Vintage Vehicle Events: Let the Good Times Roll

Some call it nostalgia racing, some call it vintage racing and some call it old-time racing, but whatever it’s called, old-time nostalgic vintage racing is the rage in the Southland this weekend.

For drag racing enthusiasts, the Goodguys West Coast Hot Rod Nationals will be conducted Saturday and Sunday at the Pomona Raceway drag strip on the L.A. County Fairgrounds.

For sports car buffs, the Tustin Thunder Road Races will be held today, Saturday and Sunday on the grounds of the Marine Corps Air Station in Tustin.

Curiously, the cutoff year, 1972, is the same for both events. Every vehicle that races, at both Pomona and Tustin, will be a 1972 model or earlier--the older the better.

The Goodguys have been racing vintage equipment for seven years, but this is the first time the group has appeared south of Bakersfield.

Front engine top fuel dragsters, something not seen in National Hot Rod Assn. competition in 24 years, will be the feature attraction, but they will be supported by fuel altereds, A/gas coupes and sedans, junior fuel injected dragsters, blown alcohol dragsters and altereds.

Also on the raceway grounds will be a hot rod and custom car show and a manufacturer’s midway with an automotive swap meet.

Pomona is one of six West Coast events.

“All those famous tracks of the ‘60s and ‘70s--Lions, Orange County, Irwindale, San Fernando and Carlsbad--have dried up and gone away and people who attended races back then miss them dearly,” said Jack Williams, a former NHRA top fuel champion from Bakersfield who is now racing director of the Goodguys. “This weekend’s event will resemble those great shows at places like Lions when hot rod roadsters filled the pits and dozens of front-engine top fuelers ran down the drag strip.

“It will be like being transformed in time.”

Racing, which will start at noon both days, will be held on the same drag strip where the NHRA conducts its Winternationals and season-ending Winston Select Finals.

At Tustin, nostalgia starts with the racing site. It was where the Sports Car Club of America held one of its first West Coast races June 25, 1950. It was won by Roy Richter in an Allard-Mercury with future Formula One champion Phil Hill second in a Jaguar. Six of the cars in that race will be on display at Tustin.

The site is better known for its twin giant hangers, among the largest structures in the world. Standing as high as an 18-story building and longer than three football fields, they are visible for miles.

Although the vintage cars are the show, some vintage drivers add spice to the racing program. Among them are George Follmer, the only driver to win Can-Am and Trans-Am championships in the same year; and Lee Mueller, three-time Daytona 24 Hour winner and longtime SCCA champion.

Follmer will drive in the feature race for Trans Am cars. He will be in a 1969 Mustang, an original Bud Moore Ford factory team car that he drove.

“I don’t know how hard some of those guys are going to run their equipment,” Follmer said. “Some of those cars are pretty valuable, but once guys get out on the track they press the button and get pretty racy.”

Mueller, known as Mother Mueller for his penchant for helping fellow drivers with on-track and off-track problems, will be making his first racing start since undergoing a heart transplant seven years ago. He will be in a yellow Porsche 911 that he restored after it had been all but destroyed in a fire.

More than 400 cars are expected for a series of races sanctioned by the Vintage Automobile Racing Assn.

Motor Racing Notes

STOCK CARS--Sportsman driver Mark Norris, who suffered two broken ankles, a broken back, broken nose and a torn retina in a fiery accident Sept. 5, 1992, at Cajon Speedway, will return to the wheel of a Chevrolet Lumina in a Grand American modified race Saturday night in the Winston Racing Series program at Cajon. Norris, also promoter of Yuma Speedway, drove in 440 consecutive super stock races between 1971 and 1988, when the class was dropped. He won 48 of them. . . . Street stocks, IMCA sprints and I-4 modifieds are scheduled for Saturday night at Ventura Raceway.

MOTORCYCLES--The summer season for speedway bikes and sidecars opens tonight at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa with Doug Domokos, the wheelie king, giving a demonstration. Saturday night the same speedway cast will be at Bakersfield Speedway. . . . Perris Auto Speedway has canceled its three remaining motorcycle dates.

SPRINT CARS--Rip Williams became the first Sprint Car Racing Assn. driver to win five races this season with his win last Saturday night at Santa Maria. The Yorba Linda veteran will try for No. 6 this Saturday night at Perris Auto Speedway, where he has already won twice. Also canceled is an AMA half-mile Grand National at Pomona Fairplex on Oct. 5.

INDY CARS--Jim Hall, owner of the Pennzoil team, announced that he is retiring at the end of the season.