Drag Socks
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: Rocco & Cheater's Speed Shop was located at 316 1st Avenue North in Birmingham, Alabama. Brothers Rocco and Cheater Sanfilippo originally opened the business up as a general repair shop in 1944. The boys incorporated in 1946 and their shop quickly became a magnet for hot rodders looking to soup up their cars for the drag strip and for circle track racing. Rocco & Cheater's both sponsored and campaigned cars in numerous races, making them a common name among racers. Dominic, a younger brother, joined the business in 1954, and Domenic's son, Sam, took it over in the '70s, eventually bringing his son in as well. While the shop closed in 2007, rumor has it that the stock remains in storage and is occasionally opened up by appointment...
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: Harris Glenn Milstead (October 19, 1945 – March 7, 1988), better known by his stage name Divine, was an American actor, singer, and drag queen. Closely associated with the independent filmmaker John Waters, Divine was a character actor, usually performing female roles in cinematic and theatrical productions, and adopted a female drag persona for his music career.
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: Drag racing was a far different motorsport back in 1967, when construction concluded on the original quarter-mile. "Supertrack,"a ground up drag strip project funded by a hard-to-believe budget of over $1,000,000. In 1967, drag racing was still struggling to shuck its notorious public image as weekend recreation for juvenile delinquents wearing the inevitable black leather jackets and greasy jeans, but OCIR worked to change those perceptions by building a best-in-class facility that would soon play host to some of the top racing events in the country, including the PDA Championships where legendary drivers and their notorious cars brought the thunder to Orange County.
Description: A decade after the first cars packing automatic transmissions hit the streets, there was an increasing need for mechanics who could repair them and one such shop was Jerry's Auto Service, who opened up shop in 1957. As the story goes, Jerry wasn't just happy with repairing them - he wanted to make them better. From his small shop in the Saugus area of Santa Clarita, California, Jerry developed what many would consider the first aftermarket shift kits to improve the performance of an automatic. Whether you wanted to shave a fraction of a second on the drag strip or just be able to tow with more confidence, Jerry's Auto Service could make it happen.
Description: Back in the mid '40s, racers and hot rodders Red Wilson and Tony Capana joined forces to start a speed shop in Los Angeles. They called it WILCAP – the first three letters of their last names – and before too long, their shop was well known by gear heads in So Cal and beyond thanks to their innovative products and extensive mail order catalog. In addition to distributing a wide array of speed parts, WILCAP was probably best known for their machining their own line of custom flywheels, transmission adapters, and engine hardware. Eventually, WILCAP was also the place to get nitromethane and alcohol fuels. They made their own custom blends and sold them by the gallon and by the barrel, making getting out to the track that much easier.
Description: Speed-O-Motive got their start manufacturing custom pistons for flathead racing engines, but eventually began distributing speed parts and offering high-performance engine rebuild kits for pretty much every V8 application out there. If you couldn't swing by their Los Angeles area shop, you could mail order your parts, even complete engines after they begin offering turn key balanced and blueprinted crate racing engines. These crate strokers all ran Speed-O-Motive racing pistons, and the rest of the build leveraged top shelf goodies from other manufacturers.
