Thread: easy TRIVIA question for Thursday

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In the early days (when Uncle Bob could still drive), drag racing promoters saved a buck on their purse cost by giving what instead of cash?....it was so unpopular with the racers that other drag strips advertised that they paid cash. What did they give?

mike in tucson

Although they did pass out plenty of trophies, that is not the answer. By the way, all of the trophies in the old days were real wood with real metal....zero plastic. I have one left (from 1964) that has real walnut for the wood parts.

Hotrodpaint....according to the story, that guy needed a landing strip for his "import" business and he decided that a drag strip offered a dual-use opportunity. He also was reputed to have "buried" his competition.

I think in Tucson it was pot. That was a by-product of the local track operation. :-)~ Just kidding!

I don't know about the "buried" part.... but I can vouch for the races being stopped so the plane could land.

An interesting sidenote is that, while he was out on bail for the first charge, they caught him flying it into another location!

Originally Posted by HOTRODPAINT

I don't know about the "buried" part.... but I can vouch for the races being stopped so the plane could land.

An interesting sidenote is that, while he was out on bail for the first charge, they caught him flying it into another location!

Are you talking about "crazy" Larry Anderson??? He drew 42 years for running an "import" business.

This would be the owner of the former Tucson Dragway.

Didnt they give out savings bonds or something?

WINNER!!

The cheap track owners gave a crummy savings bond. If you won
$25, they gave you a bond that cost them something like $17 and you
had to sit on it for six years (?) for it to be worth $25.

Tracks advertised "CASH, NO BONDS" if they gave real money

Probably S&H green stamps

You could have told them you'd be back in 6 years to win it! :-)

Wasnt the guy's name Gerald Johns???? Court records show "Lyle Gerald Johns"

Yes. He is the one who owned the old track. The government had rezoned the land for development, and later closed him down for noise pollution.

...or your international landing strip. LOL!

Here in the valley of the sun, they call it "Eminent Domain". Used to work pretty good until one little brake shop owner whose shop had been a fixture in the community got some PO'd lawyers to fight for him pro bono. The municipalities aren't quite so froggy to try their old tricks as fast as they used to.