– 1/8th-MILE VINTAGE DRAGS AT BARONA DRAG STRIP
– GRUDGE RACING IN REMEMBRANCE OF CARLSBAD RACEWAY
– WIDE ASSORTMENT OF MOPAR_® DRAG CARS PARTICIPATED

LEGENDARY DRAGSTRIP: CARLSBAD RACEWAY 1964-2004

It was 1961 when 1950s racer Larry Grismer went to purchase a 143-acre property on the outskirts of Carlsbad, with financial help from Sandy Belond, a fellow racer and very successful aftermarket performance exhaust system manufacturer. It took a few years, however the piece of land was developed into an NHRA-sanctioned 1/4-mile dragstrip, opening in 1964.

Over the next 40 years, Carlsbad Raceway ran big and small events, with the who’s who of Top Fuel and Funny Car racers attending on a regular basis. A favorite track for many, including drag racing photographers, because of the track itself going from West to East, late afternoon photography offered very distinctive lighting conditions. Perhaps the very best example being the Alan Earman B&W backlit masterpiece burnout shot circa 1969 of the Chi-Town Hustler Dodge Charger. 

However the pictured dragster shot (believed to be from Bob Hardee), taken in 1964, was an iconic image from the track’s first year of operation. It’s where Joe Schubeck was running his Chrysler HEMI^® engine-powered rail and at the launch the front wheels pulled up, he felt confident to keep his foot in it for a long while! With the slicks spinning and causing huge clouds of tire smoke (as was the normal practice at the time) combined with the front wheels a couple feet off the ground, plus the “Carlsbad Raceway” signage in the background, it has to be, arguably, considered the best of the best front-engined dragster photos captured in all of drag racing history.

The track itself was located six miles inland from the Pacific Ocean in Carlsbad, located on Palomar Airport Road and at what is now Melrose Avenue. Famous place! Closed in 2004, there’s still today a large nostalgia following, which prompted the “Carlsbad Racers Reunion” event that took place June 1st at the Barona Dragstrip, which is some 34 miles away, in Lakeside, CA.

This event’s timing represented both the 20th anniversary of Carlsbad Raceway closing, as well as it being 60 years since it first opened.

HONORING DRAGMASTER AT THE TRACK

For decades, the Dragmaster shop had been a fixture in San Diego and the surrounding areas, and to give some important kudos to Dode Martin and partner Jim Nelson who ran the place, the Barona track put up this display. Some time back, Hop Up Magazine interviewed Dode and here’s what he had to say about Carlsbad Raceway:

“Jim and I were working with NHRA designing and figuring how to do it and then we managed to run it for the first two years. We had it built and even laid the pavement myself, and ran Friday night drags, got a lot of the big guys in there, ya know. In that time they were just getting to 200 mph it was where you needed to be trying for. The first cars were running 200; it was an era when you had smoking the tires, the zoomie headers and all the show. I think that’s what people like today. It was quite a time, everyone had fun. Jim would take care of some of the managing and I did all the teching on the dragsters. Some of the other guys did the tech on the door slammers.”

A-BODY CARS FLEXED THEIR MUSCLES

Because of their smaller size and lighter weight, the Mopar A-body platform has always been a favorite for drag racing applications. A wide variety of examples participated in the Carlsbad reunion, with both small block and big block power under the hoods.

1974 Plymouth Duster, fully sorted with built 440, TorqueFlite^®, narrowed Dana 60 with 5.13:1 gears, ladder bars. This car is ultra consistent and hooks hard!

Gen II Barracudas joined in on the action, including a ’68 “BH23” hardtop (with 440 power), ’67 Formula S fastback with small block power, and a Plum Crazy-painted ’68 fastback that received a supercharged SRT^® Hellcat HEMI engine transplant.

“Do it Now” ’72 Dodge Dart set up as an “A/FX” car, a member of the Bob Mazzolini team, with a wheels-up launch! And talk about a rarely seen sight, here’s a plain-Jane ’65 Dart 2-door sedan, equipped with a re-worked small block “LA-block” for power, up front some classic “Auto/Drag” Centerlines. Authentic old school all the way!

343 HP DUAL QUAD RARE OPTION

1962 Dodge Dart Hardtop, a family project that saw drag strip duty at Barona! The Dart in ’62 was based on the B-body platform, and the top engine option that year was the 413 “Ramcharger” 2×4 cross-ram with 12:1 compression ratio. The pictured 2-door hardtop featured a slighter tamer big block, however a rare high-performance version.

A mid-year “343-horsepower” special option for 1962 Dodge and Plymouth was a high-performance package for 383 cars, and the option package came with Chrysler 300 cylinder heads, inline 2×4 cast iron intake with twin Carter AFB carbs, high-pressure mechanical fuel pump, sold lifter Clay Smith camshaft and related valvetrain upgrades, plus 413 exhaust manifolds. All parts came inside the trunk for dealer installation. This application has the replacement of the Carters with Holley 4-bbls, equal-tube length headers and Multiple Spark Discharge ignition upgrades.

Definitely not a lot of authentic ’62 Dodge California cars out there, let alone making passes on a drag strip! 

’63/’64 CARS WELL REPRESENTED

In 1963, the lightest, least expensive intermediate was the “330” 2-door sedan, and those were what drag racers wanted! Here’s one of them, still doing its thing on the drag strip, albeit with an enlarged version of the Max Wedge hood scoop.

There’s the “A/FX” and “Nostalgia Super Stock” classes where these vintage B-body Dodges are raced, here a pair of ’63 and ’64, hardtops that compete regularly. Classic iron that always put on a show that dedicated and loyal Mopar fans enjoy.

1965 ALL OVER AGAIN

Back in 1965, Chrysler Corporation stepped up their drag racing effort with the building of a handful of “Altered Wheelbase” Dodge and Plymouth B-body hardtops. These 110-inch wheelbase special purpose-built drag cars had their rear wheels moved forward 15 inches, with the front wheels moved 10 inches forward, all for improved traction because of the revised weight transfer as the cars launched off the line. It was the start of “funny-looking” cars!

At the Carlsbad reunion, there was this AWB “Miner Threat” ’65 Dodge pulling impressive wheelies and thrilling the fans, a cool throwback complete with the Dodge deltoid “Fratzog” in large on each door!

ROAD RUNNERS AND MORE

Here’s a pair of ’69 Plymouth Road Runners, the “Bad Bird”, an all-out dragger from Shawn Bush, and this Green Metallic 440-6bbl tribute. Everybody loves the Road Runner!

Among the turnout of other B-body cars was this ’69 Charger R/T and a ’71 Plymouth GTX (with the family having a fun day!), both being street cars that came out to do some straight-line blasting down the Barona racing surface.

2021 SRT HELLCAT SUPER STOCK WITH DIRECT CONNECTION UPGRADES

Mixed in with the vintage Mopar vehicles was this 2021 SRT Hellcat Challenger, a “Super Stock” Wide Body with engine upgrades performed by the local to San Diego Power Broker (actually the DCH Dealership in nearby Temecula, CA). The car made some serious burnouts and ran mid-6’s all day long on the Barona 1/8th-mile track.

DODGE OMNI DRAGGER

Back in the day, the Dodge Omni was a body chosen for selected Mopar Pro Stock drag racers, including Sox & Martin, Dick Landy, Roy Hill and Butch Leal. It was great to see this “HRE” car out there running, it has a wedge engine and a cool “retro” ’80s look!

CARLSBAD THEN/NOW

With detailed and informative announcing by Russ Hare and a very enthusiastic group of racers, all that came to take part in this first-ever event had a rewarding day! Barona as an 1/8th-mile track and that Carlsbad was a 1/4-mile drag strip, well there is that difference. However, with the surrounding foothills covered in native California chaparral, the deep green background dotted with rocks, this track for certain has a familiar flavor! Add in the bright yellow “Carlsbad Raceway” sign and hearing the drag cars going down the track, it did spark up fantastic memories for those lucky enough to having had the Carlsbad drag strip experience.

While this event was open to all makes and models of vintage cars, there was a strong turnout of Mopar vehicles that participated. There were members from the local Mopar Club San Diego, and the Carlsbad Reunion celebration was enjoyed by the old-schoolers and young alike, lots of Pentastar camaraderie, evident here that the Mopar family is filled with passion!

Beautifully restored, the “Magicar” AA/Fuel Dragster attended the event and it was quite appropriate as the Kent Fuller-built car ran at Carlsbad in December 1964. Now all these years later, the Gen I HEMI engine-powered rail is a popular “cackle car” that entertains crowds with its nitromethane exhaust sights and sounds!

It’s the iconic ’31 Ford Roadster that was on the Hot Rod Magazine cover car back in December 1982, fitted with a Hilborn-injected, 8-71 supercharged 354 (enlarged to 403-cid) Gen I HEMI engine, and it has been a part of the San Diego hot rod scene for decades! Owner Don Kleine ran it at the Carlsbad Raceway track back in the day, and making an appearance at the Barona Carlsbad Racer’s Reunion certainly had a true nostalgia moment for those that saw it all those years ago! 

Author: James Maxwell