I found this in a box of my dad’s old stuff. I found your site online and thought you might know something about this. I know my dad never raced or was in a car club, but he did grow up all along the I-5 corridor in Oregon.  His name is Rick Hartley.  But there are initials "KG" on the backside of the plaque.  Dad did have a friend that was in a car club, but not sure when or where that was.  His last name was Gusman or Guzman.  I think it was Gusman and he was our neighbor in the 70's. [Note: I researched the Hylifters car club, learning that it was formed in Corvallis in 1951, active at least through the early 1960s. Under the auspices of the North West Timing Association, they conducted drag races at the Corvallis Municipal Airport in 1954. Research wasn't able to determine the identity of K.G."]

Tracy Hartley

 

I raced at this track in the '70s. It was originally called Balboa Drag Strip and later Norpack, which was probably short for North Pacific Raceway. Crowds were amazing. The last year of operation was 1976. The track lease was not renewed. I knew the owner.  He was disappointed. I purchashed the car that I still have today and I looked forward to racing it there.

Don Washington

 

I ran a B/A '33 three-window coupe in the late 50's. The drag strip that was closest to us was in Aurora, just out of Portland. I was racing up there in the mid-50s. Pete Sukalac] was one of the photographers for Hot Rod Magazine. He came u;p to the drag strip  They featured my car in a 2-page article in Hot Rod . They didn't have any ET clocks. All they had was time clocks. There was a flag starter. They gave out trophies. Actually my class was B Altered. That car was never beaten in its class. It went a whole ;year and there was no car in its class that could beat it. I was running A Altered and all different classes just for competition.  All the car clubs from Eugene up to Portland raced up there at Aurora. All the car clubs from Salem, Eugene, all the way up to Aurora all ran up there together. It was put on by the Columbia Timing Association which was out of Portland. 

Jim Beardslee,

telephone interview  with 

Mel Bashore, September 27, 2017

 

I ran a '55 Chev Del Ray twice in strictly stock class. I was never beat. Another one who ran at Scappoose was Dick Maris. He was a paraplegic who ran a '54 Cadillac, with hand controls. He got crippled in Alaska years before by the territorial cops.  He hit a dip up there and rolled his car. The cops thought he was drunk and they forced him to walk back to his car and his back was broken. He was crippled in his lower legs and his back from then on. The government paid for most of his upkeeping. He chose to drag a Cadillac. The power to weight ratio . . . such a terrible class. He made it go. He also did head work. He had a setup that he could sit in his wheelchair and port and polish heads. He raced his Cadillac at Scappoose and at Shelton, also.   I also ran later on at Shelton, Washington. My biggest challenger when I raced at Scappoose was a used car dealer from Portland. He had a '54 or '55 Packard. I beat him. I only came home from Scappoose with one little itty-bitty trophy. It was just a little cup-thing. I don't even think there was a car on it. It was just just a little stand with a cup. They weren't that organized out there. That was in '55.  My car was a brand new Chevy Del Ray, not a Bel Ray. It was a hardtop. It had a post there in the middle. It had a column shift. It was the only V8 they were making at the time that had mechanical lifters. All the rest of them were hydraulic lifters. It was quite tunable. The class I ran in, I don't know what they called it, but it was strictly stock. The only thing you could do was put dual pipes on it. Everything else had to be stock. Just shortly after I raced, the city closed the Scappoose Airport  down to drag racing. They had a bunch of problems with a bunch of kids drinking out there. So the city closed it. All the guys that I knew that raced back then, I think, most of them have passed away. Pierre Phillips may still be alive. I'm almost ninety. I was 24 or 25 when I raced at Scappoose. 

Larry Stopper, 

telephone interview with

Mel Bashore, September 10, 2017 

 

The Columbia Timing Association was out of Portland. They put on a race once a year over in Madras, over in eastern Oregon. I had a '50 Ford with a '55 Cad in it that turned 125 miles an hour over there.  I got a plaque for it that I was supposed to put on my dash. That was one of my fun cars. It was really a beautiful car. Absolutely stock looking.  I took that same car down to Southern California. While I was down there, I raced it at Santa Ana and took first place.  [Note: Read his recollections and see the photos that he took at that race.]

Jim Beardslee,

telephone interview  with 

Mel Bashore, September 27, 2017

 

I raced my 1955 Chevy in 1956 and my 1965 GTO in '65 or '66 at the Port Orford drag strip​.

Leon Warmuth

 

I raced at Balboa Park in Eugene for quite a few years. I started my drag racing there when I was in high school. I was doing a lot of street racing and they had a Wednesday night grudge match night that got me there. I started in 1967 and was a regular every week on Wednesday and every weekend I wasn't working. The first time I'd ever been around a funny car, they rolled Ed McCulloch along side me in the staging lane. Then at the head of the lane, they sent him ahead of me. They fired him off. Flames went through under my car and I was deaf and at times I couldn't see or hardly breath. Absolutely loved it. I watched his pass from right behind him. Balboa was crowded and you parked against the fence past the bleachers if you were a spectator and sat on the hood with your girlfriend.

Richard Gray

 

We raced a '40 Chev Coupe E/G with the name Rogers, Bryson and Bryson at the McMinville, Oregon Dragstrip many times in 1965 and 1967​.

Mel Bryson

 

I raced at the Madras Dragstrip, Oregon, in both 1965 and 1966 driving the Rogers, Bryson and Bryson '40 Chev E/G car and again in 1969, driving my '33 Willys A/GS car built by Bob Gibson and powered by a blown 426 Hemi. The 1969 runs were to finalize my NHRA drivers license requirements and were signed both by Jim Livingston (Madras Dragstrip owner/manager) and funny car driver Kenny Goodell. It was over 100 degrees with so much sweat/condensation inside my goggles that I had only the vaguest idea where the center of the lane was. I also raced many times for Jim Livingston at Woodburn Dragstrip, Oregon, over the span of the next 50 years.

Mel Bryson

 

As a very young boy, born in 1951, we used to watch my Uncle Gordon "Gordy" Sully race in his "Tidy Tee" in the late 1950s at McMinnville Airport. He was local, having been born less then two miles from the airport on the Old Sully farm. His car was built by Ken Austin of Newberg. Ken also built a clone of it which he has in his private collection now in Newberg, Oregon. My uncle raced and showed his car all over the Pacific Northwest in car shows, as well as racing it in Washington and Oregon. He had a very nice write-up in Hot Rod Magazine  in '57, a 3-4 page spread. Sadly we lost Uncle Gordon four years ago.

Robert Sully

 

I raced a 1957 Chevy in 1972 at Balboa Park. Had a blast! I went there all the time. My Ex, Donna Seamen, handed out trophies in the '60's.

Jim Tenold

 

My dad (Don Ellis) and I raced at Scappoose airport, Aurora, and Woodburn. We were members of the Ramblers along with Bill Bonebrake, Danny Killcup, Bob Eayers, Chuck Blanchard, Monte Rolland, John and Ferdi Wardin. We ran stock class to rails. It was a great little strip. We had a deuce, blown Stude, modified '53 Lincoln, modified '53 Jag "C"and Wardin's ran a blueprint '51 Caddy. Everyone had great fun and friendship. There were many car clubs then making for good competition. One racer by the name of "Hank," ran a Cad powered '41 Ford named the "Flathead Gobbler," a very nice guy who shut down most flatheads. At Scappoose, the airport was used as a drag strip from 1953-1956. Things were pretty basic and unsophisticated as the starter was a man using a flag to start two cars on the line.  It was a nice setup for everyone.  As you know a few underage men were having a few beers and the cops came and busted them. The local area judge shut the strip down for this reason. Everyone moved on to Aurora, then to Woodburn.
 At age 80, I still have an '88 LX blueprint Mustang and an '89 Hatchback. I still love movers and shakers. I have club pictures of all members and their machines. I still like to get on it with all the rice burners in Portland. My dad and I had a modified '32 deuce with a blown 259 Studebaker. Third gear broke and we went through the traps at 105 MPH, in execess of 9000 RPM. It did not blow up. Super lucky it held together.

 

I raced at four of Oregon's drag strips from the 60's through 1990, they included McMinnville, Madras, Woodburn and PIR. Starting with a Honda 50 to a Nostalgia Top Fuel car. McMinnville (Mac) was my favorite place, as I lived there from '61 to '67.  The track ran from '59 through '66.

Marty Strode

 

The last time I raced was at Woodburn, $5.00.  My last race was in 1998 and I recall it was $65.00 to run.  The Ramblers Club were top point getters and they would hold their annual dinner meeting at the "Clock," on Vaughn Street in Portland. Probably the most fun car we had was a custom '55 Bird with a bored and
stroked Caddy engine.  This car was in many auto shows and was featured in June 1959 Rod and Custom magazine.  I was a teenager at that time and had one of the fastest street cars in Portland. Today I am down to a blueprint '88 Mustang and an original '89 Mustang hatchback.  I am now in my eighties but still love custom fast cars, but do not enter competition drags anymore.  The Ramblers Club is no more as I just have pictures of the cars and good memories of all the members.

 

Pete Ulam promoted the strip from 1985 to 1988, when I took over for the 1989 season. I was manager/promoter until 1991. The world-famous Tom "Mongoose" McEwen brought his '57 Chevy funny car there in 1989. He made four runs and it was my biggest racer turn-out and spectator count. I had a great time and met tons of cool people.

Jeff Gaynor

 

This is regarding the Old T-bird Drag Strip. I read your blog on the old drag strip and it brought the memories of going to that strip before I could even drive. Of course once I could, I wanted to try it out myself so I started with a 1964 Falcon Sprint. I sold it back in 2004 and just recently was going through the file I'd kept on that car and found a few archives from the drag strip. I found that I kept an original handout of the West Pacific Dragway track rules from 1976. I also found 2 pics of me and that Falcon in the staging lanes and doing a burnout at the lights. The unique thing about these pics is that the car I'm up against was a retired Eugene cop car. It was a blue and white '70s Dodge. This is the story I remember about her--yep, girl driver.  She ended up winning the points standings that year with the old Dodge. My little Ford was fast. I turned a 11.23 and an 11.24 on the 1/8th-mile strip. That's what was the cool thing about bracket racing. I remember it as Balboa for the most and loved the memories. I don't ever remember it being called West Pacific Dragway, Balboa for sure. They were the same track though. We only had one. I remember being 18, having a restricted driver's license for working only, but still seeking my way via backstreets to get to the track on Saturday night--only to watch though. That's what I got for now. Thanks for letting me go down memory lane for a little while.

Walt Ballard

 

I raced at McMinnville and Woodburn in 1963. The car was a 1962 Chevrolet Impala, black with a 409 with a name of "Rapid Richard Too." I won the championship and many trophies at both Mac and Woodburn. l also won the A/Stock champion trophy and the gas and fuel A/S championship. I won first in class for the Charriots car club at the NW Autorama, beating BobTindel's '63 Plymouth and the Thunderbolt I ran in the high 12 seconds just over 100 MPH. 

 

It was very interesting to read the description of the Eugene dragstrip. Especially the part about the big funny car promotion in the early 70s. I did not attend any events at the Eugene dragstrip, but went to school with many classmates who were big-time racing fans. The thing I remember most is that there was a huge amount of radio advertising on the major Eugene stations for weeks in advance of that big funny car event. And they all ended with the tagline “16 funny cars on the line, guaranteed or your money back. Eugene Dragstrip, West 11th and Danebo in Eugene!”. As you describe, the authorities shut the event down before all of the funny cars had hit the line, and a large percentage of the overflow crowd, of course descended on the ticket stand demanding their money back. It was the talk of my junior high school the following day.

Doug Morris

 

I raced my '67 Chevelle 327 3-speed the summer of 1972 at Balboa Drag Strip in Eugene, Oregon. It was a 1/4 mile strip that year. My best ET was 13.65 at 109. I bracket raced and did really well all that summer. I named my car "Cold Turkey." What a fun year. I was 20 at the time.

Bruce Patten

 

I raced at Balboa in the 70's. I raced a 1968 GTO in G/SA, ET Brackets. Had a blast. Wish it was still there. Great times.​

Chuck Young

 

I was born and raised in Grants Pass. I started hitch-hiking to the White City Drag Strip around 1956. I was 12 or 13 when I first hitchhiked to Medford to watch the drag racing. In 1959 I worked on a flathead-powered dragster owned by Jimmy Wilson of Grants Pass.  He put a 283 in the dragster about 1959, but I don't think he ever raced it.  A friend of mine, Charles "Mick" Grey raced a 1961 Ford in 1961.  I was gone by then, stationed in Germany. My cousin, Doug Pruitt of Medford, raced quite often. I recall he had a 1957 Golden Eagle Studebaker Fuel Injected that was hot. I recall him racing a Pontiac one year and maybe a Olds one year.  Doug and his dad had a service station  on the south end of Medford out near Cubbys. That was back in the old days. I remember seeing the Glass Slipper several times. I was a member of the Rakes Car Club in Grants Pass. The Rakes car club in GP met with the SOTA in 1958 to discuss joining forces on a brand new purpose-built drag strip in Josephine County.  We had lots of support from the Highway Patrol, Josephine County Sheriff's, GP Police Dept, GP Mayor, County Officials, etc.  A land owner was willing to donate some land and we had lots of other interested businesses willing to help out.  I don't recall what happened Everything fell apart in 1960.  I joined the Air Force in November 1960. That is my history lessons for today.  Since 1960, I was involved with drag racing a few times: 1964/65 at Beeline Dragstrip, and old Tucson Dragstrip, both in Arizona 1975-77, and Las Vegas 1989-1992.  Lots of times as a spectator.  I was in the AF for 29 years, lots of time overseas.  Drag Racing has always been my main interest, however I miss the old days of front engine dragsters.  I enjoy the Nostalgic Racing more than the modern.

Gary Pruitt

 

I raced at the McMinnville Oregon track in 1963 when I was 15 years old. It was the weekend of the Oregon state championships and I won a nice jacket that says Oregon State Champ on it. I still have the jacket and it hangs in a shadow box in my garage (man cave) along with other racing memorabilia from the 1960's. The jacket was won on a Caper Cycle (scooter, somewhat modified), in the 50 cc class.

Roy White

 

I attended a drag race at Woodburn in 1963. Tommy Ivo appeared there. Always being the pesky kid around the pits, I had the nerve to ask the then-famous Bill Ireland for a ride down the strip in his AC Cobra and got it.

Roy White

 

I have a collection of about 500 car club plaques. One of my plaques is of the Slo Poks. They were from Vancouver and were members of the Columbia Timing Association. In 1976, I made the club twenty new plaques from an original in my collection. [Editor's note: The Slo Poks were organized in 1951, the second car club to be organized in Vancouver. Camp White held a 2-day drag race, the Oregon Centennial Gas Championship Drag Races, on September 12-13, 1959. They were awarded a trophy for having the most members of any car club in attendance. They had cars in fourteen different classes. Their members took six class wins and Slo Poks member Dave Skeans took Little Eliminator in his B/G in his Chev-engined '37 Ford and set a new track record at 103.32 mph.]

Bill Cordell

 

I did not race there, but did go to alot of races there. My dad and his business partner built, owned, and operated The Keg Tavern. I remember that big Funny Car meet. It was crazy. I remember something also about the property being part of a Wet Lands, and also reference to Spotted Frogs inhabiting that area. I believe the Amazon Slew still runs through that area.

Rob Ross

 

Back in '62, my high school car was a '49 Chev with an Olds 303 C/G. The only dragstrip I had it on was Long Beach strip in California. I sold the '49 and bought a '56 210 Chev and ran K/SA. I purchased a 4:56 positraction 3rd member new from the dealer for  $100 at that time. A buddy flat-towed my '56 to Woodburn strip with his '56 Chev 4-door and beat my time with the tow car.  In 1963 I had the front raised with station wagon springs and 5.50 x 15  tires, making it look a bit intimidating. At the Port Orford strip there was a quick '55 Chev and a fast '53 Olds in the same class. The Olds was my worry, but the '55 beat him. I figured on getting whipped, but off the line, he throttled way too much and smoked 'em. It was all I needed to trophy that day. It was myy only trophy by the way.

Randy Rhoades

 

Bo Knabb from Portland raced at Mahlon in 1950. There is a picture of that day in Albert Drake's book Street was Fun in 51. He wrote that the coupe was Top Eliminator that day. The picture I have of Knabb's car was taken by a fellow rodder Dick Barton in 1950. He was there that day and took a photo of the wicked 3 wd with the 4 deuce flathead. Dick was the parts manager at Lew Williams Chevrolet in Eugene.  I happened to have found the remains of Bo's car in the late 90's and Dick (RIP) gave me the picture he had taken. As happens, life changes put the coupe build on hold until I had another shop in 2013 and old age told me to pass it on. Well, anyway thanks for letting me ramble on and share some history that us old farts love to do. 
I wasn't a serious drag racer, but enjoyed it while still affordable. Most all my racing in the 80's-90's was Oldies drags, truck drags, etc. I got into Bonneville Salt in '88 and still enjoy that. A buddy and I were building a flathead XF/SR when the record got blown out so far in 1990 that we never finished that car.
So, at 81, I'm just trying to enjoy living in our home in South Dakota now with no hot rods, but an old fart '48 Olds sedan that pulls Sue's '48 Spartan Manor. It is one of my many diversions from cars.

Randy Rhoades