LIONS LAST DRAG RACE REUNION,

December 3, 2011 Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, Pomona, CA

To only consider the infamous “Last Drag Race” at Lions is to miss the rich and colorful 17 year history of the drag strip.  The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum did an excellent job of presenting both aspects of the storied track with an informative and entertaining event on Dec. 3^rd.  This was accomplished by a panel composed of two class winners at that last race; Bill Bagshaw and Tom “the Mongoose” McEwen; the irrepressible top fuel driver Tommy Ivo; the longtime starter and racer, Larry Sutton; and, Judy Thompson, first wife of Mickey Thompson,  track manager for 10 years.  The 2+ hour discussion was expertly moderated by Dave Wallace, editor of Hot Rod Deluxe magazine.

The Lions Last Drag Race Reunion was hosted by Tom “the Mongoose” McEwen.

The Lions Last Drag Race Reunion Drew an Over-Flow Crowd

In introducing the panel/moderator to a standing-room only crowd, Greg Sharp, Curator of the Museum, noted the following about each panel member:

Greg Sharp Introducing the Panel and Moderator

Judy Thompson

Judy Thompson, the first wife of Mickey Thompson the track manager, was there from day one and helped get the place going; she wrote and handed out time slips, read the clock, took tickets, and wrote the results for Drag News.

Bill Bagshaw

Bill Bagshaw raced in pro stock and in 1970 his pro stock car was named best engineered car, he won March Meet pro stock three times and the Last Drag Race in pro stock.

Larry Sutton

Larry Sutton was a starter and drag racer at Lions. He started working at Lions in 1956 at age 13 and stayed for the Last Drag Race.  He didn’t miss one day of work the entire time.  He was there when Garlits’ transmission exploded at the start line in 1970. The Garlits’ car hadn’t stopped moving when Larry ran up with a fire extinguisher.

Tom "the Mongoose" McEwen

Tom McEwen began his career in 1953, before he had a drivers license,  when he hot wired his mother’s Olds and took it to the drags in Santa Ana.  At his 1964 match race with Don Prudhomme,  Ed Donnovan, remembering his Kipling, named him the Mongoose (Prudhomme was known as the snake due his cobra fast starts) and it stuck forever. McEwen won the match race.  A career spanning 4 decades included sponsorship by Fortune 500 companies.  He won the 1972 March Meet in top fuel, 1970 U.S. Nationals in a funny car and dozens of other races and titles.  He is a member of the Drag Racing Hall of Fame.  McEwen won the Last Lions Drag Race in a funny car race with Don Prudhomme.

Tommy Ivo

Tommy Ivo went to England in 1964 with the United Drag Race Team.  During his career he drove everything from stockers to jets.  His first car was a 1952 Buick. He retired in 1982.  Ivo has been named the grand Marshal for the 2012 CHRR. He is a member of the Drag Racing Hall of Fame.

Dave Wallace, the Moderator

Dave Wallace, the panel moderator, started writing for Drag News at age 14 and was the editor from 1975-1977.  In 1977 he joined Hot Rod Magazine and today serves as editor of Hot Rod Deluxe Magazine.

In addition to the panel, many of the drag racing famous and infamous were in the audience, including:  Don “the Snake” Prudhomme;  Floyd Lippencotte, Jr. (driver of John Peter’s Freight Train); Art Chrisman (owner/driver of the Hustler); Roland Leong (the Hawaiian); Al “Mousie” Marcellus (owner of the Marcellus-Borsch-Boyd Winged Express), Mike Kuhl (Kuhl & Olson, Fast Guys, top fuel dragster), Don Long (chassis builder), Linda Vaughn (Miss Hurst Golden Shifter); Steve Chrisman (driver of  current NHRA top fuel car Nitro Fish).

The photos above show:  Greg Sharp talking to Don Prudhomme; Mike Kuhl; Greg Sharp talking to Art Chrisman; Greg Sharp with Roland Leong; Linda Vaughn; and Floyd Lippencotte,Jr.

The panel reminisced about Lions Drag Strip, officially Lions Associated Drag Strip (“LADS”), from its inception to the last race.  The name Lions came from the many local Lions Clubs that raised the money to build the drag strip.  The strip’s motto was “drive the highways – race at Lions”.  Mickey Thompson was hired as track manager and the first race was held on October 9, 1955.   Lions ultimately became known as the greatest drag strip.   As Greg Sharp, Curator of the Museum, noted in his opening remarks “..the Gasser Wars started there, the Snake versus the Mongoose started there… in 1967 there were 90 top fuel cars trying to qualify…It started the careers of  McEwen, Ongias, Don Prudhomme,  Keith Black, made them famous…It was just a magic time.”

Larry Sutton recalled the time Don Garlits’ foot was severed in a transmission explosion at the start line and gave an account of his rescue of a fan seriously injured during the explosion.  Sutton explained why he always wore a black hat – to keep the rubber out of his hair, of course.  Larry also talked about his stealing the Lions Drag Strip sign from under the tower clock a couple weeks before the track closed.  Then track manager Steve Evans was so angry he hired security to protect the track until it closed.  It wasn’t until years later that Evans learned Sutton had taken the sign.  That sign was at the Museum during the Reunion collecting signatures of anyone who raced or worked at Lions.

The Sign from Under the Tower Clock

Bill Bradshaw talked about the slickness of the track surface before the use of VHT.  He also stated that when VHT was used, once applied it had to dry to get sticky.  Sutton said that at Lions after the VHT was applied to the strip, they would light the strip on fire to dry the VHT.

Tommy Ivo and Tom McEwen relayed a story of a practical joke Ivo played on McEwen at a hotel.  Tommy snuck into McEwen’s room set the alarm clock for 3:00 a.m. and hid it in a ceiling vent with the grate screwed down so that when the alarm went off in the middle of the night McEwen couldn’t get to it to turn it off.  In return McEwen held Ivo out a 12^th floor window and threatened to drop him if he did anything like that again.

All the panel members talked about the last race held December 1-2, 1972 with Bagshaw winning pro stock and the match-up between the funny cars of the Snake and the Mongoose, with the Mongoose taking the win.  The final event at the last race was between the top fuel cars. Carl Olson driving the Kuhl and Olson car won the race, making Jeb Allen the driver of the last race car down Lions Drag Strip.

However, Sutton noted, that he had the distinction of being the last person to travel down the strip, when after the top fuelers had run, he and a buddy were towed down the strip in an outhouse set up on skids.  Sutton said as the speed increased reaching 65 mph they feared that an abrupt slow down at the end of the strip would tip them and the overly full outhouse over.  His buddy opened the outhouse door and cut the tow rope.  The outhouse hit the guard rail, spun around and stopped upright.

The panel agreed that the out-of-control crowds at the last race posed a danger not only to the crowds, but to the racers, as people streamed out onto the track between runs throwing beer bottles and other trash on the track. Grandstands were ripped apart, guardrails were unbolted, chain link fencing was pushed down, and signs were stolen, during the hunt for souvenirs from Lions Drag Strip.

And so the Last Drag Race held 40 years ago brought an end to racing at Lions – the greatest drag strip ever.

Two of the cars driven by Tom McEwen, a Mike Khul car and John Peters Freight Train were on display in front of the Museum.

Photos and memorabilia from Lions Drag Strip were on display.

All the above photos, and many more, are available on SmugMug.  Photos may be purchased as prints or downloaded to your computer or smart phone.   Click on the SmugMug link (the green face) at the top left of the page or in the sidebar at the right.

All content and photos are copyrighted and may be used only with permission of  the author.