LIONS DRAG STRIP , Long Beach Calif
1955 to 1972. 1/4 mile Drag Strip
The track was named after the Lion Club that was one of the early sponsor
Here are some early home movies provided by Junji Nakamura
Jess Van Deventer in the white Altered Model T Roadster built by Terry Chenowth
Filmed by Junji Nakamura
Filmed by Junji Nakamura
Filmed by Junji Nakamura
Filmed by Junji Nakamura
Filmed by Junji Nakamura
Filmed by Junji Nakamura
Filmed by Junji Nakamura
Filmed by Junji Nakamura
Filmed by Junji Nakamura
Filmed by Junji Nakamura
Filmed by Junji Nakamura
Filmed by Junji Nakamura
Filmed by Junji Nakamura
Filmed by Junji Nakamura ~ Youtube post by jalopy Journal
Junji Nakamura Needs You Help
My brother (James) and I built a 1940 Willys Coupe in the early 1960. After racing our 1958 black Chevy Impala in the A/Stock class almost every week at Lions, we thought it would be fun to build something faster. The 40 Willys was set up to run 6 Strombergs on the 283 SBC motor (LaSalle trans, 4:11 Chevy rear) first and ran well at Lions. The Willys then had a full rebuild to 292 c.i. small block Chevy, Howard cam plus full kit, Jahns pistons, ported & polished heads, Joe Hunt Mag, with a 671 supercharger and 6 Strombergs on top. It was one of the first 671 kits available for SBC motors. The car was red primer, no insignias, Traction Master bars, and black rims with Bruce slicks. It ran in the C/Gas class with times in the 12:60’s et all day on August 13, 1960. (Several steel plates were added to the floor of the trunk for rigidity and to meet the rules of the C/Gas class competition) We were in the finals at 9:00 pm against the class champion and my brother had a two car lead just past the tower. He was at least 3 cars ahead by the traps, when the clutch blew and exploded the Moon Tank in the cab. Later, my brother told me he tried putting out the fire with the on board extinguisher, it did not work as the fire was too strong. The car was on fire going through the traps and my brother jumped out going about 60 mph ( as told to us by the racers on the return road) The car immediately turned right and crashed into the chain link fence. We tried over 7 bottles of fire extinguishers to no avail. My brother was put into an ambulance and taken to the local hospital. He had 3 degree burns over 30% of his body and face. The car burned to a crisp, wedged into the chain link fence. (the next day, Atts Ono and I found shards of metal wedged into the dash, door, glove box, etc, The legal scattershield was nowhere to be found. There was a huge hole in the floor of the cab where the explosion had ripped open an escape route of flying pieces. The moon tank was melted away, the bolts were the only thing left, and the glove box door was slightly melted from the heat.) We took the burned out car back to Atts Ono’s house for disassembly. Then after an all-day de-construction, we trailered the burned out car to a salvage yard near Lions dragstrip. I am trying to get together anything I can about my brother for his two sons. (He sadly passed away in 1992) He was a very quiet guy and his sons never knew of his car building, drag racing days. That was a silent period of his history that I want to show his two sons. If there are any photos or videos that you have or know of floating around your friends from back in those days of our Willys that would be extremely helpful. Digitizing our old movies made me start this search and fill in that silent period of his racing history. Sadly, we lost all photos of our 40 Willys in the zillion house moves since then. In that last race, I thought it was Tom Sturm’s C/Gas modified Chevy. But no one can remember. I have talked to Eddy Grist of the Grist Family. He was on the return road with his family after his dad had just made a run in A/Gas. He saw the whole explosion, resulting fire and crash. It was something he will never forget as quoted to me recently. There were other families and racers on this return road, but they remain a mystery. If there are any contacts you may know, photographers that were there in 1960, racers, families, drag strip staff, etc. someone may have taken some photos or movies. Please let me know. By the way, after our clutch explosion and resulting fire, the Lions safety committee made it a rule that no aluminum, Moon gas tank(s) would be allowed inside of the cab of any vehicle. Everyone had to move it in front or to the rear of the car. Our friend, Atts Ono, (who was instrumental in helping us get our car ready, was in our pit crew, and helped in the immediate tear down after the explosion) moved his Moon tank in front of the motor, out of the cab, in his own 40 Willys build, later. (I used to be a contributing editor for Street Rodder/Chopper Magazines from inception to 1975 when I drifted away from cars until recently. I have used up all of my old contacts from back in those days, so any help is appreciated.) [email protected]
My brother (James) and I built a 1940 Willys Coupe in the early 1960. After racing our 1958 black Chevy Impala in the A/Stock class almost every week at Lions, we thought it would be fun to build something faster. The 40 Willys was set up to run 6 Strombergs on the 283 SBC motor (LaSalle trans, 4:11 Chevy rear) first and ran well at Lions. The Willys then had a full rebuild to 292 c.i. small block Chevy, Howard cam plus full kit, Jahns pistons, ported & polished heads, Joe Hunt Mag, with a 671 supercharger and 6 Strombergs on top. It was one of the first 671 kits available for SBC motors. The car was red primer, no insignias, Traction Master bars, and black rims with Bruce slicks. It ran in the C/Gas class with times in the 12:60’s et all day on August 13, 1960. (Several steel plates were added to the floor of the trunk for rigidity and to meet the rules of the C/Gas class competition) We were in the finals at 9:00 pm against the class champion and my brother had a two car lead just past the tower. He was at least 3 cars ahead by the traps, when the clutch blew and exploded the Moon Tank in the cab. Later, my brother told me he tried putting out the fire with the on board extinguisher, it did not work as the fire was too strong. The car was on fire going through the traps and my brother jumped out going about 60 mph ( as told to us by the racers on the return road) The car immediately turned right and crashed into the chain link fence. We tried over 7 bottles of fire extinguishers to no avail. My brother was put into an ambulance and taken to the local hospital. He had 3 degree burns over 30% of his body and face. The car burned to a crisp, wedged into the chain link fence. (the next day, Atts Ono and I found shards of metal wedged into the dash, door, glove box, etc, The legal scattershield was nowhere to be found. There was a huge hole in the floor of the cab where the explosion had ripped open an escape route of flying pieces. The moon tank was melted away, the bolts were the only thing left, and the glove box door was slightly melted from the heat.) We took the burned out car back to Atts Ono’s house for disassembly. Then after an all-day de-construction, we trailered the burned out car to a salvage yard near Lions dragstrip. I am trying to get together anything I can about my brother for his two sons. (He sadly passed away in 1992) He was a very quiet guy and his sons never knew of his car building, drag racing days. That was a silent period of his history that I want to show his two sons. If there are any photos or videos that you have or know of floating around your friends from back in those days of our Willys that would be extremely helpful. Digitizing our old movies made me start this search and fill in that silent period of his racing history. Sadly, we lost all photos of our 40 Willys in the zillion house moves since then. In that last race, I thought it was Tom Sturm’s C/Gas modified Chevy. But no one can remember. I have talked to Eddy Grist of the Grist Family. He was on the return road with his family after his dad had just made a run in A/Gas. He saw the whole explosion, resulting fire and crash. It was something he will never forget as quoted to me recently. There were other families and racers on this return road, but they remain a mystery. If there are any contacts you may know, photographers that were there in 1960, racers, families, drag strip staff, etc. someone may have taken some photos or movies. Please let me know. By the way, after our clutch explosion and resulting fire, the Lions safety committee made it a rule that no aluminum, Moon gas tank(s) would be allowed inside of the cab of any vehicle. Everyone had to move it in front or to the rear of the car. Our friend, Atts Ono, (who was instrumental in helping us get our car ready, was in our pit crew, and helped in the immediate tear down after the explosion) moved his Moon tank in front of the motor, out of the cab, in his own 40 Willys build, later. (I used to be a contributing editor for Street Rodder/Chopper Magazines from inception to 1975 when I drifted away from cars until recently. I have used up all of my old contacts from back in those days, so any help is appreciated.) [email protected]
RRUSS from the HAMB filmed this video