CHRISTMAS SEASONS
PAST
Photos from DRO library.
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| Typical Snowbird National Open. Don
Garlits and Clayton Harris at DeSoto Memorial Speedway circa 1978.
Garlits won. |
Slowest month of the year in drag racing? Gotta be December. No contest.
The holiday season is being fired up, it's snowy, cold and rainy in
about 45 of 50 states, and most adults are working on the most affordable
means of bribing their kids for a decent interval. You know what I mean?
You'll get that "Let's Create Some War Orphans" realistic video battle
game, provided you eat everything on your plate this month, junior.
Either that, or Santa's coming down the chimney and into your room,
jerk you onto his sleigh and drop you into a car crusher.
Realistically, the only states that had December programs were, surprise
of surprises, California and Florida. In the early days, some southern
states like Texas and a few others, put on some shows, but mostly it
was the two coastal extremes that featured the big stuff.
Since the late 1970s, Florida has been the only state to consistently
put on holiday or near-holiday galas with its NHRA Rebel Winter Series
shows. The Turkey Trot race at Gainesville Raceway, the now Citrus Open
at Moroso Motorsports Park in Miami-Hollywood, and the Snowbird Open
at DeSoto in Bradenton.
In fact, California's last real December match that we can recall with
any vividness (is that a word?) was a big jet dragster gala in 1980.
In December of that year, Hayden Proffitt's "Hot Streak," Al Eierdam's
"Emergency-1," Doug Rose's "Green Mamba," "T.V. Tommy" Ivo, Scott Hammack's
"Smoke n' Thunder," Doug Brown in Jim Deist's "Deist Mobile," Les Shockley's
"Shockwave," and Craig Arfons' radical "Green Monster" filled the bill
with Arfons cleaning house. Arfons ran times of 5.620/290.00 and 5.589/289.38
in the early rounds, and then a final-round 5.580/290.00 that whacked
Shockley.
The big problem in regards to the future for these shows was that the
match-race scene was giving off the death rattle. It hadn't dried up,
but since hot rod associations didn't run in December, the shows, at
least in the Golden State, were few and far between. For example, the
last Orange County Manufacturers Funny Car Championship (held in October
or early November) was held just six weeks before the above jet show.
Irwindale, the second-to-the-last last weekly pro track died in 1977,
and Orange County followed six years later. Twasn't always thus, though.
In the first 25 years or so of the sport, December developed a decent
enough legacy.
And as I've said before ... to wit.
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