[tubebender]

GREAT POST!!! I attended and participated in my first Drag Race at the old Hammer Field in Fresno in 1952 or 53 with my 38 Chevy. The airport is now the Fresno Air Terminal. I belonged to the Fresno Pan Draggers club. I’ll be 87 in a couple of months. My last race was in a FRiends 1970 SS454 here at the Samoa dragstrip across the bay from Eureka Ca...

[tubebender]

The Samoa strip is the second oldest operating strip in Ca and perhaps the US

[ETL]

I attended and participated in my first Drag Race at the old Hammer Field in Fresno in 1952 or 53 with my 38 Chevy. The airport is now the Fresno Air Terminal. I belonged to the Fresno Pan Draggers club. I’ll be 87 in a couple of months.

Wow! Thanks for sharing your story!

Look what I found!

Hammer Airfield, ca. 1952-53

I actually raced twice at Hammer Field in 1952 or 53. I was a member of the Fresno Pandraggers. I had a '38 Chevy coupe that was basically stock except for a split manifold and was eliminated early.

I remember one time when a modified Ford coupe was in line ahead of me and when he revved the engine, the modified cast-iron flywheel exploded and destroyed his legs. I was getting out of my car to help when the flagman yelled at me to stay in my car as it was not a pretty sight.

I moved to Eureka in 1954 where I helped set up the Samoa drag strip that ends almost on the beach. I think Samoa started a year before Redding and both are still holding drag races. --Leon

Ed, a good friend of Leon's, stands next to Leon's 1938 Chevy, with a foot on the running board. This photo was taken in Fresno on the day Leon drove his Navy buddy back to his base in San Diego. Leon had filled the hood vents on the Chevy and done some prep work towards painting the car. He sold it and moved to Eureka in 1954. Courtesy of Leon