All of the pictures on this page were taken by Geof Hauser,
I am very grateful to him for the opportunity of reproducing them here.
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Click on any image to get the bigger picture |
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This
bird's eye view of the OMS finish line gives some idea of the scale and planning
that went into what was meant to be California's answer to Indianapolis. Built at a cost of $25 million with seating
for 85,000 spectators, the "Taj Mahal" of drag racing was in financial
difficulty as soon as it opened and was demolished within less than a decade -
at a huge cost to the LA taxpayers! |
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Wally Booth in his AMC Pro Stocker. Booth had actually been a Chevy racer until American Motors made him an offer he couldn't refuse. With enthusiastic factory backing Booth and his team turned the otherwise ill-reputed and suitably named Gremlin into a force to be reckoned with on both the NHRA and match race circuit. |
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Bill 'Grumpy' Jenkins dominated Pro Stock throughout the middle of the 1970s, and the 1972 Supernationals was no exception. Here the Chevrolet wizard easily disposes of Larry Breaux and his Demon Sport. Breaux was the quickest of the Chrysler cars but no match for the all-conquering Vega. Jenkins set low ET of the meet with a 9.34 - eight second runs, let alone sixes, were as yet unheard of in PS. |
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Bobby Rowe has thrown the towel in early or Jim Dunn was throwing out the laundry late. Either way Rowe in the blue Stardust Barracuda was favourite to win this semi-final against the red Barracuda of Dunn & Reath, but doing things by the book wasn't for 'Big Jim' - after all who else would build and successfully run a rear engined funny car? The Los Angeles fireman went on to win the eliminator title at OMS, the first and only time for such a funny car in the history of NHRA. |
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OMS 1972 saw the debut of Bob Perry's "Hell on Wheels". Cloaked in fibreglass to resemble a tank, complete with magnesium gun barrel, "Hell On Wheels" was sponsored by the US Army and match raced all across America with its sister wheelstander "Hells Fire". |
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Another top fueller completes a pass at Orange County International Raceway. OCIR might not have been as state-of-the-art as Ontario Motor Speedway (note OMS already had concrete barriers in 1973), but after the fabled Lions drag strip closed, the Irvine facility became the centre of Californian drag racing hosting everything from mid-week bracket racing, huge funny car extravaganzas, night racing and even the NHRA World Finals. |
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Walton, Cerny & Moody were the killer combination during late 1972. While all three men held down day jobs at Engle Cams at weekends they had a winning formula that saw them break every west coast track record and net more than $60,000 (a princely sum in drag racing 30 years ago) from winning 4 out of 5 major races in the last 3 months of that year. |
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Warren & Coburn's first rear engined fueller didn't win any Best Appearing Car trophies, but what it lacked in looks it made up for in performance and when the Rain For Rent team debuted their next car it quickly joined the elite Cragar Five Second Club. Incidentally Rain For Rent was a Bakersfield sprinkler company that sponsored the local duo. |
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Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen in his '72 Duster. It is well documented that the Mattel Hot Wheels sponsorship was a ground breaking deal in drag racing. What is less well known is it was all thanks to the 'Goose's mum! As a secretary to a well known Los Angeles attorney, who happened to be golfing pal of Mattel's vice president, Mrs McEwen was able to get her son a personal introduction at the toy corporation - where other racers hadn't even got past the front door. Like they say it's who you know, not what you know. |
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We have to presume this is Bob Pickett behind the wheel of Pete's Lil' Demon '72 Plymouth Duster. But Peter Everett employed a variety of funny car drivers over the years, including Dr Leroy Hales and famed Fuel Altered pilot Dennis Geisler. Based in Arleta, southern California, Everett was just one of scores of self-financed 'enthusiasts' who proliferated the sport back when a couple of pals, a spare set of pistons, a ramp truck and a drum of nitro were enough to go funny car racing. |
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My thanks to Andy Barrack who both researched and wrote the captions for the above US pictures. |
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The remaining pictures on this page were
taken at Mantorp Park in Sweden. |
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Ford Maverick F/SA 120 was driven by Hans 'Lyktan' Ramsten. |
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Two nice shots of the classic '56 Corvette of Ingemar Jakobsson. |
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This is the beautiful Berzerk AA/FA of Bo Bertilsson & Leif Holmgren. This car originated in the USA where it was campaigned by the team of Lawce & Gunn and was then raced for a season in the UK by Keith Harvie who called the car Dream Machine. I can't argue with that. |
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Norwegian Fred Larsen drove this
retro-styled dragster which he named The Sundance Kid. |
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Jan Carlsson's Fever funny car pictured in the pits. |
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John Andersson's funny car. |
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My thanks also to Anders Olsson who provided information on some of the Swedish pictures. |
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All material on this site is copyright |
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