AWESOME FOOTAGE. Irwindale was my first dragstrip (1966). The very first car I seen there was RANDY WALLS & his first Nova. Before the Corvair. Forty years later, I was backing RANDY up from a burnout in Seattle.
Great memories from that track ...I lived there from the time I was 14 till I was 20 years old. The walls in our room was covered with pit passes . Race my 58 chev and 64 cyclone there.
My backyard track,spent alot of time at this place.Great track,Great memories thanks so much.Even made a few passes my self.Then Miller beer killed our fun.Progress is a birch sometimes.They bought the land and moved their brewery from Azusa to Irwindale ,you can see it today right off the 210 freeway.Just east of 605 fwy.Thanks again.👍
Spent so many days and nights there. Tuesday grudge matches, Friday nights and Saturday quals. Thanks for posting this. Was digging through some of my old stuff and found a pit pass from 1971!
I was there for opening day and for the last drag race. Even went to speedway motorcycle races and a few other events. On opening day the only pavement was literally the drag strip. Even most of the pits were still dirt. Still miss this great track where I spent a lot of good days and nights. NOT a fan of Miller beer as you might imagine. Still drive by and imagine the old layout of the track. Thanks for the great video. It really brought back memories.
Yes I was always at irwindale raceway Thursday nights speedway race's Friday night motocross Saturday and Sunday nhra drag race's I lived in azusa by the golf course.i loved that place .now I'm in iowa
I always had a great time at Irwindale . I discovered drag racing the year this was made (1971). I even got to work there right before it closed ... Thanks ...love it...
Belated thanks for this video. I got hooked on drag racing when I had my picture taken with Big John Mazmanian and his 69 Barracuda funny car at the starting line right there at Irwindale. I still have the picture of that from the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Irwindale was a place me and friends went to many times during this era.
I am sorry, this is all we had, it was a culmination of 2 or 3 trips to the track. I am honored you liked the video.I never dreamed I would ever be able to share this. At least like this.
They never redeveloped the far end of the track. I've always wondered what you could find down there with a metal detector. Those were the best days of drag racing. I remember 100- and 64-funny car events at OCIR. Now we are lucky to see a full 16-car field at a national event. If Kalitta or Schumacher pulls out next year, we are in big trouble. NHRA needs to bring racing costs down to the point where we have at least a few hundred funny cars and top fuelers around the country. This would require a dumbing-down of cars, which would mean fiberglass bodies (carbon fiber not allowed), no computers and lower horsepower motors. Such cars would likely run only around 270 MPH thru 1,000 feet but it would still be a big show and make things much more interesting. There should be a pro car for every 300,000 population, which would give us over a thousand nitro burners!!! At the 2020 March Meet there were more nostalgia (low cost) fuel funny cars than I could count. So building the number of teams is very doable.
DSR PERFORMANCE PARTS VENTURING INTO NEW TERRITORY Drag Racing Super Team Partners with Funny Car Chaos/Outlaw Fuel Altered Series Don Schumacher Racing will soon expand its involvement in the straight-line racing world beyond the NHRA, and into the popular ‘outlaw’ style of drag racing. Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) and Don Schumacher Precision Manufacturing (DSM), DSR’s manufacturing arm, are pleased to announce that Don Schumacher Racing Performance Parts (DSR.parts), the recently-launched full-service web shop for racing and production vehicles, will join the Funny Car Chaos and Outlaw Fuel Altered circuits as an associate partner of each series in 2021. Funny Car Chaos, an eight-event eighth-mile racing series, often draws 20-25 cars at any given event. Competitors enjoy the ‘no rules’ format which allows for any type of Funny Car body, including late model and nostalgia, and leaves it up to teams to determine their engine and blower combinations. The two-day events feature three qualifying sessions to set a 16-car elimination field. The six-event Outlaw Fuel Altered series, which will be celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2021, utilizes a Chicago-style elimination format which draws a wide variety of Fuel Altereds racing for a season championship. “With our new DSR Performance Parts venture, where both new and used parts are available direct-to-consumer via DSR.parts, it’s important we maximize our exposure beyond NHRA,” said Chad Osier, Vice President of DSM. “We’ve long been known as a premier parts supplier for NHRA’s nitro teams, and more recently, Dodge Challenger Drag Pak competitors, but now we’re able to provide top-tier, race-winning design and performance to any speed enthusiast out there chasing win lights. Whether it’s the casual ‘run what you brung’ crowd, or those competing for a championship, everything that is available at DSR.parts is designed to help racers, at any level, get the most out of their cars. “Funny Car Chaos and Outlaw Fuel Altered events have great turnouts with loyal followings, and these are the grassroots racers we’re trying to reach,” added Osier. “We recognize the growing popularity of these series’, and this is an excellent opportunity for us to introduce DSR Performance Parts to the competitors and fans of this style of racing.” Chris Graves, owner of the two series, stated, "The Funny Car Chaos and Outlaw Fuel Altered series' are very excited for the opportunity to work with DSR Performance Parts this coming race season. Our racers have many ways to utilize the parts and professional services that DSR Performance Parts can offer them. Connecting our grassroots racers to the resources of full-time professionals is a beneficial one and an important link for the sport in general. We look forward to offering our racers a direct line to DSR that will keep our teams going fast and staying safe." As an associate sponsor of both Funny Car Chaos and Outlaw Fuel Altered, DSR Performance Parts branding will be showcased at all 14 events between the two series, beginning with Nitro Madness at Texas Motorplex in suburban Dallas, March 26, 2021. The partnership also includes online support via social media promotions, and DSR.parts branding featured on the series’ websites and e-newsletters.
well some surf music from all the surf bands, some thing from Dick Dale, beach boys jan&den, chuck berry,some rock'n Doo Woop stuff 60's bookerT& MG's green onions tequila the champs and so much more better then what is on there
Thanks for this great stuff. Do you have anymore films/video from Irwindale? My dad and his racing partner raced B fuel dragster from 1965 - 1968 there, would love to find more info. If you don't have anything else from that era do you know where to look? Thanks!
The MUTE button works for me. I totally appreciate the video though. I never got to see a race there and I do occasionally drink a beer from the brewery that sits on that site today.
It never made a run, it had something go wrong on the starting line & they went back to the pits & they fired it up & it caught fire in the pits. I was standing about 30ft away when it it happened.
