Roger was the "Dean" of early S/S and A/FX racing. He ran a multitude of different cars. This is just a few of the ones that he campaigned. Take a look at the very "safe" interior from his 1965 car. Burnouts? Try these on for size..... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I know you can see his name on the side so this is a no brainer. Where was he from and who owned this particular car before he bought it from them?? And a real stumper unless you know where to look. Who was his first match race with?? The two car action shot was taken at Pyoute dragway in Pyote, Texas, which was a ghost town with an abandoned bomber base converted to a dragstrip. It was only open two years. I raced there once in 1965 and set the strip record in my class. The strip closed the next year and my record was still intact at the time. So, I guess you can say that my record has stood for 44 years................ It was an AHRA track so it ran about 100 classes. I was still a teenager and drove the '58 Ford to the strip, emptied the spare and tools out of the trunk, raced, put everything back in and drove home.......Oh, and my strip record holding Ford ran a 352 V8 with a 2 bbl carb. The class was Formula 7 D/SA. The record still stands because no one else would be stupid enough to drive a car that heavy with a 2 bbl carb........The record? Don't laugh.......................... 17.82 seconds at 78 mph. I could almost walk that fast..........What a monster that car was....NOT. But it still gives me the right to say I own a record that has stood for 44years. I located the car behind a guys garage out in Big Spring, Texas a few months ago. I am going to try to see if I can get it back and restore it. It could be fun. Slow but fun........ Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Tommy McNeely bought the Falcon that Hubert Platt built up. He raced out of Monahans Texas. His first matchrace was against Arnie 'The Farmer' Beswick. CH
Dave Strickler in the white jacket with Bill Jenkins (wearing glasses) also wearing a white jacket; to his left working on the '64 Dodge. The 1963 Chevrolet Impala Z-11 had been parked. CH Image Unavailable, Please Login
The Dave Strickler 1963 Chevrolet Impala that was only run for one year. CH Image Unavailable, Please Login
Actually he match raced Dick Harrell of Hobbs, New Mexico the day after he took delivery of this car. He thought that Hubert had gotten the shake worked out before he took delivery found out that the car shook so bad when decelerating that it almost caused him to lose grip on the steering wheel. Kind of an unsafe condition. He did not finish the match race that day. Monohans is just a short drive from Pyote airfield where I first saw Tommy back in 1965. He stood it on its tail just like this then too.............. I have included a few photos of the base while in use and after it was abandoned. This is where I have held my class record for 44 years. Oh, and here is the Ramchargers first car. They were always very innovative, even in the early days...... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
As always, great pictures! What I found interesting about Tommy McNeely was the seat time he got in other peoples race cars. Also other racers trying to use his car for their race dates. Loading the trunk up with lead at certain 'problem' races got some creative results to... CH
Any of you ever see the movie 'Funny Car Summer' ? I bought it for about $10 at Amazon, it's essentially a home movie on Jim Dunn circa 1969-70, with his son Mike Dunn at about 14 or so. It's a hoot, has some good footage in it, is worth a look, I enjoyed it.
I have not seen Funny Car Summer but I have been looking for it. How about Bikini Beach. Had some great footage of real dragsters. Kind of a cheesy movie but the cars were cooollll..... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
And a few more of Tommy Ivo in Bikini Beach. What was the name of the TV show where he earned his "TV Tommy Ivo" name tag? Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Sme pictures of the Showboat with and without body. Ivo being inducted into the Drag Racing Hall of Fame wearing his "Robocop suit" in his own words. Who is the guy in the last picture with Ivo? Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Not sure you can name one show as he was involved in more than 200 TV shows. Just the sheer volume of work he did in a relatively short time. He was also nicknamed 'Poison Ivo'. Another movie he was involved with> CH Image Unavailable, Please Login
The beautiful 'Barnstormer' dragster and 1963 Buick Riviera tow car. Both painted in the same shade of deep candy apple red. Tommy's first car was a 1952 Buick coupe. Even that straight 8 powered car found it's way to the track... CH Image Unavailable, Please Login
Tommy Ivo used an open trailer to tour with in 1963. Then for 1964 he built this enclosed trailer. The 1964 trailer went to England for the races there against Don Garlits. However the trailer had to be tied to the deck of the ship for the journey across the pond! CH Image Unavailable, Please Login
Final appearance for the Barnstormer was when Tommy Ivo drove the dragster at the 1965 Bakersfield 'March Meet'. The new 'glass' trailer had not yet been completed. Something a little more basic was used instead for transportation. Then the dragster was sold. CH Image Unavailable, Please Login
Well, it's a girl in the LAST pic, but the GUY is Pat Foster (RIP)...absolute legend and someone I admired. The TV show the earned him the nickname was "Margie"
I saw Funny Car Summer at the theater when it came out. The other good race one THAT I CAN'T FIND (help) is Hot Rod, with Ed Bagley, driving a Willys altered. Not any of the 300 "Hot Rod" titles on Ebay that I've seen.
worth a look here : http://www.oldstox.com/index.htm I have some old b&w from the early 60s I need to scan, mostly from the 'Dragfest' tours.