Willys
Okay, class, today's question is, "Where did the term, 'drag race' originate?"
A: "Drag that old car of yours out of the garage and let's go race."
B: "Let's run tonight, meet me on the main drag."
Or, perhaps, somewhere in the Roman Empire when Claudius said to Octavius, "I'll bet you a Denarius that my chariot can wax yours!"
We may never know the answer to that question and it might not be important, but we do know that hot rodders were gathering on California's dry lakes in the early '30s, attempting to see what their Ford Flatheads could do.
There is little doubt that Southern California was this country's hotbed for motorsports following World War II. In 1947 the SCTA (Southern California Timing Association) was born and the following year held their first "Speed Week" on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Technically this wasn't drag racing, but it fueled the fire for speed.
The first recorded drag strip was in Santa Ana, California, on an abandoned World War II P38 fighter base. During the summer of 1950 hot rod junkies in SoCal made the trek to Santa Ana to get their "fix" much to the relief of the law enforcement community.
Chet Herbert overseeing his creation, the Beast. Chet's bike was the top dog for a few years. From the Bruce Linsday collection.
These early races were wild affairs with little in the way of rules, no real safety equipment and just a flag man positioned 20 feet ahead of the combatants ready to give 'm the go. Crossing the finish line first was, and still is, the goal. But in the early '50s the only instrumentation was a set of lights you cut through to record your speed. A participant's elapsed time was not a factor since, at the time, there was no way to measure it.
Meanwhile in 1951, in an attempt to, "create order from chaos," Wally Parks, then editor of Hot Rod magazine formed the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association). This new group had the authority to institute safety rules and performance standards, although, when you look at some of these early photos, it's clear the safety "equipment" was slow in coming. The NHRA held its first official race in April of 1953, at the now-legendary track, Pomona. Pomona is still home to the NHRA's season opening Winternationals each year. The NHRA might have brought respectability to the sport, but there were still many outlaw races taking place on deserted back roads across Southern California.
Drag Racing's Pioneers
By Ed T. Willys
Okay, class, today's question is, "Where did the term, 'drag race' originate?"
A: "Drag that old car of yours out of the garage and let's go race."
B: "Let's run tonight, meet me on the main drag."
Or, perhaps, somewhere in the Roman Empire when Claudius said to Octavius, "I'll bet you a Denarius that my chariot can wax yours!"
We may never know the answer to that question and it might not be important, but we do know that hot rodders were gathering on California's dry lakes in the early '30s, attempting to see what their Ford Flatheads could do.
There is little doubt that Southern California was this country's hotbed for motorsports following World War II. In 1947 the SCTA (Southern California Timing Association) was born and the following year held their first "Speed Week" on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Technically this wasn't drag racing, but it fueled the fire for speed.
The first recorded drag strip was in Santa Ana, California, on an abandoned World War II P38 fighter base. During the summer of 1950 hot rod junkies in SoCal made the trek to Santa Ana to get their "fix" much to the relief of the law enforcement community.
Chet Herbert overseeing his creation, the Beast. Chet's bike was the top dog for a few years. From the Bruce Linsday collection.
These early races were wild affairs with little in the way of rules, no real safety equipment and just a flag man positioned 20 feet ahead of the combatants ready to give 'm the go. Crossing the finish line first was, and still is, the goal. But in the early '50s the only instrumentation was a set of lights you cut through to record your speed. A participant's elapsed time was not a factor since, at the time, there was no way to measure it.
Meanwhile in 1951, in an attempt to, "create order from chaos," Wally Parks, then editor of Hot Rod magazine formed the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association). This new group had the authority to institute safety rules and performance standards, although, when you look at some of these early photos, it's clear the safety "equipment" was slow in coming. The NHRA held its first official race in April of 1953, at the now-legendary track, Pomona. Pomona is still home to the NHRA's season opening Winternationals each year. The NHRA might have brought respectability to the sport, but there were still many outlaw races taking place on deserted back roads across Southern California.
An
article on Lloyd Krant's Giant Killer in the September,
1953, Cycle magazine.
Men with names like Chet Herbert, Lloyd Krant, Larry Lilley, Bob SirKegian, Clem Johnson and Tommy Auger were just a few of drag racing's pioneers. Even Bob SirKegian's 13 year-old son, Bobby, got into the act turning a 107.62 mph to trophy in Class B, during a July 19, 1953, San Diego meet. Bobby was on a hot Triumph Thunderbird that day. A 13 year old? Sounds incredible today but back then you didn't need a "sanctioning body" to tell you what was dangerous. You made your own decisions and lived (or?) with the consequences.
Wheelchair-bound Chet Herbert didn't let his disability from polio become a disability. Far from it. He had been in the high performance Harley parts business shortly after World War II grinding some of the best cams available. As early as 1950 Chet with his partner, Roy Felkner, were burning up the strip, and, California's Rosamond dry lake shattering records which, in some cases, were held by the fast cars of the day. In July of 1950, with their modified Knucklehead the "Beast" they ran a 128 mph at the Lakes and a 103 at the Orange County airport strip. Legend has it their Knucklehead was christened the Beast because of the 103-mph run which slammed the old record, set by a car at 101 mph, and, because of its ugly appearance.
Records were falling fast in those early years. By the end of October Chet had pushed his quarter mile speed to 119 mph and on the dry lakes he picked up another 14 mph to end the year with a 142.
In the following year Chet was back at it. Here is an excerpt from Cycle, July, 1951. "Then, in March, 1951, Herbert's high camer was ready for its grand attempt. Ted Iorio of the USMC was riding and took it through on two trial runs at 124 and 125 mph. The big one was coming; special fuel that would burn up an ordinary engine was pumped in by rubber-gloved pit men, and Ted took off for the record run. The Beast starts in second gear, winds to 8,000 rpm, then power shifts to high. On this run, everyone knew that he was going to do it, as the rear tire caught fire from spinning on the asphalt, then was off, fish-tailing all the way down. At the other end there was a cloud of dust, as Ted went off the end of the strip (still) doing sixty. He was going too fast to stop. Cycle and rider were one blur, spinning end over end in the dirt, while over the loudspeaker came, 'He's all right, folks. You have just seen a new record set-129.49 mph for the quarter mile drag!' To emphasize this, it might be noted that a good stock 74 OHV Harley-Davidson will hit 80 mph in the same distance."
J.P. putting the "can" into Lloyd's Giant Killer some time in the early '50s.
Jim "J.P." Griffin, our history detective. He mentioned that if there are any errors in his information, on Lloyd Krant, to please forgive him. "It was a long time ago."
Men with names like Chet Herbert, Lloyd Krant, Larry Lilley, Bob SirKegian, Clem Johnson and Tommy Auger were just a few of drag racing's pioneers. Even Bob SirKegian's 13 year-old son, Bobby, got into the act turning a 107.62 mph to trophy in Class B, during a July 19, 1953, San Diego meet. Bobby was on a hot Triumph Thunderbird that day. A 13 year old? Sounds incredible today but back then you didn't need a "sanctioning body" to tell you what was dangerous. You made your own decisions and lived (or?) with the consequences.
Wheelchair-bound Chet Herbert didn't let his disability from polio become a disability. Far from it. He had been in the high performance Harley parts business shortly after World War II grinding some of the best cams available. As early as 1950 Chet with his partner, Roy Felkner, were burning up the strip, and, California's Rosamond dry lake shattering records which, in some cases, were held by the fast cars of the day. In July of 1950, with their modified Knucklehead the "Beast" they ran a 128 mph at the Lakes and a 103 at the Orange County airport strip. Legend has it their Knucklehead was christened the Beast because of the 103-mph run which slammed the old record, set by a car at 101 mph, and, because of its ugly appearance.
Records were falling fast in those early years. By the end of October Chet had pushed his quarter mile speed to 119 mph and on the dry lakes he picked up another 14 mph to end the year with a 142.
In the following year Chet was back at it. Here is an excerpt from Cycle, July, 1951. "Then, in March, 1951, Herbert's high camer was ready for its grand attempt. Ted Iorio of the USMC was riding and took it through on two trial runs at 124 and 125 mph. The big one was coming; special fuel that would burn up an ordinary engine was pumped in by rubber-gloved pit men, and Ted took off for the record run. The Beast starts in second gear, winds to 8,000 rpm, then power shifts to high. On this run, everyone knew that he was going to do it, as the rear tire caught fire from spinning on the asphalt, then was off, fish-tailing all the way down. At the other end there was a cloud of dust, as Ted went off the end of the strip (still) doing sixty. He was going too fast to stop. Cycle and rider were one blur, spinning end over end in the dirt, while over the loudspeaker came, 'He's all right, folks. You have just seen a new record set-129.49 mph for the quarter mile drag!' To emphasize this, it might be noted that a good stock 74 OHV Harley-Davidson will hit 80 mph in the same distance."
J.P. putting the "can" into Lloyd's Giant Killer some time in the early '50s.
Jim "J.P." Griffin, our history detective. He mentioned that if there are any errors in his information, on Lloyd Krant, to please forgive him. "It was a long time ago."