Quote: This is by far one of my favorite vids and has been posted on Moparts a few times.
For Joe Pappas, curious what it was like racing at OCIR, Ontario Motor Speedway, Riverside, Lions, etc (tracks now gone)... were these considered "super tracks" of their day? What were they like vs. East Coast tracks? Seems California had tracks around every corner.. Or better yet....was territorial pride on the line..East Coast vs. West..etc. Had to be fun to trailer all the way across country back then and put a serious spanking on the competition In some cases, if the competition knew you guys were in town, would they look to race elsewhere to avoid the smack down
We raced mostly at Ontario and Pomona. It seems like almost every track we ever raced at or tested at in California is now gone with the exception of Pomona. We tested a lot at the old Irwindale track as well as Orange County, and even once at Ontario. I think that Orange County was near or next to El Toro Marine Air Station. Later, when I lived in the Bay area in the mid 70's I raced with guys like John Jodauga (John is an Associate Editor for the National Dragster) at Fremont when he brought his racecar into town.
Like I said, everything is now gone. The California tracks were all pretty cool and had good pedigree on their side. I especially liked testing at OCIR because it was a very nice facility and they had an on-site chef that would make all us a hot lunch every day. That was really first class! No balogna sandwiches for us...
As far as east coast vs. west coast stuff went I guess it never entered my thoughts back then. There were typically 4-8 teams that you knew could win at any time. Certainly Sox, Landy, Jenkins, Nicholson, Fons, and the Missile fit in there. I honestly don't think that there was a "territorial' feel to much of what we did. There was always plently of room for a local PS team to make the show as we tended to qualify 32 car fields back then. Everyone knows what a thrill it is to qualify even when you know in your heart that you don't have much of a chance unless your opponent breaks or red lights.
Since we shared our test info with all the other Chrysler PS teams, we would often be joined by them during one of our test sessions so our relations with them were great. Back in Michigan, we would open up our shop to them when they were in town. I can't tell you how many times the Sox & Martin rig and the Landy rig were parked together outside our shop and all 3 teams were tearing apart their cars on the floor. It was just what we did - we never thought much about it.
Or better yet....was territorial pride on the line..East Coast vs. West..etc. Had to be fun to trailer all the way across country back then and put a serious spanking on the competition 
In some cases, if the competition knew you guys were in town, would they look to race elsewhere to avoid the smack down 
