Drag Racing T-Shirts
Description: This design includes a large Bee Line Dragway imprint on the back and a small AHRA logo on the front making it twice as cool! On July 20, 1963, ground was broken for a drag strip to be built on the Salt River Indian Reservation in what was then a pretty rural area in Scottsdale, Arizona. Jim Rodgers, national 1962 C/S drag champ, built the track on eighty acres of land leased for ten years from the Salt River Pima Indian tribe. Directions to the track were given as being four miles north of the McDowell Road on Arizona Highway 87. It was a 60-foot wide quarter-mile asphalt strip, with seating for 2,000 people, and a pit area to accommodate 300 cars. It opened for every-week Sunday racing on October 6, 1963, under AHRA sanction.
Description: More American Graffiti is set over the course of four New Year's Eve holidays beginning in 1964 and tells four separate stories, one of which is that of John Milner, the head honcho of the racing scene in the first film, as his drag racing career advances. John's story follows him and the Milner Racing Team crew through a series of personal and professional ups and downs, culminating in a fatal finale. This Milner Racing Team design is a replica based on a screen used tee, ensuring it's accurate to those seen in the film.
Description: Conceived in 1959 by the Smokers Car Club of Bakersfield as sort of an East vs. West challenge, the March Meet (aka United States Fuel and Gas Championships) became much more than that. Held at Famoso Bakersfield Raceway, the event's reputation as the most fierce outlaw drag race brought competitors from coast to coast. Winning the event gave a drag racer immediate caché as the race was that tough to win in its heyday.
Description: While organized drag racing came about in 1951, it was in the early '60s that the big three started paying attention. Detroit began quietly building stock-looking cars stuffed full of high-performance parts and no factory warranty, aimed squarely at taking drag strips by storm. With this new breed of off the lot drag racers, increasing numbers of people were suddenly able to get into drag racing without having to build a car from scratch, and boy did they ever. Once the bug had bitten them, they were all in as drag nuts and their stock racers began the never-ending modification process that all hot rodders go through in pursuit of speed.
Description: Hurst Hemi Under Glass is the name given to a series of exhibition drag racing cars campaigned by Hurst Performance between 1965 and 1975. Each wheelstander was based on the current Plymouth Barracuda for the corresponding model year. The car was so named because the fuel injected Chrysler Hemi engine was placed under the Barracuda's exceptionally large rear window. The result of the rearward weight transfer was a "wheelie" down the length of the drag strip. The Hemi Under Glass was developed by Hurst Corporation to showcase their products in the A/FX class - precursor to funny cars. In 1965, George Hurst hired Wild Bill Shrewsberry of Mansfield, OH, an accomplished drag racer who had raced for both Mickey Thompson and Jack Crissman.
Description: Weber Speed Equipment started out in 1945 as Weber Tool Company, making some of the first aluminum performance fly wheels. As the company continued to expand their speed parts catalog with cams, clutches, and heads, becoming increasingly popular with hot rodders and racers alike, they changed their name to Weber Speed Equipment. Aside from making high quality, extreme high-performance parts, one of their biggest claims to fame was their 'blow up proof' guarantee on their flywheels, something that was a big draw to those pushing higher horsepower and revs in the early days of drag racing.
Description: Super Stock & Drag Illustrated was founded by John "Monk" Reynolds, publisher of Eastern Drag News and owner of Pennsylvania's US30 drag strip. The first issue was November 1964 and the magazine published continuously until June 1996 when it was re-titled 'Drag Racing' and only made it a few more years until a final issue in March 1999. The magazine was a thoughtful mix of drag racing coverage, tech articles, and street machines, which gave it pretty diverse appeal to gear heads of all sorts.
Description: The original racing slicks for drag racing and other applications were simply recaps of varying quality, but in 1952 things changed when purpose-built, first-run drag slicks were produced, changing the game and upping performance for decades to come.
Description: Keith Black was an American producer of high-performance drag racing engines. Black first made a name for himself in the mid-1940s in boat racing when he set a world record in his second time out at the Salton Sea running one of his first performance engines. He opened Keith Black Racing Engines in 1959 and by 1961 his boat racing exploits included nearly 50 international and national records. Drag racing teams took notice and Black’s builds for the drag strip became one of the winningest engines in the NHRA in the ’60s and his aluminum engine blocks would dominate the market throughout the ’70s. The engines Keith Black produced were based on the Chrysler 426 Hemi, Chevy Big Block, and Oldsmobile Big Block designs.
Description: Great Lakes Dragaway is a quarter mile dragstrip in the Town of Paris, Kenosha County, near Union Grove, Wisconsin. The drag strip opened in 1955, making it the 2nd oldest continuously operating drag strip in the country after Inyokern Airport closed. #1 is Redding Raceway in California, which opened in 1953. In the early days of the track, races were started by a flagman (before drag strip Christmas Trees) and cars sometimes raced four abreast.
Description: Like many early drag strips, Deer Park began life as an airfield and as post-war America went crazy for drag racing, runways previously used by the military during the war effort were the perfect place to scratch that itch. After opening in 1953, it wasn’t very long before Deer Park Drag Strip was the straight line scene’s place to be in the Spokane, Washington area. The track’s history was interesting and varied, and like all drag strips, there were plenty of great and not-so-great things about the place over the years. As drivers started pushing the limits of the speeds the track could safely support, construction began on a more modern track facility, Spokane Raceway Park, ending the nearly 20-year run of Deer Park Drag Strip.
Description: When people think of early speed parts manufacturers, they usually think of the Southern California hot rod scene, so Drag Fast Speed Shifters catches them off guard. Based out of Seattle, Washington, Drag Fast handcrafted some of the best shifters around beginning in the late ’50s. Utilizing larger diameter shift rods and the inclusion of adjustable shift stops like a Competition Plus, Drag Fast made top-notch stuff that was built for drag racing.
Description: In 1923, George Wight opened an auto parts yard on Gage Avenue in Bell, California. The shop was a combination of salvage yard and machine shop, and it catered to the race crowd in the early days of dry lakes racing. George began removing speed equipment from the junkers he bought. George sold the speed equipment separately under what eventually became Bell Auto Parts. Bell Auto Parts is one of the first, if not the first, speed shop in the United States and it didn't take long before it was the center of racing and rodding activities for the greater Los Angeles area.
Description: Midwest Auto Specialties was an early mail order speed equipment merchant. Based in Cleveland Ohio, with a branch in Indianapolis in 1967 and multiple retail stores throughout Ohio, they shipped nationwide. They carried an unbelievable selection of speed equipment and custom car parts making them a true hot rodders resource. The emphasis was on racing and street performance, but especially drag racing. Shifters, intake manifolds, exhaust headers, ignition systems, adapters, camshafts from many manufacturers plus racing steering, and dragster wheels They carried it all and for most people who wanted to soup up their car, they simply couldn't get these items locally, so Midwest Auto Specialties hooked them up by mail!
Description: Founded in 1925, Mallory initially developed OEM ignition systems for many early cars, but by the '50s, they were known for their aftermarket systems for hot rods and drag racers who needed more oomph to get their high-compression engines to light and for those needing more adjustability for fine-tuning and keeping their monster motors humming along. Mighty Mallory was a fun superhero inspired character introduced in 1962 and was most commonly found on decals handed out at drag racing events.
Description: Founded in 1964 in Columbus, Ohio, Nationwise was a chain of auto parts stores in the United States. In 1974, Nationwise partnered with Columbus-based engine builders, The Rod Shop, sponsoring a series of highly successful drag racecars. In stores, a Rod Shop section was created as kind of a speed shop inside of a parts store. In addition to go fast goodies from all the big names, Nationwise also sold Rod Shop branded performance parts. These parts were typically embossed with NRS (Nationwise Rod Shop), making them easy to identify by collectors, even decades later. The Rod Shop partnership ended in 1987, and less than a decade later, Nationwise became insolvent, and closed all stores on Sunday, October 15, 1995 at 3:00 PM.
Description: The B&M Hydro Stick became the only patented four-speed automatic racing transmission in history when it launched in 1961. Based on the popular Hydramatic line of transmissions, the B&M Hydro Stick allowed racers to manually shift their automatic transmissions. In a time when manuals ruled the track, B&M’s Hydro Stick changed the game by making it possible to keep an automatic transmission in low gear until the driver decided to upshift.
Description: Foulger was a Blue Oval dealership on Huntington Drive in Monrovia, California and was one of the first dealerships to dive headfirst into drag racing, sponsoring several drag cars in the '60s and '70s. Their racing logo definitely reflected the times and their top competitors, most notably the 440 powered Plymouth Roadrunners.
Description: Perfect Products began forming fiberglass hoods, scoops, and body panels in the early '60s as a white label supplier to other companies. By the late '60s, they had had started advertising direct sales in the various hot rod and drag racing magazines, selling via mail order though their catalog. Whether you needed a bolt on hood scoop or a one piece front clip, Akron, Ohio's Perfect Products was the best in the business.
Description: By the '50s, drag racing was becoming more organized, largely due to the efforts of the American Hot Rod Association. Dirt fields sprouted bleachers and concession stands, and then beautiful paved tracks with safety fences and elaborate pit areas as drag racing became big business. Being a racing-crazy state, Indiana was not immune to this, and so a famous track was born in 1954 in Hobart, Indiana, just east of I-65 on the north side of US 30. For tourism purposes and making it easier for folks to find, the track was said to be in the much larger city of Gary, Indiana which was just a few miles north of Hobart. The track became a favorite for fans and drivers alike and quickly became known as the place "where the great ones run."
Description: Based in the town of Norphlet in Union County, Arkansas, Macmillan Oil Company began producing their Ring Free line of motor oils in 1923. The company was highly successful in promoting their products through sponsorships of motorsports ranging from flat track motorcycle racing and powerboats, to air racing and grand prix events, leveraging them to make their 'race proven' claims. Ring Free products continued to be popular throughout the '60s and '70s, but in as more high-tech formulas from new companies arrived in the '80s, Macmillan Oil Company's fortunes began to wane, and by the end of the decade, they had ceased operations.
Description: Founded in 1957, Holman-Moody was for years the official racing contractor for Ford as they race prepped GT40s, A/FX Mustangs, Cobras, Falcons, and various stock cars for NASCAR, NHRA and numerous other auto racing series from their shop in Charlotte, North Carolina. They prepared race cars that were driven by some of the best drivers in the world and would eventually transition from racing team support to an all out racing factory. Now Holman-Moody was not only building and racing their own cars, they were building complete, turn-key race cars and selling them to other teams. They would eventually begin offering their legendary engines and signature race parts so that even those who couldn't pop for an all-out race car to get a taste of th
Description: Atco Dragway was built in 1959, with the first racers (Motor Masters Hot Rod Club) started at the top end, racing towards the starting line. The club hosted the official opening day on Memorial Day weekend in 1960, making Atco Dragway the oldest drag strip in New Jersey. The sanctioned track has held more than 250 events in a single year, making it one of the busiest tracks in the country. After 63 years of service, the South Jersey racetrack abruptly announced it's closing in July 2023, canceling all scheduled events and causing waves of upset throughout the drag racing community.
Description: Founded in 1924,Echlin was a leading manufacturer of automotive replacement parts, steadily growing through a series of acquisitions of smaller companies that could provide instant access to expansion areas of interest. One such company was Ace Electric, a manufacturer of components for alternators, generators, and starters acquired in 1970. Echlin leveraged Ace Electric to get into the high-performance ignition system market in 1972. These racing quality ignition parts were marketed under the name ACCEL which, despite fierce competition, soon became the leading name in the field and a popular upgrade among hot rod, muscle car, and drag racing enthusiasts.
Description: The only way to get big stroke in the early decades of hot rodding was taking an existing crank, building up the journals through welding, and then machine finishing it, and that is what Alex Alexander had a knack for. As a welder, machinist, and avid hot rodder, Alex started making his own welded strokers in the '50s. As orders stacked up from word of mouth, he eventually had to admit that he had a business and formalized his operation as the less than creatively named 'Crankshaft Company' in 1965. From mild to wild, Crankshaft Company could build it and build it right, whether it was a street driven small block or a top fuel big block, the originator of the welded stroker could be counted on to go the distance.
Description: Don "The Snake" Prudhomme is recognized as one of the greatest drag racers of all time. In 1962, Don first made his mark in motorsports when he won the Top Fuel class in Bakersfield, California. One of the biggest names in all of drag racing, and one of the winningest Top Fuel drag racers in the country, Don has driven dragsters and Funny Cars, earned consecutive series titles, and broke the 250-mph barrier, but it's his work over the years to achieve improved safety through chassis and equipment design standards that has improved drag racing for everyone.
