Nostalgia Drag Racing Socks
Description: What is now known as "STP" was invented by German scientists during WWII as a response to Germany's need for lubrication of the German war-machine vehicles. WWII US Army divisions in Africa that overtook German Afrika Korps vehicles alleged that the Germans employed an engine oil that is now known as STP formulation full-strength in their air-cooled 4-cylinder engines, which successfully traveled through the hot African Desert war-front without seizing due to friction and extreme heat. How the Germans' original chemical synthesis formulation found its way to the U.S. after WWII is not known, but most likely it made that journey along with many of the other German innovations through the distribution of technology through the spoils of war.
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: 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: What is now known as "STP" was invented by German scientists during WWII as a response to Germany's need for lubrication of the German war-machine vehicles. WWII US Army divisions in Africa that overtook German Afrika Korps vehicles alleged that the Germans employed an engine oil that is now known as STP formulation full-strength in their air-cooled 4-cylinder engines, which successfully traveled through the hot African Desert war-front without seizing due to friction and extreme heat. How the Germans' original chemical synthesis formulation found its way to the U.S. after WWII is not known, but most likely it made that journey along with many of the other German innovations through the distribution of technology through the spoils of war.
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: Oswego Drag Raceway opened in Illinois in 1955 as one of the first purpose-built drag strips in the country. Most drag strips were built on abandoned runways, but Oswego was built from scratch by Dan and Wally Smith. The brothers had inherited the farmland it sat on from their parents. The Oswego Dragway became a go-to hangout for the youth in the greater Chicago area, but increasingly fierce competition made it much more than a hangout for diehard racers. The Oswego Drag Raceway operated until 1979 and the remnants of the drag strip can still be seen from Route 34, west of Oswego if you know where to look as you pass by.
Description: From its first issue in 1955 until it's last in 1971, Drag News was known as the bible for drag racers and their fans wanting to keep up on wins, losses, and records across the country as well as seeing ads for the latest go fast goodies from the preeminent builders of the day. Covering the earliest days of the sport all the way through the golden age of drag racing, Drag News was there and while many others tried to get a piece of the action, Drag News maintained it's spot as top dog throughout it's entire run.
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: The early days of drag racing were largely a run what you brung affair, but by 1954, the true dragster shape and form had emerged and was a refinement of the earlier “slingshot” concept. Built using haphazardly assembled tube steel pipes, these cars gained the nickname “rail jobs.” In 1956, Both Scotty Fenn (on the west coast) and Pat Bilbow (on the east coast) decided it was time for a dragster chassis built of quality materials and welded by professionals. Scotty called his new company “Chassis Research, Inc.” and Pat retained his firm’s already established name, Lyndwood Welding Co. and by 1957, both had produced a pro built dragster chassis and both claimed to be the first, though depending on who you ask, that remains up for debate.
Description: The early days of drag racing were largely a run what you brung affair, but by 1954, the true dragster shape and form had emerged and was a refinement of the earlier “slingshot” concept. Built using haphazardly assembled tube steel pipes, these cars gained the nickname “rail jobs.” In 1956, Scotty Fenn decided it was time for a dragster chassis built of quality materials and welded by professionals. Scotty called his new company “Chassis Research, Inc.” and by 1957 he had produced the first pro built dragster chassis that would lead the way to an expansive line of chassis and components that would go on to make and break records throughout the drag racing world.
Description: R.A. and F.D. Stranahan are essentially the founders of Champion Spark Plug Company. Sort of. At the very least, they ended up with the patent on the Champion name which they legally and wisely used to eventually create the largest spark plug manufacturing company in the world. But it certainly didn’t start out that way. More than 20 thousand dollars in debt, and with a company that was fledgling along at best, the brothers had little choice but to move to Toledo when Willys-Overland Motor Company offered R.A. and F.D. a contract under which Champion would become the exclusive spark plug of automobiles manufactured at Willys-Overland. The deal came with the stipulation that the Stranahans must make Toledo their home.
Description: Back in the '30s, Phil Weiand didn’t have technology to assist him in finding customers for his performance intake manifolds. He did, however, have a bit of marketing savvy. Late at night, he’d go where the Los Angeles street racers gathered to set up their matches, scout out the losers of those matches, and ask them if they wanted to go faster, promising that his dual-carb manifolds would help them do exactly that. He delivered the goods and the rest is as they say, hot rod history.
1977 23rd Annual US Nationals drag racing championships Socks
by Sophie Studio
$14 $20
