Does anybody remember the old "Fremont Drag Strip"?
11-18-2010, 09:59 PM
#81
Burning Brakes
I do remember Cotati Raceway fairly well. I raced there first with my 49 Olds there in the early 1960's then later with my 56 Chevy.
That track was operated by Jim McClennan and Don Smith of Champion Speed Shop fame out of South San Francisco who also operated the Half Moon Bay drag strip operation.
Recently, a friend gave me an aerial photo of the Cotati track that was taken from a biplane circa 1921 of the oval track and it appears to be a banked 1/2 mile track made out of wood.
Just wish there was a way to scan it and put it up for everyone to see.
11-18-2010, 10:04 PM
#82
Race Director
Larry,
The mention of Vaca Valley also stirred up a lot of memories as I had something to do with it on both the opening day in September of 1956 and it's closure in November of 72.
The track was built by Durham Jones a San Francisco business man as a favor for his Grand daughter who was married to Royce Ratterman a local building contractor and his partner Harry Burdge who had a auto upholstery business in Concord.
I had the pleasure on opening day of towing the Washburn & McCullough 38 Chevy Coupe that ran in the C/Altered class up to that track from our homes here in San Pablo and it was the very first ever drag race machine to run down that track.
Sadly through out the years, the track began to decay after Ratterman left the partnership and Burdge instead of investing money back into the facility decided to build a night club on Willow Pass in Concord called the Starlite Club.
The late Bill Taggart and myself formed a partnership and took over the lease in 68 but just didn't have the capital behind us to do the major improvements that were needed to attract the real fast cars.
I left the partnership at the end of 68 but stayed on as the announcer until Bill finally pulled the plug and we both walked away in November of 72 right after we sent the final pair of cars down the track and into the history books.
As I recall, KCRA Channel 3 Sacramento TV traffic reporter Dan Shively took some aerial photos of the track some years later and you could still see the general out lay of the race course.
Sorry to have gotten off topic, there is so much I could write about Fremont (Baylands) and the time before the oval track when it was a Marine Stadium and of course Vacaville before the name change to Vaca Valley
The mention of Vaca Valley also stirred up a lot of memories as I had something to do with it on both the opening day in September of 1956 and it's closure in November of 72.
The track was built by Durham Jones a San Francisco business man as a favor for his Grand daughter who was married to Royce Ratterman a local building contractor and his partner Harry Burdge who had a auto upholstery business in Concord.
I had the pleasure on opening day of towing the Washburn & McCullough 38 Chevy Coupe that ran in the C/Altered class up to that track from our homes here in San Pablo and it was the very first ever drag race machine to run down that track.
Sadly through out the years, the track began to decay after Ratterman left the partnership and Burdge instead of investing money back into the facility decided to build a night club on Willow Pass in Concord called the Starlite Club.
The late Bill Taggart and myself formed a partnership and took over the lease in 68 but just didn't have the capital behind us to do the major improvements that were needed to attract the real fast cars.
I left the partnership at the end of 68 but stayed on as the announcer until Bill finally pulled the plug and we both walked away in November of 72 right after we sent the final pair of cars down the track and into the history books.
As I recall, KCRA Channel 3 Sacramento TV traffic reporter Dan Shively took some aerial photos of the track some years later and you could still see the general out lay of the race course.
Sorry to have gotten off topic, there is so much I could write about Fremont (Baylands) and the time before the oval track when it was a Marine Stadium and of course Vacaville before the name change to Vaca Valley
Jim,
Great stuff! I am not kidding when I say that you should write a book. This knowledge of northern Calif. racing history will be lost forever someday but not if you capture it on paper. If you wrote it I'd buy it - I'm very serious about that.
11-18-2010, 11:28 PM
#83
Team Owner
11-18-2010, 11:45 PM
#84
Team Owner
I haven't been on the Corvette Forums for some time but scanning through the different topics, this one caught my eye.
Many names popped up that I was familiar with and as a result stirred up a lot of old memories.
A little early history on the track which opened up in 1959 under the ownership of Ron and Jodie Lawrence. Prior to operating Fremont as it was called in the early days, Ron operated a drag strip in San Jose called Little Bonneville which was located near the vicinity of King & Storey Rds.
In 58 he lost his lease as developers wanted to build a housing tract and that is when the move was made and a deal struck with Southern Pacific to build the Fremont facility.
My old friend Chet Carter was the flag starter at both Little Bonneville and Fremont and another old friend now departed Ray Francisco was the track announcer at both venues.
I was at Fremont on opening day in 59 and helped announce the last race in November of 88 when it closed it's gates forever.
Many names popped up here like Hank Vincent who drove the Top Banana C/Fuel dragster that was owned and sponsored by City Garage of Hayward by Hillary Goveia who also worked as a track tech inspector.
Other names like the Max Wedge powered Street Roadster of Moses & Gilley and of course the famed Champion Speed Shop small block Chevy powered Top Fuel owned by my late pal Jim McClennan who turned over the driving to Sammy Hale after he retired.
Thanks for the stroll down memory lane, fortunately I am still involved with the sport and work as the announcer at Infineon Raceway (Sears Point) where I took the announcing position back in 1968 while still a partner at the old Vaca Valley Raceway.
The Infineon position I was told at the time would be just a short term deal by Jack Cameron who hired me and some 42 years later still there.
As I enter my 43rd year there, I often wonder to myself had they said a long term deal what that would have meant???
Many names popped up that I was familiar with and as a result stirred up a lot of old memories.
A little early history on the track which opened up in 1959 under the ownership of Ron and Jodie Lawrence. Prior to operating Fremont as it was called in the early days, Ron operated a drag strip in San Jose called Little Bonneville which was located near the vicinity of King & Storey Rds.
In 58 he lost his lease as developers wanted to build a housing tract and that is when the move was made and a deal struck with Southern Pacific to build the Fremont facility.
My old friend Chet Carter was the flag starter at both Little Bonneville and Fremont and another old friend now departed Ray Francisco was the track announcer at both venues.
I was at Fremont on opening day in 59 and helped announce the last race in November of 88 when it closed it's gates forever.
Many names popped up here like Hank Vincent who drove the Top Banana C/Fuel dragster that was owned and sponsored by City Garage of Hayward by Hillary Goveia who also worked as a track tech inspector.
Other names like the Max Wedge powered Street Roadster of Moses & Gilley and of course the famed Champion Speed Shop small block Chevy powered Top Fuel owned by my late pal Jim McClennan who turned over the driving to Sammy Hale after he retired.
Thanks for the stroll down memory lane, fortunately I am still involved with the sport and work as the announcer at Infineon Raceway (Sears Point) where I took the announcing position back in 1968 while still a partner at the old Vaca Valley Raceway.
The Infineon position I was told at the time would be just a short term deal by Jack Cameron who hired me and some 42 years later still there.
As I enter my 43rd year there, I often wonder to myself had they said a long term deal what that would have meant???
11-19-2010, 12:04 AM
#85
Race Director
Jim, we are lucky to have you as the golden voice of Infineon. You were really missed when you were off for a few months this summer to get your eyeballs done. Your wit, humor, and knowledge are greatly appreciated by all who race at our track. I first started racing at Fremont in the summer of 1984 right after I bought my C4. I polished my aluminum wheels and put in a K&N air filter. In 85, I ran the car on nitrous and eventually blew up the motor. In 86, I remember being eliminated by Ted Seiple when he drove his friend's 85 C4. He later told me he used to run ballast and remove weight as the rounds progressed and cars slowed down due to the heat (no dial in changes per the rules). Our eternal friend Dan Krucker (remember Dan?) got me interested in Wednesday nite drags at Sears Point (now Infineon) and the rest is history. Willie
11-19-2010, 01:53 AM
#86
Burning Brakes
Next to the drag strip was a very small Airport that was used by some local pilots who kept their aircraft there.
11-19-2010, 02:12 AM
#87
Burning Brakes
Thanks Willie for the kind words and it always seems that someone has a tale or 2 involving my old pal Ted Seipel.
I remember the time at Little Bonneville back in 58 when Ted and his 283 Chevy powered Austin Healy had to run Ace Bradford from Seaside in his B/Altered 34 Ford 2 door sedan for Top Eliminator honors.
In those days, it was all heads up and no handicap starts using a flag man (Chet Carter) to set things into motion.
Ted didn't win but gained the respect of many including myself.
Ted was always ahead of his time as indicated by your story and everything he did was a well thought out process. I'm proud to have him for a friend and only wish that he would start aging like the rest of us in our age group instead of looking like the eternal 39 year old that he insists on looking like.
Ahhh, the late Dan Krucker, such a nice guy and so tragic he died of cancer at such a young age. I was happy to see Gary Thompson end up with his C4 and then go on to win Division 7 Super Street championships with it.
FYI, after we broke the Dana 36 in my 87 with the 3.08 gears, Gary gave me the original rear end (also a Dana 36) that was originally in Dan's car.
Weather permitting, hope to see you on Sunday, November 28th at Infineon for the last drag race of the year...
Have a great Thanksgiving and give Lonnie a hug for me...
I remember the time at Little Bonneville back in 58 when Ted and his 283 Chevy powered Austin Healy had to run Ace Bradford from Seaside in his B/Altered 34 Ford 2 door sedan for Top Eliminator honors.
In those days, it was all heads up and no handicap starts using a flag man (Chet Carter) to set things into motion.
Ted didn't win but gained the respect of many including myself.
Ted was always ahead of his time as indicated by your story and everything he did was a well thought out process. I'm proud to have him for a friend and only wish that he would start aging like the rest of us in our age group instead of looking like the eternal 39 year old that he insists on looking like.
Ahhh, the late Dan Krucker, such a nice guy and so tragic he died of cancer at such a young age. I was happy to see Gary Thompson end up with his C4 and then go on to win Division 7 Super Street championships with it.
FYI, after we broke the Dana 36 in my 87 with the 3.08 gears, Gary gave me the original rear end (also a Dana 36) that was originally in Dan's car.
Weather permitting, hope to see you on Sunday, November 28th at Infineon for the last drag race of the year...
Have a great Thanksgiving and give Lonnie a hug for me...
11-19-2010, 02:27 AM
#88
Team Owner
If my memory is correct, after you made the left turn off of HY 101 on to Storey Rd, you then made a right turn onto King RD and drove about a 1/4 mile or so South and it was there on your left.
Next to the drag strip was a very small Airport that was used by some local pilots who kept their aircraft there.
Next to the drag strip was a very small Airport that was used by some local pilots who kept their aircraft there.
By the way, I remember Chet from Fremont. In the movie More American Graffiti, they actually had him play himself. I remember he had a pink T touring car (I think it was his) that was always parked next to the tower at Fremont.
11-19-2010, 03:31 AM
#89
Burning Brakes
Not sure what the name of that small airport was, just didn't pay too much attention but did notice small aircraft departing and landing from time to time.
Chet Carter was quite a character and took no gruff from anyone on the starting line. What many people didn't know about Chet that he was very good in his favorite past time and competed in Horse Shoe Tournaments and did very well.
Yes, his old pink touring sedan Street Rod was always parked near the base of the tower.
He had a great memory and had a million stories to tell both from the days at Little Bonneville then later at Fremont.
On the subject of More American Graffiti, I was to have a scene racing my 64 426 Max Wedge powered Plymouth against another old friend Cecil Yother and the restored Melrose Missile 64 Plymouth Super Stocker that Tommy Grove drove.
I was to get $800.00 for that scene but as luck would have it, Cecil manage to break a leg riding his dirt bike up in Grass Valley 2 days before and the scene got scrubbed.
I never let Cecil forget it and today still claims he owes me $800.00
Henry Travers who was the transportation manager of More American Graffiti contacted me a few months later for a ABC TV production they were going to do called "Hot Rod" then later released later as Rebel On The Road and hired me and my car.
Much of the film was shot up in Calistoga and centered around a spoiled character called Sonny Munn (Grant Goodeve) and his 69 Olds "Munn 's Root Beer Special" which was owned by my friend Bill Taggart.
Gregg Henry was the hero and drove a primered 40 *****'s coupe in the drag racing scenes that were all shot at Fremont which was now known as Baylands Raceway Park.
This was done in the early 1980's after George Lucas blasted on to the scenes beginning with American Graffiti in 73 or so that launched his career.
And now, you know the rest of the story and more information that you wanted to know...
Chet Carter was quite a character and took no gruff from anyone on the starting line. What many people didn't know about Chet that he was very good in his favorite past time and competed in Horse Shoe Tournaments and did very well.
Yes, his old pink touring sedan Street Rod was always parked near the base of the tower.
He had a great memory and had a million stories to tell both from the days at Little Bonneville then later at Fremont.
On the subject of More American Graffiti, I was to have a scene racing my 64 426 Max Wedge powered Plymouth against another old friend Cecil Yother and the restored Melrose Missile 64 Plymouth Super Stocker that Tommy Grove drove.
I was to get $800.00 for that scene but as luck would have it, Cecil manage to break a leg riding his dirt bike up in Grass Valley 2 days before and the scene got scrubbed.
I never let Cecil forget it and today still claims he owes me $800.00
Henry Travers who was the transportation manager of More American Graffiti contacted me a few months later for a ABC TV production they were going to do called "Hot Rod" then later released later as Rebel On The Road and hired me and my car.
Much of the film was shot up in Calistoga and centered around a spoiled character called Sonny Munn (Grant Goodeve) and his 69 Olds "Munn 's Root Beer Special" which was owned by my friend Bill Taggart.
Gregg Henry was the hero and drove a primered 40 *****'s coupe in the drag racing scenes that were all shot at Fremont which was now known as Baylands Raceway Park.
This was done in the early 1980's after George Lucas blasted on to the scenes beginning with American Graffiti in 73 or so that launched his career.
And now, you know the rest of the story and more information that you wanted to know...
Last edited by Jim McCombe; 11-19-2010 at 01:32 PM.
11-19-2010, 10:25 AM
#91
Race Director
11-19-2010, 01:20 PM
#93
Burning Brakes
Thanks Larry for putting up the link of the old Vaca Valley aerial shot.
A few years ago on a Wednesday night at Infineon, Larry Albedi walked in on me and we had a chat about his connection with Vaca Valley as the announcer for some of the SCCA races.
Larry is still active today and does the announcing work up in Petaluma and still has that dynamic voice of his.
Now there is a guy who should write a book, he is a wealth of knowledge in terms of the San Francisco Regional Chapter with SCCA.
A few years ago on a Wednesday night at Infineon, Larry Albedi walked in on me and we had a chat about his connection with Vaca Valley as the announcer for some of the SCCA races.
Larry is still active today and does the announcing work up in Petaluma and still has that dynamic voice of his.
Now there is a guy who should write a book, he is a wealth of knowledge in terms of the San Francisco Regional Chapter with SCCA.
11-19-2010, 02:43 PM
#95
Burning Brakes
........back in the day before they re-named it to "Baylands Raceway"? Probably only if you're a "geezer", but here's a clip circa 1965 and a good lesson to get out of it if it gets funny off the line:
http://s19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...ntheplanet.flv
http://s19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...ntheplanet.flv
After I sent out the link of this topic on the Corvette Forums informing them both, here is the reply I received from Jamie.
Jim,
Tell Caboboy that the '55 Chevy crash was taken from our video "The Shoebox Dream".
The car crashed at Baylands in 1988 just before the track closed.
...Jamie
11-20-2010, 01:10 AM
#96
Le Mans Master
Nice reading all this nostalga about Fremont Drag strip but, I'll also admit to spending many hours plying my skills at such venues as "Little Fremont", "The Safeway Plant", Bailey Road, Canada road, Brotherhood way, and The Great Highway. Luckily I survivied my childhood stupidity at these many bay area venues.
Fremont was a great place to "test&tune" to make money on the weekends
Fremont was a great place to "test&tune" to make money on the weekends
11-20-2010, 11:07 AM
#97
Drifting
Member Since: Jun 2000
Location: Redwood City Ca
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Nice reading all this nostalga about Fremont Drag strip but, I'll also admit to spending many hours plying my skills at such venues as "Little Fremont", "The Safeway Plant", Bailey Road, Canada road, Brotherhood way, and The Great Highway. Luckily I survivied my childhood stupidity at these many bay area venues.
Fremont was a great place to "test&tune" to make money on the weekends
Fremont was a great place to "test&tune" to make money on the weekends
11-20-2010, 11:49 AM
#98
Former Vendor
Recently a customer of mine gave me some old Corvette magazines. One of them, Keepin' Track of Corvettes Dec 1979, has an article titled "The Largest Corvette Happening in California". Its a story about the 4th annual all Corvette drags at Fremont Raceway. Vette Magic before it was called Vette Magic? There are 3 pages of pics, including a $50,000 Grand Sport, and a brief story of who won the brackets. If anybody wants it, drop me a pm with your address and I'll mail it to you.
11-21-2010, 12:09 AM
#99
Instructor
I remember Gas Rhonda running a '60 Starliner there with the new 360 horse 352 and giving Chevy a run for the money for the first time in years. Trouble was they had a 3-speed that used to drop the linkage ... early days. There was also a guy running a '57 Fury in A Stock Auto that would blow everyone into the ice plant.
11-21-2010, 06:06 AM
#100
Burning Brakes
I remember Gas Rhonda running a '60 Starliner there with the new 360 horse 352 and giving Chevy a run for the money for the first time in years. Trouble was they had a 3-speed that used to drop the linkage ... early days. There was also a guy running a '57 Fury in A Stock Auto that would blow everyone into the ice plant.
I couldn't recall any 57 Fury but do recall two 56's Fury's that were beating up on the Chevy's, one was a white 56 driven by John Colvard from Vacaville sponsored by "Norm's 76" and the other was Joe Davis from San Jose who was sponsored by "Sieman's Garage".
That is the same Joe Davis who later ran the beautiful Jewel T Roadster of Davis & Ingram then later a 65 Ford Funny Car called the "Colt 45"