Before the arrangements to run on Airport #2 in the south end of the Salt
Lake valley, there were some Sunday drag races run on the road between Lehi
and Cedar Fort (that road sloped downhill) and on Redwood Road in Salt Lake
City north of 11th North. The police would block off the road and after
about ten pairs of cars had run there would be a delay for whatever traffic
had backed up to pull on through. This would have to be in 1950 and 1951.
I have a few photos taken at events held at both places. Some taken at the
Redwood road site were shot with a borrowed, huge, military surplus lens on
the front of a 4 X 5 press camera.
When Airport #2 was opened for the races it was in the middle of rolling
farm lands. It has been used as a military training airfield during WWII
but was only used for touch and go landings by pilots who were flying out of
the main Salt Lake airport. There were roadsters, coupes, an occasional
midget or dirt track car and many coupes. No one would have been so uncool
as to run a four door car. They later ran road races on that field until
around 1964. Now it is a busy, full service military support base and is
surrounded with homes, right up to the fence lines.
Several early Bonneville racers also ran at that venue including Mary West.
In 1953 she had words with her then husband, Don when she turned a faster
1/4 mile time than he did. He was tuning the flathead Ford for Speedweek
and only needed to change the gears in the quick change after tuning runs at
the drags. He was being careful to save the best for the salt ... Mary
didn't see it that way. Today she is Secretary for Save the Salt.
Wes
on 11/24/03 1:12 PM, John Szalay at john.szalay@att.net wrote:
> At 08:44 AM 11/23/03 -0800, you wrote:
>> Rich,
>> My dad took me to Santa Anna in June or July of '49 for my birthday.
>> Spectators, must have been several hundred, could go anywhere.
>
>
> Started going to the drags with my cousin in 1958 at the old
> Kahuku airstrip in Hawaii, back before they opened the Campbell
> race course.
> he ran a 32 coupe with a Hilborn injected
> flathead.
> body & rollcage with no floorpan at all. so weird to see the
> runway below and have gravel bounce up into the car.
> damn we were stupid then, had a lot of fun, but dumb..
>
> Used to watch Roland Leong, before he took his
> cars to the mainland to race.
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