What's sad about Lions is that the track,i.e. the racing surface is still there. It's just covered up with Navy junk and shit. Just like the "temporary Navy housing" whose temporary residents were the ones who complained. Should have put the housing projects and the assholes in it on a ship, towed it out to sea and torpedoed it!!!!!
I made my first trip to Lions in March of 1963. The Greek was making an appearance that day (a cold & windy early Spring day). Top fuel cars were still using the old "weed-killer" exhaust headers (twice as loud as Zoomie headers which first appeared the following year ~ 1964). Karamesines ran a best, that day, of 8:20 @ 193 miles per hour AND this kid (who was 15 at the time) was hooked forever on drag racing. Only being drafted (Vietnam) in 1969 pulled me away from living at SoCal strips.
At 0:59 you have the Ramchargers. These guys (all Chrysler employees) operated several factory platform testbeds during the middle 1960's including a Top Fuel car. The importance of the Ramchargers was related directly to the 426 Elephant Motor. I remember, during the middle of 1969, when The Fighting Irish made the switch from the 392 block to the 426 motor. It was the tech support from the Ramchargers that allowed Tim Beebe to wrench that car to the #1 top fuel car by the '69 Nationals.
At 2:56 you've got the Mongoose driving the SoCal Plymouth Dealer's Hemi Cuda. I was at Lions (end of '64?) when McKuen took the ride of his life in the original Hemi Cuda. The original car had a frontend that sat very high and they said it was the negative air pressure that got under the front that launched the Mongoose. The car was near the top end @ about 180 when it got nose to the air and flipped completely upside down. Fortunately Tom walked away and they build a new & improved Cuda.
The first photo is not 1955 because there are newer cars there. The '60 Impala convertible seems to be the newest car. I think the car in the low center might be a '61 Buick... Looks like a '60 Buick at the far right. Maybe they're prototypes.
I stand corrected. Would you accept a little artistic license and consider the pic representative of the early days...haha? P.S. Everything you read on the Internet is not true including the caption to that picture.
WOW, Thanks for this Vid. this was where I hung out when I was a teenager, and this sure brought back my favorite memories, It is gone but not forgotten,embeded in my heart and mind forever. Thanks for the memories
I grew up in Rancho Cucamonga/alta loma California in the late 70's. There was an old strip tower off of Foothill as you drove into Fontana, about 2 miles (?) before you got to Cherry. It was on the north side of foothill and you could still see the strip. Anyone know what that strip was?
This is really cool! This is one of two drag strips I would like to go to. I've been to the one in Commerce, Georgia and the one in Gainesville, Florida. The first drag race I ever attend was when I was station in Jacksonville and went to the 1981 Gatornationals.
kiss asses always get there way i grew up on lion's drag strip live in torrance ca for 30 plus yrs seen lion's go then orange county go because of piss ass cry baby men & woman and all those ass hole envioromentalist
I was in high school when they closed it i went there with my brother for many years and still to this day have very happy memories.! its was a very sad day to see that landmark close but like all thing the big babys that whine always get what they want. i guess we need to get use to it before long or hot rods will be out lawed.!
I just can not figure people out and why they do the tings they do. I was born too late, all I seem to do is eat, sleep, and think hot rods! The way it was back then is the way it should be today, those were real drag cars and real drag racers!
@MultiBarney1 We had this on Long Island ,NY a dragstrip in West hampton[the sticks] people moved in,bought land cheap and then once realstate prices started to climb,they all complained about the dragstrip.Having grown up in Oceanside Calif,I see the Carlsbad dragstrip closed,I went there with my dad in the early 1960's,it hit's home hard,they will be missed.
Nice memories of Lions. While in High School and Jr. College I spent practically every weekend there. In Jr. College I was a photo journalism major and so I had some sort of photographer's credentials that allowed me to sneek in and take photos from the tarmac right near the starting line. Loved those altereds, Anglia's and Willys.
I went to Loara HS in Anaheim and used to race my 63' plymouth at Lions on grudge night in 1964. I never won but I sure looked good. Those were the days!
@greymountain ~ I watched the Surfers (Mike Sirokin, Bob Skinner and Tom Jobe) for several years. These guys were folklore in 1960's drag racing although they didn't run 100%, just 98%! I overheard Skinner telling Ronnie Hampshire (one of the legendary Hamphsire brothers) at Lions Drag Strip (circa; 1966) that they tried running 100% but had to add in 2% methanol because the motor wouldn't idle on 100%. I was @ OCIR (12/67) when Mike Sirokin was killed driving Tony Water's top fuel car.
@naderchaser ~ The "Train" ran that 7.31 @ 200 MPH (and change) on July 15th, 1967 at the big PDA meet @ Lions. Nobody in AA/GD had run anywhere near that number (I can't remember exactly but the singles were several tenths slower than the FT. The Freight Train ran identical twin small block Chevys, each displacing 364 cubic inches (728 inches total) with GMC 6-71 blowers and the vertical Hilborn 4-hole injectors.
How many remember that the original Stone-Woods-Cook AA/GS was powered by an Oldsmobile? It was only later that they rolled over to the Chrysler. Anyone remember when they came out (in '67 I think) with their Mustang AA/GS? The driver (Doug "Cookie" Cook) was almost killed in a very bad crash in the Mustang. I remember July '67 when the "Freight Train" ran a 7.31 @ 200 MPH and that was when the AA/GD's were running near 8:00. The train would drive right around the Chrysler singles @ 1,000ft
@MrRonnieG Remember the Surfers, 100% nitro, blow the engine ! go back to the junk yard, find another 392, put some goodies in it, dump another 100% load into it, get another grand. I remember one time, semi final, put a rod thru the block, taped and hose clamped the engine, dumped 100% in it, push start rolled through the start line, blew the shit out of it thru the lites. Man, those were the days. then I got drafted and it was all over.
@MrRonnieG Yes, I remember all those you mentioned. The SWC Mustang didn't dominate like the Willys' did, as I remember. And the Great Freight Train.....I didn't realize that it was so much quicker than the rest by that amount of time. I do remembering that it had twin engines, didn't it?
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I had the pleasure to be crew member on the Fantasia Willys that Bill Henderson owned. Once we got it to go straight Fantasia took Fuel Altered eight weeks in a row against Pure Heaven, Wild Willie, Pure Hell and the other top altereds of the day.
@tikitrom With respect dude, how can what you say be true? Your profile shows you a 38yr. old, and Wild Willie has been gone longer than you would have been old enuf to be a crew member. Thanks Joel in Tucson
@naderchaser I noticed that too but then I remembered my sister often shaves 17 years off her age when she signs in to new places. Maybe tikitrom is a little vain...haha
Sorry everyone ~ Joe "The Jet" Jackson made a hard RIGHT turn towards the spectator side and drove into the light standard. It wasn't even his ride ~ he was trying to qualify someone else's car for the 8 car field that night when he was killed. Don't forget E.J. "The Michigan Madman" Potter's 327 fuel injected Chevy on nitro powered Triumph framed motorcycle! I saw Potter fall off that thing a couple of times too!
And who can forget C.J. Hart riding around on his little mini bike. Push starts followed by the rollers (they used a small block Chevy for those rollers), Wild Willie & his one-handed rides, the AA/GS cars with Shores & Hess, Kohler Bros, MGM, Stone-Wood-Cook (Willies & Mustang), Big John and visits by "Ohio" George. Dick Landy, Haden Profitt, Butch Leal and the Covair funnys including Seaton's Shaker and Doug Thorley's car. So many memories when they did it for love.
Remember too in '66 when 22 year old east coast driver Joe "The Jet" Jackson was killed when, trying to qualify on the tower side, he made a hard left turn about400 feet out. The car hit one of the light standards, right in front of me, and crumbled. Jackson was killed instantly. I saw McEwen's upside down/backwards ride in the original Plymouth Dealer's Association "Hemi Cuda." The names...
John Mulligan, Dave Beebee, the Hampshire brothers, the Goose, the Snake, Jungle Jim, etc, etc.
I LIVED @ Lions from 1964 until I was drafted in 1969 ~ it was my 2nd home. I loved that place so much and everything about it. I remember that outstanding PDA meet in July '67 when the Freight Train ran 7.31 and blew everyone in AA/GD away. My favorite car? The Goose driving Baney's Yeakel Plymouth Special. Bought me a Mongoose T-shirt in late '64 and remember Baney's decision to run a new Scott bug-catcher injector against a Snake match-race; it cost us all 3 races that night.
For old-timers who liked A/GS elim in the old days in So-Cal, please note that a very similar class now exists in the U.K. Search under the terms Outlaw Anglias and Santa Pod, the name of the chief drag strip in Europe. We also have something a little like Pro Comp, called Supercharged Outlaws. (Do not get confused with the Australian class, which is not a proper heads-up class.) Greetings to drag fans everywhere!
to Bullitss, I will try to get a translation of your Russian remark so that everyone can read your interesting view. I am surprised you like Lions! I guess in Russia there is only wiggly track 'racing', the best-known but worst form.
a.howes700 I went to Lions twice in 1969 as a 21-year-old student from the UK, already a great drag fan. C.J. Hart let me inside the control room. Saw Top Fuel and Funny Cars. Also went to OCIR twice and the Indy Nationals, where The Zookeeper was killed. Met James Warren, Garlits, Kelly Brown , Larry Dixon (and 3-year-old son) and Bob Howard. If US fans would like to know about Euro drags search "eorodragster" and "Santa Pod". N.B. We have nostalgia Fuel Altereds in Europe too--see "NFAA"
LIONS 1959 was the first strip I ever ran on and once you run the best all others are just tracks. I drove for US Speed and Sports and also Latham Flying "A" altered car on Santa Fe Long Beach, CA till 1963
My dad raced there in the early 60's in a dragster made from a Sears swingset and Hudson flat head. It never went straight and at the end of the track they had to hammer the king pins back in! We lived close by and when I went to bed, I went to sleep hearing the roar of the track
Great story.....You should write a short story and submit it to Atalantic Monthly...or the New Yorker (The snobs need to be humanized) I am not being sarcastic. there really is great short story there. Hells Bells! I sense a novel!
COOL!! my neighbor used to drag there. He had a yellow 56 Ford p/u with a stock 5 something Cadillac engine. Also was the mechanic for a 68 Barracuda "flower power" belonged to a Ernie Nichalson. Had a hemi and ran mid 8's off the trailer on pump gas. I was just too young to go with him... :(
hehe i was there all the time ,was there when Don Garlts blew his trans march 1970 my mom knew C.J.Heart i got lots of yellow passes!! there will never be a other LIONS!! RIP
I too grew up close to Lions Could hear the drag racing my dad would take us boys to the track and we would park about 1/3 the way down and just lean on the parked cars or sit in lawn chairsthey and do that today!,DOES anyone remmber the starting line guy who was in control of the lights he would run the lights with one hand and play with "clackers" with the hand, they sold those things at the track,such memories, i used to have a piece of the starting line they dug it up with a pic ax last race
I went there with my dad so many times..Harry Holton..the flying dutchman..gold finger...garlets blew up and lost half his foot when we were leaving the pits...kinda like fremont dragstrip...sad....
My memories of Lions were of a kid living in Compton who could here the racing going on at night(I think it's one reason they closed it because of the noise) I can remember going down Alameda and my dad pointing out Lions and getting excited. I never got to go in. I remember the last race and the kids at school wearing their t-shirts commemorating the event. I think some of the shirts had to do with the final race between "The Snake" and "The Mongoose" (Tom McEwen and Don Prudhomme) Hot Wheels
We parked the car got out and could smell the combination of ocean air and hotdogs. Entered the isle and could see the Yellow and Blue Lions Dragstrip Sign and the black track lit with bright lights. There is again a sweet blend of gasoline and thick tire smoke as the high pitch sound of headers came out of 41 Willys A/GS Big John and the 33 coupe of Ks Pittman as they made burn outs. Wow those were the days.
LIONS DRAGSTRIP... memories from 7 yr.s to 19 yr.s old
My dad (Noel Temple) built flathead engines during the 1950's and 1960's in Lomita, California. He had drivers who raced at Lions. Gone are the good olde days..(And my dad's gone too.) R.I.P. DAD (AKA: "TEMPLE MCFLATHEAD")
I lived across the fwy from the entrance to Lions. My brother and I would walk over and have a great day watching the cars and dreaming. Where have all the good times gone?
Yes it was. We didn't have too much to worry about other than getting our butts drafted and sent to 'Nam. It is a shame life has become so tough and frigg'n expensive ! Racing was fun and not too costly back then - even for the Pro's. Now, it's off the charts for we "Joe tha Plumber" type folks.
I loved Lion's! I spent many Wednesday nights and Saturdays there in the early to late 60's. We need another local strip like that NOW in So Cal.
carlvirden 1 month ago
This is wonderful
TL250Rider 4 months ago
What's sad about Lions is that the track,i.e. the racing surface is still there. It's just covered up with Navy junk and shit. Just like the "temporary Navy housing" whose temporary residents were the ones who complained. Should have put the housing projects and the assholes in it on a ship, towed it out to sea and torpedoed it!!!!!
lophatmike 7 months ago
I made my first trip to Lions in March of 1963. The Greek was making an appearance that day (a cold & windy early Spring day). Top fuel cars were still using the old "weed-killer" exhaust headers (twice as loud as Zoomie headers which first appeared the following year ~ 1964). Karamesines ran a best, that day, of 8:20 @ 193 miles per hour AND this kid (who was 15 at the time) was hooked forever on drag racing. Only being drafted (Vietnam) in 1969 pulled me away from living at SoCal strips.
MrRonnieG 7 months ago
At 0:59 you have the Ramchargers. These guys (all Chrysler employees) operated several factory platform testbeds during the middle 1960's including a Top Fuel car. The importance of the Ramchargers was related directly to the 426 Elephant Motor. I remember, during the middle of 1969, when The Fighting Irish made the switch from the 392 block to the 426 motor. It was the tech support from the Ramchargers that allowed Tim Beebe to wrench that car to the #1 top fuel car by the '69 Nationals.
MrRonnieG 7 months ago
At 2:56 you've got the Mongoose driving the SoCal Plymouth Dealer's Hemi Cuda. I was at Lions (end of '64?) when McKuen took the ride of his life in the original Hemi Cuda. The original car had a frontend that sat very high and they said it was the negative air pressure that got under the front that launched the Mongoose. The car was near the top end @ about 180 when it got nose to the air and flipped completely upside down. Fortunately Tom walked away and they build a new & improved Cuda.
MrRonnieG 8 months ago
The first photo is not 1955 because there are newer cars there. The '60 Impala convertible seems to be the newest car. I think the car in the low center might be a '61 Buick... Looks like a '60 Buick at the far right. Maybe they're prototypes.
lobelifter 9 months ago
@lobelifter
I stand corrected. Would you accept a little artistic license and consider the pic representative of the early days...haha? P.S. Everything you read on the Internet is not true including the caption to that picture.
jerrymiles 9 months ago
WOW, Thanks for this Vid. this was where I hung out when I was a teenager, and this sure brought back my favorite memories, It is gone but not forgotten,embeded in my heart and mind forever. Thanks for the memories
RandyJL57 10 months ago
The" World`s Finest Drag Strip" . The golden age of drag racing. Lucky to have been a part of it !
larrym367 11 months ago
same thing happend to tampa dragway years ago suks
srayoz 11 months ago
Hey maybe someone can help me with this question:
I grew up in Rancho Cucamonga/alta loma California in the late 70's. There was an old strip tower off of Foothill as you drove into Fontana, about 2 miles (?) before you got to Cherry. It was on the north side of foothill and you could still see the strip. Anyone know what that strip was?
samsoninthepit 1 year ago
@samsoninthepit lol I just googled it, it was Fontana drag strip.
samsoninthepit 1 year ago
This is really cool! This is one of two drag strips I would like to go to. I've been to the one in Commerce, Georgia and the one in Gainesville, Florida. The first drag race I ever attend was when I was station in Jacksonville and went to the 1981 Gatornationals.
streetrace442 1 year ago
kiss asses always get there way i grew up on lion's drag strip live in torrance ca for 30 plus yrs seen lion's go then orange county go because of piss ass cry baby men & woman and all those ass hole envioromentalist
67coronetman 1 year ago
@67coronetman amen man, you hit the nail on the head.
moparmenace59 1 year ago
I was in high school when they closed it i went there with my brother for many years and still to this day have very happy memories.! its was a very sad day to see that landmark close but like all thing the big babys that whine always get what they want. i guess we need to get use to it before long or hot rods will be out lawed.!
67coronetman 1 year ago
@67coronetman You know the whiners always get there way why do they always move by drag strips and airports and then bitch about it ?
cslan4 1 year ago
The left coast had Lions. We had Niagara. Two legendary tracks gone
mrgears 1 year ago
I just can not figure people out and why they do the tings they do. I was born too late, all I seem to do is eat, sleep, and think hot rods! The way it was back then is the way it should be today, those were real drag cars and real drag racers!
MultiBarney1 1 year ago 2
People build close to a drag strip and complain about the noise?! I do not even have to comment any more.... "It speaks for it's self."
MultiBarney1 1 year ago 6
@MultiBarney1
Then those same people moved under the airport's flight path...haha
jerrymiles 1 year ago 4
@MultiBarney1 We had this on Long Island ,NY a dragstrip in West hampton[the sticks] people moved in,bought land cheap and then once realstate prices started to climb,they all complained about the dragstrip.Having grown up in Oceanside Calif,I see the Carlsbad dragstrip closed,I went there with my dad in the early 1960's,it hit's home hard,they will be missed.
inagod 10 months ago
Nice memories of Lions. While in High School and Jr. College I spent practically every weekend there. In Jr. College I was a photo journalism major and so I had some sort of photographer's credentials that allowed me to sneek in and take photos from the tarmac right near the starting line. Loved those altereds, Anglia's and Willys.
danf321 1 year ago
the city of long beach wanted it back to put wharehouses etc etc.to make more money.no track in its day had better traction....period!!
dennisusetorace 1 year ago
why did they close this track
jay89allday 1 year ago
@jay89allday
Per the Wikipedia, "As the area surrounding the track increased in population, complaints regarding noise were made to government officials."
jerrymiles 1 year ago
I went to Loara HS in Anaheim and used to race my 63' plymouth at Lions on grudge night in 1964. I never won but I sure looked good. Those were the days!
catwallop 1 year ago
@greymountain ~ I watched the Surfers (Mike Sirokin, Bob Skinner and Tom Jobe) for several years. These guys were folklore in 1960's drag racing although they didn't run 100%, just 98%! I overheard Skinner telling Ronnie Hampshire (one of the legendary Hamphsire brothers) at Lions Drag Strip (circa; 1966) that they tried running 100% but had to add in 2% methanol because the motor wouldn't idle on 100%. I was @ OCIR (12/67) when Mike Sirokin was killed driving Tony Water's top fuel car.
MrRonnieG 1 year ago
@naderchaser ~ The "Train" ran that 7.31 @ 200 MPH (and change) on July 15th, 1967 at the big PDA meet @ Lions. Nobody in AA/GD had run anywhere near that number (I can't remember exactly but the singles were several tenths slower than the FT. The Freight Train ran identical twin small block Chevys, each displacing 364 cubic inches (728 inches total) with GMC 6-71 blowers and the vertical Hilborn 4-hole injectors.
MrRonnieG 1 year ago
How many remember that the original Stone-Woods-Cook AA/GS was powered by an Oldsmobile? It was only later that they rolled over to the Chrysler. Anyone remember when they came out (in '67 I think) with their Mustang AA/GS? The driver (Doug "Cookie" Cook) was almost killed in a very bad crash in the Mustang. I remember July '67 when the "Freight Train" ran a 7.31 @ 200 MPH and that was when the AA/GD's were running near 8:00. The train would drive right around the Chrysler singles @ 1,000ft
MrRonnieG 1 year ago
@MrRonnieG Remember the Surfers, 100% nitro, blow the engine ! go back to the junk yard, find another 392, put some goodies in it, dump another 100% load into it, get another grand. I remember one time, semi final, put a rod thru the block, taped and hose clamped the engine, dumped 100% in it, push start rolled through the start line, blew the shit out of it thru the lites. Man, those were the days. then I got drafted and it was all over.
greymountian 1 year ago
@MrRonnieG Yes, I remember all those you mentioned. The SWC Mustang didn't dominate like the Willys' did, as I remember. And the Great Freight Train.....I didn't realize that it was so much quicker than the rest by that amount of time. I do remembering that it had twin engines, didn't it?
naderchaser 1 year ago
Awesome stuff mate. :)
Preen59 1 year ago
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I had the pleasure to be crew member on the Fantasia Willys that Bill Henderson owned. Once we got it to go straight Fantasia took Fuel Altered eight weeks in a row against Pure Heaven, Wild Willie, Pure Hell and the other top altereds of the day.
tikitrom 1 year ago
@tikitrom With respect dude, how can what you say be true? Your profile shows you a 38yr. old, and Wild Willie has been gone longer than you would have been old enuf to be a crew member. Thanks Joel in Tucson
naderchaser 1 year ago
@naderchaser I noticed that too but then I remembered my sister often shaves 17 years off her age when she signs in to new places. Maybe tikitrom is a little vain...haha
jerrymiles 1 year ago
Thanks for the memories.
minegoesto11 1 year ago
check out Lions Dragstrip on facebook & become a fan!
buffalocreek51 1 year ago
Sorry everyone ~ Joe "The Jet" Jackson made a hard RIGHT turn towards the spectator side and drove into the light standard. It wasn't even his ride ~ he was trying to qualify someone else's car for the 8 car field that night when he was killed. Don't forget E.J. "The Michigan Madman" Potter's 327 fuel injected Chevy on nitro powered Triumph framed motorcycle! I saw Potter fall off that thing a couple of times too!
MrRonnieG 2 years ago
And who can forget C.J. Hart riding around on his little mini bike. Push starts followed by the rollers (they used a small block Chevy for those rollers), Wild Willie & his one-handed rides, the AA/GS cars with Shores & Hess, Kohler Bros, MGM, Stone-Wood-Cook (Willies & Mustang), Big John and visits by "Ohio" George. Dick Landy, Haden Profitt, Butch Leal and the Covair funnys including Seaton's Shaker and Doug Thorley's car. So many memories when they did it for love.
MrRonnieG 2 years ago
Remember too in '66 when 22 year old east coast driver Joe "The Jet" Jackson was killed when, trying to qualify on the tower side, he made a hard left turn about400 feet out. The car hit one of the light standards, right in front of me, and crumbled. Jackson was killed instantly. I saw McEwen's upside down/backwards ride in the original Plymouth Dealer's Association "Hemi Cuda." The names...
John Mulligan, Dave Beebee, the Hampshire brothers, the Goose, the Snake, Jungle Jim, etc, etc.
MrRonnieG 2 years ago
I LIVED @ Lions from 1964 until I was drafted in 1969 ~ it was my 2nd home. I loved that place so much and everything about it. I remember that outstanding PDA meet in July '67 when the Freight Train ran 7.31 and blew everyone in AA/GD away. My favorite car? The Goose driving Baney's Yeakel Plymouth Special. Bought me a Mongoose T-shirt in late '64 and remember Baney's decision to run a new Scott bug-catcher injector against a Snake match-race; it cost us all 3 races that night.
MrRonnieG 2 years ago
Comment removed
392g 2 years ago
You sure show alot of dodges
chevboy119 2 years ago
Ha! A Chevy Guy picked most of the pictures. I drove a Ford.
jerrymiles 2 years ago
For old-timers who liked A/GS elim in the old days in So-Cal, please note that a very similar class now exists in the U.K. Search under the terms Outlaw Anglias and Santa Pod, the name of the chief drag strip in Europe. We also have something a little like Pro Comp, called Supercharged Outlaws. (Do not get confused with the Australian class, which is not a proper heads-up class.) Greetings to drag fans everywhere!
ahowes100 2 years ago
to Bullitss, I will try to get a translation of your Russian remark so that everyone can read your interesting view. I am surprised you like Lions! I guess in Russia there is only wiggly track 'racing', the best-known but worst form.
ahowes100 2 years ago
Хорошо в Америке,а у нас можно посмотреть только нелегальные гонки ,чемпионат или кубки областей.
BULLITSS 2 years ago
Per Google Translate
Well in America, and we can see only the illegal races, championship cups, or areas.
jerrymiles 2 years ago
@jerrymiles In Russia dragstrip owns you!
gaschevy 1 year ago
a.howes700 I went to Lions twice in 1969 as a 21-year-old student from the UK, already a great drag fan. C.J. Hart let me inside the control room. Saw Top Fuel and Funny Cars. Also went to OCIR twice and the Indy Nationals, where The Zookeeper was killed. Met James Warren, Garlits, Kelly Brown , Larry Dixon (and 3-year-old son) and Bob Howard. If US fans would like to know about Euro drags search "eorodragster" and "Santa Pod". N.B. We have nostalgia Fuel Altereds in Europe too--see "NFAA"
ahowes100 2 years ago
Brings back memories.
sw9mm1 2 years ago
LIONS 1959 was the first strip I ever ran on and once you run the best all others are just tracks. I drove for US Speed and Sports and also Latham Flying "A" altered car on Santa Fe Long Beach, CA till 1963
budssupere 2 years ago
My dad raced there in the early 60's in a dragster made from a Sears swingset and Hudson flat head. It never went straight and at the end of the track they had to hammer the king pins back in! We lived close by and when I went to bed, I went to sleep hearing the roar of the track
charlitunaman2002 2 years ago
Great story.....You should write a short story and submit it to Atalantic Monthly...or the New Yorker (The snobs need to be humanized) I am not being sarcastic. there really is great short story there. Hells Bells! I sense a novel!
ghahandi 2 years ago
DId you get my comment? I am serious! This is Americana at it's peak~
ghahandi 2 years ago
Tell YouTube. I don't like it either.
jerrymiles 2 years ago
Damn put back Booker T and the MG's for crying out loud.
1pollo1rabbit 2 years ago
I'd love to do just that. But YouTube will not allow it.
jerrymiles 2 years ago
Wheres the video?
If I want bad music I'll turn on the freekin radio...
carlosmurphy4u1 2 years ago
any idea who the tunes by?
eatmycomments 2 years ago
I had a copyright violation so I had to remove what I had and replace it with a tune provided by YouTube.
jerrymiles 2 years ago
COOL!! my neighbor used to drag there. He had a yellow 56 Ford p/u with a stock 5 something Cadillac engine. Also was the mechanic for a 68 Barracuda "flower power" belonged to a Ernie Nichalson. Had a hemi and ran mid 8's off the trailer on pump gas. I was just too young to go with him... :(
HongKongFooy1 2 years ago
man we need to bring back drag racing in long beach this would be cool
isaiah213 2 years ago
hehe i was there all the time ,was there when Don Garlts blew his trans march 1970 my mom knew C.J.Heart i got lots of yellow passes!! there will never be a other LIONS!! RIP
LIONSDRAG 2 years ago
I was at the Jr. High on the other side of the railroad tracks. My friends and I would hear the race cars and ditch after lunch to see them race.
mcsew2k 2 years ago
End of an era, end of a legacy.......
JCImageInk 2 years ago
Thanks for this, it brought back a lot of memories. Ken Lowe.
KenLoweTopGo 3 years ago
Just one part of Mickey Thompson's legacy.
ThomasDeLello 3 years ago
I too grew up close to Lions Could hear the drag racing my dad would take us boys to the track and we would park about 1/3 the way down and just lean on the parked cars or sit in lawn chairsthey and do that today!,DOES anyone remmber the starting line guy who was in control of the lights he would run the lights with one hand and play with "clackers" with the hand, they sold those things at the track,such memories, i used to have a piece of the starting line they dug it up with a pic ax last race
whoasurf 3 years ago
I went there with my dad so many times..Harry Holton..the flying dutchman..gold finger...garlets blew up and lost half his foot when we were leaving the pits...kinda like fremont dragstrip...sad....
ClintLickler 3 years ago 3
My memories of Lions were of a kid living in Compton who could here the racing going on at night(I think it's one reason they closed it because of the noise) I can remember going down Alameda and my dad pointing out Lions and getting excited. I never got to go in. I remember the last race and the kids at school wearing their t-shirts commemorating the event. I think some of the shirts had to do with the final race between "The Snake" and "The Mongoose" (Tom McEwen and Don Prudhomme) Hot Wheels
hammerofuglytruth 3 years ago
We parked the car got out and could smell the combination of ocean air and hotdogs. Entered the isle and could see the Yellow and Blue Lions Dragstrip Sign and the black track lit with bright lights. There is again a sweet blend of gasoline and thick tire smoke as the high pitch sound of headers came out of 41 Willys A/GS Big John and the 33 coupe of Ks Pittman as they made burn outs. Wow those were the days.
LIONS DRAGSTRIP... memories from 7 yr.s to 19 yr.s old
Thanks for the great Video
RIKSSOUNDS 3 years ago
As if we don't have enough of that crap in Cali. :-(
worthyprofile 3 years ago
What's there now? Wait let me guess, strip mall, carniceria or a 99 cent store? How depressing.
worthyprofile 3 years ago
Lion's is now a container depot serving the ports.
mcsew2k 2 years ago
hehe i lived at that place as a kid!!! my mom knew C.J. Heart!!!
LIONSDRAG 3 years ago
Beautiful man..........thanks for sharing it.
lolahavasuaz 3 years ago
don't pan across a modern painting of gassers!!!
goosegog 3 years ago
Thanks for posting this! First drags I ever saw was at Lions in 1967... (seen a lot since then!)
randy95023 3 years ago
Doug Cookie Cook a fierce competitor too bad he broke both arms in a Willys crash.
spacepatrolman 4 years ago
Thanks, sure brings back some great memories.
wildhemi 4 years ago
nice vid. loved it.
hondaforlife142 4 years ago
My dad (Noel Temple) built flathead engines during the 1950's and 1960's in Lomita, California. He had drivers who raced at Lions. Gone are the good olde days..(And my dad's gone too.) R.I.P. DAD (AKA: "TEMPLE MCFLATHEAD")
072740 4 years ago
You had a cool dad...
FLATHEADS FOREVER!!!
55racer 3 years ago
223 & ALMEDA ED GOOD ONE!!!!
captaineddies 4 years ago
I lived across the fwy from the entrance to Lions. My brother and I would walk over and have a great day watching the cars and dreaming. Where have all the good times gone?
tommytown95 4 years ago
What the "HELL" has happen to America!!!
To many regulations and restrictions!!!
This was when life was "FREE" and "FUN"!!!
Thanks for the memories!!!
tatersgravy 4 years ago 2
Yes it was. We didn't have too much to worry about other than getting our butts drafted and sent to 'Nam. It is a shame life has become so tough and frigg'n expensive ! Racing was fun and not too costly back then - even for the Pro's. Now, it's off the charts for we "Joe tha Plumber" type folks.
quickdeuce 2 years ago 4
Great video...ya nailed it! :)
35 years ago last weekend (12/1 & 12/2) was LIONS' Last Drag Race....
55racer 4 years ago
What a bitchin' video, and the music is right on.
nixjag1 4 years ago
Nice Job..Great Memories Indeed.
murphy91 4 years ago
Memories! I went there ALOT as a kid. didnt realize how it'd be missed!
dtcheatham 4 years ago
i was there it was great now they have rice grinders!
LIONSDRAG 4 years ago
Another very popular L.A. area drag strip closed because of land values. Gee, I wonder why kids race on the streets?
mikethespaz 4 years ago
incredilble vidoe very very very good awesone
raymuraro 5 years ago