OCIR story...

[Fastbrit]

http://www.nhra.com/insidedragster.asp



Saw the above link on the UAF and unashamedly had to post it here! Amazing stories on the old OCIR and other lost drag strips... Enjoy.

[team97]

I spent many weekends at OCIR with my dad racing his A/FC, then weeknights bracket racing anything we could get our hands on and later on at the bug ins. The American Rikshaw was owned by one of my high school classmates dad (Ron Williams). Ron Jr ran an updated version of the Rikshaw and now owns a little funny car / top fuel chassis shop called "Victory Race Cars" They were the sole supplier to John Force and Del Worsham (another high school compadre) for a long time. Anyhow like Lions and Irwindale big business won!

Glenn

[Sarge]

Thanks for the link, Keith... some good memories for me there, too.  Glenn, Victory Race Cars...  I've been trying to run down an old friend (Jeff Kawaguchi) who did some lettering and art work on an A/Street Roadster that ran/runs out of that shop.  Ever meet him?  I remember Jeff as an amazing artist.  What looked like ordinary vinyl racing decals were actually hand painted.  Jeff was also a HUGE VW fan and had a custom Candy Red bug before anybody ever thought about building such a car (actually, there was Mike LaMier's black custom back then, too).  My memory is not so good as this was late '60's early '70's  .  Would be very cool to hear Jeff's story.

[speedwell]

i never saw the ocir dragstrip because i live in belgium , but for me it's my favorite dragstrip

[Dave Rosique]

OCIR was a great track... It's the track where I made my first and last pass (with many in between). As a child I grew up at Lions watching my Dad race, but OCIR is where I had the most fun with my own car. Bug-In, Drag Day, sleeping in my bug, racing with a hangover... all this and so much more

The original Irwindale Raceway was a blast too! I still remember Wednesday night grudge racing... lots of fun during the week.

~DR.

[Dave Rosique]

i never saw the ocir dragstrip because i live in belgium , but for me it's my favorite dragstrip

Fabs,

Next time your over this way we'll have to give you the tour of the now closed So. Cal. drag strips. Lets see, we have Lions (ocean container parking), OCIR (business park), Irwindale (rock quarry), LA county (another quarry), Carlsbad (not sure) and Brotherhood (railway).

~DR.

[Fastbrit]

Carlsbad = business park...

[javabug]

Carlsbad = business park...

True.  Over the summer I was searching around on http://maps.live.com/ and was able to find the Carlsbad site, and checking against an old aerial photo of the track, figure out how it laid across the new landscape that is there.  (check out the Birds Eye View feature)

I tend to do that some days at work (when its slow, of course!) and have located a few of the abandoned tracks out here, as well.

[Dave Galassi .]

i never saw the ocir dragstrip because i live in belgium , but for me it's my favorite dragstrip

Fabs,

Next time your over this way we'll have to give you the tour of the now closed So. Cal. drag strips. Lets see, we have Lions (ocean container parking), OCIR (business park), Irwindale (rock quarry), LA county (another quarry), Carlsbad (not sure) and Brotherhood (railway).

~DR.

Hey Dave, I believe that the old Irwindale Raceway is now the Miller Brewery.  My office is right across the street, where the old go kart track was.
It was a great place.  Don't forget San Gabriel, Santa Ana and Fontana (the original).  Drag on!

P.S.  Have you seen the Lions Drag Strip History DVD?  Killer, a must see for any fan.

[Dave Rosique]

Dave G,

Thanks for the tip on the Lions DVD!
Bummer about all the closed tracks... I guess time marches on.
I think you're right about the Miller brewery.

~DR.