This Vintage Footage From Famoso Raceway Shows How Much It Has Changed Over The Years


This Vintage Footage From Famoso Raceway Shows How Much It Has Changed Over The Years

So we’re going with 1972/1973. That’s the timeframe we think this vintage footage from Famoso Raceway was taken. Why? In one instant you can see Lil’ John Lombardo’s famed “Spider” Camaro which we’re pretty sure he campaigned in 1973 before switching to a different Vega in 1974. Either that or we’re wrong. The sun will rise tomorrow either way and the point here is not to lock down a year but rather to show you what Famoso Raceway looked like some 45 yeas ago. Hell, this footage may have been taken at the March Meet that year for all we know and judging by some of the “dress up” stuff on the starting line it well could be.

You’ll see front engine dragsters coming up the road to make runs, you’ll see gassers, small cars, a crowd that can’t stand still, and the famed Backup Pickup cruising around the track as well. What a freaky deal that thing was!

You will not see the tower that exists today, walls, lights, or any other sort of amenity that people have come to expect at racing facilities. The place is very true to its original form or at least the form we have seen in photos from the area in the 1950s. We don’t know when the hay bales were replaced by walls but we’re guessing people complained about that.

The same wide open skyline and landscape surrounded the place. We’re not sure if the compost piles were there giving off their interesting odor at that point but we do know that we love the place as it is now and would have likely loved it back then as well.

Press play below to see vintage footage from Famoso Raceway Circa 1973 –


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