Deer Park Days: Memories of an American Sport [Print Replica] Kindle Edition

This is the story of the long-ago early days of the American sport of drag racing as remembered by dozens of the now-old men who raced at the drag strip in Deer Park, Washington. The story opens in the latter years of World War II when the United States Army Air Force built what became the Deer Park Airport, and for thousands of youthful car enthusiasts, the Deer Park Drag Strip. The story’s primary focus is on the years 1944 through 1964, this last year considered by many to be the sport’s “Golden Year.” An Epilogue summarizes racing activities through 1974 when drag racing ended at Deer Park.The story is organized into three major parts detailing the eight years of administration by the volunteers of the Inland Empire Timing Association and the first three years by those of the Spokane Timing Association, organizations then typical of drag strip operators around the nation.Special sections tell the stories of the historic Bustle Bomb, perhaps the most famous car in drag racing, built and driven by Spokane’s Lloyd Scott; the creation by Deer Park racers of nitrous oxide injection and its first ever use in drag racing; and the success at the Bonneville Salt Flats by racers with local drag racing roots.Other highlights include a telling of the stories of several local racers who achieved success in drag racing beyond Spokane, stories of the children of local racers who had success in auto racing, and photos and information about several cars that raced at Deer Park and which are still with us. All of this is brought alive through extensive use of several hundred photographs and dozens of anecdotes, many humorous to the point of hilarity, arising out of hundreds of conversations with the men and women who were there. Read more