Fontana (?) Drags

I memory serves, they held drag races at the old California Speedway during the '70s. Could those be the Fontana drags of which Richard speaks?

["The old California Speedway"? Now I'm getting more confused. -- DA]

Oops - make that the old Ontario Motor Speedway.

[Got it. -- DA]

The Fontana drag strip was located about a mile east of Etiwanda Blvd on the north side of Foothill.

[That makes much more sense than "east of Vineyard." -- DA]

The Village of Heritage is built on at least part the old site. Just east of East Ave. on the east bank of Etiwanda Creek, roughly parallel to the power lines.

I've got a pdf of a flood control map that seems to be from the early '80s or late '70s. Dating clues are:

The 15 Fwy ends at Philadelphia, north of the 60.

The Ontario Motor Speedway is still shown.

The only new houses in Rancho east of Haven are the Rochester tract.

There is a little cluster of buildings at Rochester and Foothill - I presume the warehouse that now houses Omaha Jack's and of course the all-pink Cowgirl.

Anyway, the drag strip is labeled "Fontana International Raceway" on this map.

[Fontana International Raceway! It seems like the grander the name, the less impressive the actual facility. Thanks for the help, Steve. -- DA]

How disappointing. I was expecting an article about crossdressers on Sierra Ave. :(

Oh how I remember the Fontana Dragstrip. We used to race there on Saturday nights in the early '60s. Cost us $2.50 each car -- $1 admission, $1 to race and a $.50 pit pass. It was an IHRA certified track. I used to race my '56 Ford and my friend raced his '55 Buick Century. Never could beat him.

A club we knew used to bring their '55 Chevy with Buick V-8, '39 Ford trans (with Lincoln gears). Also used to race at the L.A. Fairgrounds on Sunday mornings. Of course in the late '60s, it was grudge night at the old Irwindale Dragstrip. Think we paid around $5 to race. I raced my '68 Road Runner (still have it). Never could get into the 13's. Oh well. Dave, thanks for the great memories!

[Hey, thank YOU for sharing yours. -- DA]

I remember Fontana well. It was my second home, and we raced our old 455 Olds dragster there. I also was there the night the guy lost his head in a bad crash. That was Les Richy, he drove a '65 or '66 orange Mustang for Russ Davis Ford in Covina. I have some old pictures also when Connie Kalitta, Art Arfong (Green Machine) jet rail and his brother Walt in the Calif. Kid ran there. Remember Dick Landy?

Yes, the Fontana Drag Strip was on the N.E. Corner of East Avenue and Foothill. I saw it in action (from a distance) riding past in my parents' car along Foothill in the 1960s to early 1970s (closest I ever got).

Remnants of the facility were still there well into the late 1990s. The Old Irwindale Dragstrip was replaced by the Miller Brewery in the late 1970s.

Yes, there was ALSO drag racing at Ontario Motor Speedway (OMS). NHRA ran both the Supernationals and the Winston World Finals at OMS (during the 1970s 'til 1980). I attended the '79 World Finals at OMS.

I remember the dragway. When I was just a young pup my father C.R. "Dick" Dutton Jr. used to race his Corvette there. I was just in 3rd grade (9yrs) but my father would take me and that 'vette to the track and do whatever kind of damage he could. I remember there was a sort of motorcross dirt hill that ran alongside of it and we would ride our dirtbikes up there while Pop raced. We moved from CA in spring of '72 to Nashville, TN. In the back of my mind I never forgave him for uprooting all of us but in time I forgave him.

He never made any money from it but up till his death last year he always spoke proudly of it. He always had an itch for racing, wether it was NHRA or helping his friends here in Nashville at the HILL, he was a junkie for it. I think it was the highlight of his life. Things were a lot easier back then plus all the family was around. But time and health finally got to him. He proudly wore his racing t-shirts and spoke of all the cars and drivers like they would walk thru that front door at any moment and they would catch up on old times gone by.

Nowadays my brother and I are all that's left of an era in our family that has gone by. I still to this date can close my eyes and see my Pop's Corvette running down the track while I rode my old Suzuki on that old dirt hill.

He was my best friend and I will think of him everytime I see a car doin a burn-out.

[Rick, thanks for adding a touch of family history and emotion to this thread. -- DA]

As Derek said, it was at the NE corner of East Ave & Foothill.

I lived up at the top of East above Highland (now 30 frwy) and could hear them loud and clear on Sundays when they still ran fuel cars. We would ride our motorcycles down there and watch them run sitting on a flood canal that ran parallel to the strip.

It was owned at one time by Mickey Thompson who I believe added the International to the name. I'm not sure when it was built but the racing ended in the late '70s-early '80s. The track became very ratty to the point the parking lot/pit area was just dirt.

I took my 55 Chevy there in 1970-71 to the Sunday run what you brung, but they had stopped sanction racing a few years back. They had moto-x races there for a few years before it sat empty.

You can search for vintage photos of the heyday, mid to late '60s, when front engine fuelers were all the rage. They would have full 32-car fields of both fuelers or funny cars. During this time was also pre-funny car with A/FX cars.

I have great memories of Fontana. Back in the mid sixties, growing up in Mira Loma, my neighbor was the graphic artist who designed and printed the tickets for the Fontana Drags. Every week he would give us a stack of tickets.

My dad would load us all up in the Rambler station wagon along with my buddy Jimmy and head to the drags for the night. I remember most the nights when the exhibition cars (the wheel standers) would run, like "The Little Red Wagon" and "Hemi Under Glass." I even saw Tommy Ivo's 4 engine dragster there smoking all 4 tires through the entire strip!!

In the mid '80s I flew model helicopters and airplanes off the old dragstrip, the tower was still there. Not sure when it all disappeared?

I'll be heading to Pomona on Father's Day with my son Kyle and see if we can spot some of the old cars at the museum I remember.

Thanks for memories and a spot to comment – Dave

Fontana was open from 1955 to 1972. First SoCal strip to have lights and run night drags. Originally Fontana Drag City, then Mickey Thompson International Drag Way. Mike

I remember this track for all the big top fuel shows they had there. I remember one day there were 20 to 25 front motored fuel cars in line outside waiting for them to open the gates. That was around 68 or 69.

That was when drag racing was fun.