The third and final installment of Don Gillespie’s highly acclaimed video series, “Lions: The Greatest Dragstrip” is out and available for purchase and is a must-have for any hardcore drag racing history junkies out there.
Gillespie has been toiling on this series of three, nearly two-hour-long DVDs for close to a decade, compiling vintage footage and interviews with what seems like every racer ever to turn a wheel at the legendary Lions track in Long Beach, California. We’ve seen the first two volumes that document the history of the track from its inception in 1955 through 1966. This last film picks up in late 1966 and carries us to the track’s closing in 1972.
Lions went out with a bang though. The vaunted Last Drag Race held there by track operator Steve Evans still stands as one of the great events in drag racing history. The place was filled well beyond capacity with spectators literally standing on the track as Fuel dragsters whizzed by. When the night ended, the fans tore the place to shreds, leaving with any physical piece of the place they could carry off.
If you’re a drag racing history nut there is simply no better place to see a generation of your heroes wax poetic about a very special place and era of the sport. This would make a perfect car junkie holiday gift.
