DRAG RAGS: 1967, PART 2—OCIR & THE MANUFACTURERS MEET

by Dave Wallace    Tue, 2024-04-02 17:18

 

 

 

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Publisher's Note: Duplicate issues of most 1966 drag rags & mags are now available from the Wallace Family Archives (hrd.dave@gmail.com). 

 

A.J. Routt Photo

Attention in the pits: We interrupt the usual programming order to bring you this special, midseason-1967 installment of Drag Rags due to two historic happenings three months apart: the grandest opening imaginable for the original Supertrack—constructed for a staggering cost of $750,000—closely followed by the inaugural Manufacturers Meet. The fact that the same young venue presented both the August and November events hinted at Orange County International Raceway's singular impact upon a young American motorsport.

OCIR's three-story, octagon-shaped timing tower with its dimly-lit nightclub of a top floor was instantly iconic at a time when race tracks' prevailing architectural style is best described as midcentury plywood. Full marching bands stomped the length of this landscaped drag strip. A stunt pilot performed aerobatics before landing on the racing surface, taxiing to cheers. Clean-cut ushers oversaw reserved, numbered seats with redwood backrests. 

An army of employees on and off the track was clothed in matching white pants and blue Hang 10 shirts. The uniforms' embroidered Indy-car logo represented the big-time road racing that was expected to top the marquee and pay the big bills, while twice-weekly drag races kept some cash flowing between envisioned open-wheel, motorcycle and sports-car extravaganzas that never materialized (nor did the rented shop buildings that founder Mike Jones expected to ensure steady cashflow). 

Elapsed times and miles per hour lit up an electronic scoreboard behind the starting line. A tunnel near the finish line fed families from spectator parking to a children's play area on the pit side as fuel cars shook the ground directly overhead. A fulltime speed shop operated alongside a full-service restaurant all week. Pit areas were paved and lined with trees. Open-qualified pro shows were scheduled as ofter as very other Saturday, year around.

Each November, the many match racers wintering—and idled—in southern California inspired Jones to try a one-day showdown of 40-plus nitro Funny Cars. Because the majority of 1967's powerplants still represented the respective body make, six pre-entered teams were organized according to Detroit manufacturer (with enough quality leftovers to form a seventh group of stand-by alternates). After three round-robin preliminary sessions, the quickest two drivers overall faced off for individual honors. 

Our accompanying event clippings document a level of instant success that no one expected, especially so late in the year—at night, yet! That fall formula would be repeated by Mike Jones and three different successors 16 times before OCIR was officially closed by its landlord, the Irvine Company, upon the 3:15 a.m. conclusion of the Last Drag Race on Sunday, October 30, 1983.

OCIR's inaugural Manufacturers Meet became an instant classic in November 1967. More than 40 fuel floppers participated in round-robin, team-vs.-team matchups. Track photographer Jim Kelly shot his iconic overview from the tower's roof.   
Opening-day fans got a lot of bang for their two-dollar bills (a $19 ticket today). Founder Mike Jones got a lot of grief from fuel racers over unprecedented purse reductions for committing violations outlined in the last paragraph here. 
From the Orange County Register, Aug. 3, 1967.
In the column at left, track-paid reporter-announcer Paul Cully painted a rosy picture of OCIR's controversial, unprecedented uniform requirement. Another of Jim Kelly's rooftop angles captured the lovely Stellings & Tapia slingshot on the fire-up road situated between the grassy photographers' area (right) and pitside bleachers.    
Rarely photographed himself, the late "Diamond" Jim Kelly is widely regarded as the best action photographer of his time—if not of all time.   


 

No fewer than 15 booked-in alternates stood by to keep the show rolling whenever a team starter was sidelined by breakage. 
The assembled star power set new standards for match races and helped legitimize round-robin formats (i.e., whereby losing drivers return to action—to the delight of their fans).  
Forty-five individual team-vs.-team matchups ultimately advanced the two quickest drivers to an early-morning grand finale won by factory-racer Eddie Schartman's SOHC Comet.   

 

Elaborate winners' celebrations with floral wreaths and champagne toasts were among the classy touches introduced to drag racing by OCIR designer-manager Mike Jones (right foreground). 

 
 

While scaled way, way down from initial artists' conceptions, the electronic scoreboard was another OCIR first. An employee in the timing tower manually entered the digits individually. 


     

 

Scoreboard bulbs were activated by the angled electrical box (lower right). Switches in the face selected individual digits from zero to nine. The operator read his/her own set of e.t. and speed clocks (just beyond card file). This rare peek inside the second-floor timing deck came during AHRA's brief control (1973-75), depicting announcer-PR-director Dave Wallace Jr.; "timeslip girl" Kelly Deluca; GM Blaine Laux; and official Chick Crist (rear).   


 

Ideal location was literally adjacent to I-5 and close to I-405, conveniently fed by exit ramps from both major freeways. 
Strawberry fields (not!) forever: South Orange County remained relatively agricultural in 1975, when these color overviews were snapped from the tower stairways. Note staging lanes in foreground. Nearly half a century later, this prime commercial real estate is covered with buildings—just as the Irvine Co. intended all along. As tenant, OCIR was expected to generate income to offset taxes until the time was ripe for development (1984, as things turned out).    


 

The announcing deck was open to the main office below, facilitating crew communications during events. These October 29, 1983, interior photos during the Last Drag Race are two of the last shot before the tower was shuttered and vandalized.
Veteran A/Gas Supercharged and Pro Stock racer Bob Panella was so impressed with the new tower during his initial visit in the late 1960s that he grabbed some paper and drew rough sketches, outside and inside ("while everyone else on the third floor was flirting with Linda Vaughn"). Years later, Bob built this tribute control tower for Panella Trucking's main yard in Stockton, California. 


      
                                  

 

 

 

PREVIOUS DRAG RAGS

THE EARLIEST EDITIONS
 BANS WERE BIG IN '57
ISKY STIRS THE POT
DRAG RAGS OF 1960 – TRAGEDY, POPCORN SPEEDS AND A CAMSHAFT RIVALRY 
DRAG RAGS OF 1961: CONTROVERSY STALKS NHRA 
DRAG RAGS: 1959 - GARLITS GOES FROM ZERO TO HERO, TURNS PRO 
DRAG RAGS: 1959, PART 2 — HOW THE SMOKERS BEAT THE FUEL BAN 
DRAG RAGS OF 1962: GARLITS IS NO. 1, WALLY IS ALL GAS 
DRAG RAGS OF 1963: FUEL IS BACK - OR IS IT? JETS RUN WILD 
DRAG RAGS OF JAN.-JUNE 1964: INNOVATION WITHOUT LIMITATION 
DRAG RAGS OF JULY-DEC. 1964: ZOOMIES PUSH THROUGH THE 200-MPH BARRIER 
DRAG RAGS OF EARLY '65: EXPLOSION OF WEEKLY PUBLICATIONS 
DRAG RAGS OF JULY-DEC 1965: FUELERS, FUNNIES AND GASSERS APLENTY  
DRAG RAGS 1965: TERRY COOK TELLS HOW THE WEEKLY SAUSAGE GOT MADE
​DRAG RAGS: DRAG RAGS OF EARLY 1966: FUNNY CARS FLIP OUT, "SURFERS" STAR 
DRAG RAGS: DRAG RAGS OF JUL.-DEC. 1966: FAILING NEWSPAPERS, PIONEERING FEMALES
DRAG RAGS OF 1966, PART 3 — DEATH OF A DRAG RAG 
DRAG RAGS: EARLY 1967 - WAR OF EARLY INDEPENDENTS ENDS 
DRAG RAGS: 1967, PART 2—OCIR & THE MANUFACTURERS MEET 

 

 

 

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