Please...old timers, give us some really hard core Nabisco street racing storys!

[SOB/RFH]

I see they are tearing up the Nabisco factory and it was closed some time ago. I remeber cruising by it in Mark Herberts Buick T-top....sort of flashed by and on we went but I am curios on what happend over the years it was "the very local raceway".
So please fill in with NA cars beating V8's and the 4 cylinder turbo terrors of the 80's!!!

[Bill Schwimmer]

I raced there 2 times in my' 55  in about '87. My "street car" was basically a b/mc  with a muffler & license plates. 78x90.5,Fumio 42x37.5 heads FK89 13:1 comp, 4:86 r&p real BRMs ect. The 1st time I raced was against a '67 bug that had gone 11:70's with a stinger @ Carlsbad. We raced heads up & he gave me the move , because I had a muffler & cooling tin .It was for $100. We lined up & left & it was wheelstand city all over the place for both cars. The spectators said we were both all over the place. I never even paid attention to where the other guy was I was just trying to get my car straight. It was going ok the top of 2nd & I put it in 3rd & hit something slick & I was sideways for a really long time thru 3rd. I really thought I was in trouble & thought I  was going to crash,but it never dug in the tire. If it did I would have been on my head for sure...I plugged it in 4th & got it straight & crossed the finish line.I never saw the other guy till the very end & it was so close we did'nt know who won until we got back to the spectators to find out. I won that one..
  The other time I was racing a guy named Vince Harry he was Jack Sacchete's crew chief @ the time, He was riding some Yamaha superbike  & I knew nothing about motorcycles. He gave me 6 cars out & the move,So I  figured he would have to run in the 10's to beat me .Vince weighed about 300 lbs so I figured this wasn't going to happen. We lined them up & left & it was in the winter @ night & my car would go about 9300 rpm thru the gears & was really flying.I pulled it into 4th & there he was right next to me & he went right around me like I was parked. I think that was for $100 or $200 that time.

    Vince died in '92 while street racing his 9 sec turbo beetle. Street racing was pretty much how he made a living.

     Its fun to talk about the old days, but I would'nt want to relive them...    Bill

[Rick Meredith]

Hey Bill, were you there the night after one of the rallies where Mike Martinez ran his black chop top against some guy in a buggy? I remember a bunch of of us hanging out then the cops came and everyone scattered.

Rick

[SOB/RFH]

Wow!! That's great Bill!!!! Inspireing and enterteining!! Racing can be dangerous....but ohhh so fun!! Was it Vince that got hit by a V8 car and later shown on TV? I remeber a racer over here in sweden telling me that story and also how the scene got attracted by criminal elements with guns! Scary!! Must have been around that time.

Rick. Martinezes top chop is a favorite of all time. Let's here the story. Don't keep us out. Guess all "The Head Shop" guys were in to street racing?  I have heard the story of the Super beetle vs the Berg car

Anyone else to fill in on the glory days!

[Lee.C]

AWSOME story Bill and at 9300 it must have sounded AMAZING

[Rick Meredith]

I was hoping to get Bill to fill in as my memory was beer adled plus I was more focused on the cutie I was trying to hook up with! 

 

[Bill Schwimmer]

I don't think I was out there that night Rick. I do remember being out on La Palma ave after 1 of our DKK rallies.There was about 200 cars being led by Ron Lesnick in his orange super beetle.He was slicked down & that thing was way fast.It left a lasting impression.  Cops came a few minutes later before anything went down.  Who would have thought we would be talking about all of this stuff to a bunch of Europeans on a computer 25 years later....

[Rick Meredith]

I don't think I was out there that night Rick. I do remember being out on La Palma ave after 1 of our DKK rallies.There was about 200 cars being led by Ron Lesnick in his orange super beetle.He was slicked down & that thing was way fast.It left a lasting impression.  Cops came a few minutes later before anything went down.

I remember that... spolied all our fun!

Who would have thought we would be talking about all of this stuff to a bunch of Europeans on a computer 25 years later....

I know... if thought it would have been important... I woulda taken notes! 

[Rick Meredith]

OK since Bill can't help me, here's what little I remember. We cruised up to Nabisco after a rally, Must have been a couple hundred of us. I remember Mike Martinez making a run against a buggy and all of a sudden, here come the flashing lights. We all scramble and start taking off. The only problem was that there was only one way in and out and of course the cops had it blocked. There was too many of us so they just talked to us and let us go.

[SOB/RFH]

Ron Lesnicks Super Beetle.....remeber the feature in Hot VW and how it really never told the true story and then over the years it came to my knowledge how fast it really was!!

But what about the Turbo cars of the late 80's....I guess they left some memories and good stories too.......

Back on the old CLF I remeber this guy who had a Dune Buggie and the name of the topic was: The day I meat Horspower.....He was racing Kris Klingaman with his Buggie whitout knowing it and it was well written couse it was as if one was present.....anyway, he got the bump and shifted untill he heard this enormouse roar comming from Kris IDA:s and he missed third being nervous......

Nabisco must have been a cool place......and I am suprising you, 25 years later Cheers!!

[Sarge]

My memory of Nabisco invoved racing my neighbor's Dodge Super Bee in my 63 sedan (1835cc, 48IDA's, Engle 125, close ratios/4:37).  We raced for $20...a lot of money way back when!  I lost by a fender but I was with Ron Fleming at the time along with Doug and Whit Haydon.  The Haydons set up another race for double or nothing between my neighbor and Whit Haydon's car which was across town in their shop.  We all caravaned over to the Haydon's shop on Fender St.  What my neighbor failed to realize was how fast and how much more HP Whit's car had...it was simply another VW to squash.  When Whit backed his car out of the shop with a stinger on the exhaust, my neighbor wouldn't race until he un-corked his headers, too.  Well, you guessed it...Whit smoked the guy bad!  Then we all had to bail quick into the Haydon's shop to avoid the cops which showed up immedietly...go figure! 

[Rocket-Racing]

Cool.. I can only imagine it..
A cal-look VW and a beast like this side by side. The sounds of the hot stinger equipped flat four and a tuned 440 six-pack..
The roar as they floor their pedals and the VW coming first out of the cloud of smoke and winning the race..
One thing's for sure; I wish I was there!
Keep the stories coming guys!

[Rick Meredith]

I never knew that Doug & Whit Haydon were into VWs. They used to be my customers when I worked at BAP/Geon on St College. My '67 was always parked there... you'd think they would have said something.

[Sarge]

Ah, those uppity DKP guys...go figure!!   Both those guys had nice, fast cars...Doug: 1967 lotus white sedan later painted "Vicks Bottle Blue" with 5 spoke American's (Lazenby)  Whit:  Sepia Brown 56 sedan.  When it came time to race, those cats were always the first to jump...if they lost, then how about a FIGHT!!!

[Rick Meredith]

LOL... I believe it! They were pretty neat guys. I know that they were on Fender when I started and then they were on Rose. Don't know if they're still around. I always told myself that if I ever got a Porsche they'd be the ones that I'd have do the repair work on.

I remember one day that Whit pulled into my shop in a blue 911SC (Customer's Car no less) with one of Fullerton's finest right behind him... full light show going.

[Sarge]

Whit ALWAYS was aggressive behind the wheel!  The club used to have a saying..."whit faced" which originated from seeing Whit, after a ralley cooling his heels at the local Shakey's Pizza a few beers past FULL .  Did you happen to work alongside Dan Czapla while at BAP?  Doug Haydon worked for Dan Sr out back in the machine shop in the early 70's...had a lot of stuff done by those guys.

[Rick Meredith]

Sure did! Heck of a machinist!

[Gary Justus]

Wow...I worked right around the corner on Via Burton...I was repairing musical instruments back then. Stopped in at BAP numerous times on the way home (91 West, off @ Euclid).

[Rick Meredith]

If you ever saw a Beige '67, Green Notchback or White SVO Mustang in the parking lot, those were mine. Worked there until around '88 - '89.

[Gary Justus]

That would have been '69-'72 for me. My ride was a '63 kombi with radiused wells and glass flairs and scoops with Keystone slots on chevy adaptors. Had painted "Inca Silver" at Hennig for $49.95. I won't tell you anymore about that bus (too embarassed to admit what I did back then).

[Rick Meredith]

LOL.. ok a little before my time I started there around '80.

I remember Hennig. Some buddies had cars painted there.