(By Greg Rourke) – Imagine being 13 years old and getting a job at US30 Dragstrip in Indiana. I recently met a man who did exactly that. His job was assisting in the parking lot, but this also gave him an all access pass to that fabled quarter mile. He brought his Instamatic along one day. When I told him about BangShift, he offered to share his photos.
Back in the day all the big teams raced at US30. They had Wednesday night funny car races that rivaled the California tracks. I’m guessing these shots are from one of those days.
Fred Goeske, Candies and Hughes, Bobby Wood, Mike Burkhart, and Tim Beebe were all making the scene. Dale Creasy Sr. and his Tyrant Mustang arrived on an open trailer, but then it was short commute for him. An injected Bantam Altered I can’t identify was on hand. And…shot from a long ways away with a fixed lens camera…is No Big Thing, the big block Chevy powered 1960 Vespa. Trivia: The original title to the Vespa shows the owner to be the Ringling Brothers circus.
Thank you to Hugh Stewart for sharing these photos. He also loaned me a bunch more shots taken later as his camera equipment and skills improved, from US30 and what appears to be the US Nationals. Enjoy.
Whack the images below to expand them and see them in their full glory!
Greg,
Love the site and thanks so much for sharing the photos and commentary with everyone. Very well done Sir.
Hugh