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Post by Eric on Feb 5, 2008 17:01:36 GMT -5
The way it was a couple of years ago before the giant hole and the sand mountains next to the track.ruined it No place to go and get some seat time until the March Meet . In years past we would have gone up to LACR on Friday night for some test and tune , jump into the trophy bracket race and maybe win another dust collector for $20. There was almost always some event going on Saturday and maybe even Sunday there that you could race in this time of year. Make some changes on your heap and get plenty of passes . It wasn't Indy but it was there....I truly hated going there the last year or two because of the next to impossible conditions there but I would go anyways . It was close , it was cheap , It was Drag Racing , It was a great time and I miss it . There is very little going on in the drag racing world in Southern California right now - You can put mufflers on and go to Irwindale and run 1/8th mile on Thursday night with 200 imports there or get one or 2 passes if you're lucky at Famoso on their pre March Meet test and tune day ......Where's LACR when you need it? When it closed I thought to myself "I never have to go there again" If it was still open you'd see me there this Friday night I miss it
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Post by Steve Gonzales on Feb 5, 2008 17:19:31 GMT -5
Eric,
I think alot of people here up north felt that way 20 years ago when Fremont closed down. I remember going there alot as a kid with the family and every time I drive on 880 through Fremont my heart gets heavy knowing it's not there anymore. I think in all aspects of life we sometimes take things for granted even when we feel those things are not what would we'd like them to be.
Steve
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Post by Don Taros on Feb 6, 2008 1:31:07 GMT -5
Eric,
I think that it has been closer to 5 years that the conditions have been nearly impossible for anything quicker than an NE II car. About the only thing you could do on test & tune days in an NE 1 car is to see if everything worked, the E.T.'s were pretty much meaningless.
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Post by redsled on Apr 7, 2008 23:05:58 GMT -5
i miss the people the track and the fun , i am stuck at irwindale cuz it is close , no more getting trophies on friday or wed night. I cherish the ones I have but it only reminds me of the good times gone & now the thursday night 2 hour waits to make a pass . Not as fun as it was at LACR. Oh well that is racin , i guess.........
steveb
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Post by CreeperLarry on Jun 16, 2008 15:20:03 GMT -5
:-[I was only fortunate to run LACR at the Antique Nationals starting in 01'.I live in Fresno, and that was a haul to get there,but definitly one of the funnest experiences ever.I ran 5 different cars, probably shoudn't have been allowed any of em, but what a blast.My pal John n I ran eachother 3 years in similar built cars,just to see who could smoke who.I won all three times.........maybe cheated on a couple!Nothing but fun,plain and simple.Will miss LACR for sure, always remember it tho.
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Post by KEN 7737 on Jun 17, 2008 8:25:36 GMT -5
THE ONLY THING I DIDNT LIKE ABOUT LACR WAS BERNIE! I FEEL BERNIE IS THE CAUSE OF THE TRACK TO CLOSE...IF HE TREATED THE RACERS BETTER IN THE PAST THERE WOULD'VE BEEN MORE RACERS THEN MAYBE JUST MAYBE IT COULD'VE BEEN SAVED. I STILL RACED ALL THE WAY TO THE LAST DAY EVEN THOUGH IT SUCKED I STILL WENT. I AGREE WITH ALL OF YOU, I MISS LACR TOO. STEVE IS RIGHT WE ALL TAKE THINGS FOR GRANTED.
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Post by BillPOPSmith on Aug 16, 2008 7:34:36 GMT -5
Gee, I am sorry that you did not like Bernie, As One who worked at LACR and as a racer, The things Bernie did to keep the track running the last few years, to keep the track as safe as possible and to keep it there as long as it was, WENT WAY BEYOND what anyone else would have done. (not to say anything about the money spent) Most racers only knew Bernie as the one to go to when you had a B&%^$#H. Most of you never knew Bernie as the guy who was there when you blew up your last trans a week before division 7 finals, Walked up and handed you a new Mikes transmission, AND wanted NOTHING in return. Most racers knew Bernie as a hard A%%, But never tried to see the man. when your family was down on luck, it was Bernie that was there. when a racer broke his or her car on a wed, or Friday nite and didn't have a way home, it was Bernie that asked Jeff to make sure they got home. So you say he could have treated the racers better, ALL YOU HAD TO DO IS TRY TO SEE THE MAN Behind LACR. Sure I miss LACR, BUT I MISS THE MAN WORSE. BILL (POP) SMITH nhra7137   |
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Post by KEN 7737 on Aug 17, 2008 2:13:16 GMT -5
Bill Im glad you like the man,Its not really that I dislike him, it was how he treated the racers and his employees. Take a trip to funtucky most the racers there are from LACR and they all had the same complaint. Bernie. I have plenty of stories good and bad since I have racing LACR from 1987. Race safe will see you out there. Ken
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Post by Ron Gribble on Aug 17, 2008 12:56:12 GMT -5
Great to hear from you Bill. I resoundly second the attitude. Bernie "did not notice" a couple of minor tech issues with my car the very first time I showed up at a dragstrip. Circled the things in my rulebook, explaining how I had misentrepeted them etc. way cool. I had spent all my play cash for a couple of months to get there. (college student). I saw him make many calls, some bad some good. He tried his tail off to make it a fun safe place to race. Does anyone remember California Classic? There are lots of egos at a track, emotions tend to run high. I dont expect everyone to like all of anyones calls. ----But wouldnt you like him back now? ? Ron Gribble & Sandy a.gearhead@verizon.net Please say Hi to Jeff. |
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Post by fastfiat on Aug 17, 2008 17:32:00 GMT -5
I had lots of fun running the classic series in my Deuces Wild nova. I got reacquainted with drag racing after a 25 year absence at LACR and have to say that Bernie and the entire staff always treated me well. Your right about the tech deal up there Ron. You pretty much had to police yourself because once they got to no you they hardly ever looked at your dates. I think i ran my out of date belts for 6 mounts once before anyone noticed.
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Post by Ron Gribble on Aug 19, 2008 0:23:08 GMT -5
Actually, that is not what I intended to imply.
Bernie was way cool to me on my first clueless outing & that probably made the difference in my coming back.
I know several of my friends that were sent home for going too fast for thier equip.
There were several occasions when I overdrove things. He could have gotten in my face, but never did.
I was always treated fairly, and most everyone else was as well.
I saw some calls I did not agree with. So what. Its a business, not a democracy. I do not agree with all of Butches calls either, but they are his to make, & he makes them fairly as well.
Ron
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Post by snarlin on Aug 19, 2008 9:42:36 GMT -5
A message from Bernie that was sent to me last week:
"See ya in Phoenix!!!!!"
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skip
Junior Member
Posts: 91
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Post by skip on Aug 19, 2008 14:13:37 GMT -5
One of the stories we have from LACR was when we first started running there in 1992 with an Enderle injected 327 in a Dragmaster chassis that we had borrowed from Dennis Garrett (Ridgecrest). It had been 30 years since I'd run a car and the Dragmaster was something my friend Mark Cox and I had pieced together. Anyhow my oldest boy Scott had just turned 16 and was getting his feet wet with the dragster. Bernie watched us closely as we were "new" to his track. He noticed that we were missing a few "safety" items, but nothing that would have hurt us. He still let us run and was always helpfull to us whenever we showed up.
Through the years when Scott, Jason and Mark got their licenses Bernie was always there making sure that we did it right and the boys were safe. In our eyes, as bad as LACR could be, we loved the track.
Skip Spence
Spence Family Racing
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