Dave Kommel fell in love with drag racing in 1960 as a 10-year-old reading about Don Garlits in Hot Rod Magazine. He went to his first race in Union Grove, WI, in 1966 and started shooting trackside, mainly on the west coast, in 1972 through the ’70s until forming Auto Imagery in 1979 with Richard Shute. From 1980 through 2013, he traveled the country shooting NHRA, IHRA, IDBA, ProStar, various independent drag races and a little bit of NASCAR. Now retired, Dave still shoots races that catch his fancy and has begun scanning his extensive cache of slides and negatives from the 1970s.
Don Carlton in the “Motown Missile” Pro Stock Barracuda at the 1972 Winternationals. Carlton was one of the stars of the early days of Pro Stock, but lost his life in a crash while testing in 1977.Pat Foster in Barry Setzer’s Vega Funny Car at OCIR in 1972. With Setzer’s money and Foster’s expertise with the clutch, this car was always a serious contender for low e.t. and top speed.Walt Rhoades (near lane) and Carl Olson side by side at the 1972 Bakersfield March Meet. At the time, the March Meet was biggest independent drag race in the country and annually drew very large fields of Top Fuel dragsters from every corner of the country.Willie Borsch in the Marcellus & Borsch “Winged Express” AA/FA at the 1972 Bakersfield March Meet. Willie passed away in 1991, but the iconic roadster is still thrilling crowds today driven by Mike Boyd.“Wild Wilfred” Boutilier’s BB/FC at Irwindale in 1974. Wilfred was one of the early hitters in Pro Comp and owns the distinction of making the first 6-second alcohol funny car pass.Although best known as a crew chief and tuner on many top teams, Lee Beard also drove dragsters and funny cars in the 1970s. Here, he is running Top Fuel at Salt Lake City in 1975.Leroy Chadderton in the Chadderton & Okazaki Vega Funny Car at the 1975 Bakersfield March Meet. Chadderton was best known as a fuel altered pilot, but also drove several funny cars, including Roland Leong’s “Hawaiian”.Don Waite’s big-block Chevy-powered A/Altereds were a fixture in Division Competition Eliminator wars for many years. This shot is at the Sacramento points race in 1975.James Warren at Irwindale in 1975. Known as the “Ridge Route Terrors”, James and partner Roger Coburn were one of the top teams on the west coast for a number of years.Don Prudhomme and Ed McCulloch square off in the Funny Car final at the 1976 Winternationals. Prudhomme took the win, 6.26 to 6.36 to earn his second straight Winternationals title.Lee Hunter heats the tires in his Mustang II Pro Stock at Ontario Motor Speedway in 1976. Hunter was a player in the west coast Pro Stock wars from the ‘70s into the mid-80’s.Chassis builder Davey Uyehara in the Oswald & Uyehara “Kamikaze” Monza Funny Car at Fremont in 1976. Uyehara was known as “The World’s Oldest Living Kamikaze Pilot”.Cal Jackson in the Jackson Bros. “High Heaven” AA/FA at OCIR in 1976. The Jacksons regularly made the trek from Denver to SoCal and Tucson to compete with the west coast Fuel Altered contingent.John Force at the 1977 PRO Winternationals at Beeline Dragway in Phoenix. At this point in time, Force was still struggling just to qualify and who could have guessed what the future held for him?Tony Nancy’s “Revelliner” Top Fuel dragster at OCIR in 1977. Tony’s cars were always among the best looking out there and usually very competitive.Lee Lebaron in “The Savage” AA/FA at Irwindale in 1977. The late ‘60s through the mid-‘70s were the heydays of Fuel Altered action in SoCal and by 1977, the altereds were on the downside and being squeezed out by Funny Cars.Before there was such a thing as Super Gas, Pro Gas was alive and well at Sacramento Raceway running on a 9.50 index. Dave Riolo (seen here at Sacramento in 1977) was one of the early players in Pro Gas and a 9.50 doorslammer was pretty fast for that era.Gary Cornwall in Ed Wilson’s “Battle Born” Top Fuel dragster at OCIR in 1977.Bob Johnson in Johnson & Novak E/Stock ’69 Mustang convertible at the 1977 Salt Lake City point race.John Lingenfelter running B/Econo Altered in Comp Eliminator at the 1977 Winston Finals at Ontario Motor Speedway. This car was previously Bob Glidden’s Pro Stock ride during the 1976 season.Dale Armstrong’s AA/DA Pro Comp entry at Fremont in 1978. Dale was one of the great innovators in the sport and very successful as both a driver and crew chief.Daniel Cyr running A/Econo Altered at the 1978 Fallnationals in Seattle. Cyr’s Cobra was actually Chevy-powered.Once upon a time, Funny Cars did long crowd-pleasing burnouts. “240 Gordie” Bonin smoking the tires at the 1978 Fallnationals in Seattle.Dennis Baca at the 1978 Winston Finals at Ontario Motor Speedway. Baca was known as “The Carpetbagger” because he owned a carpet and flooring company in northern California.Bill Shrewsberry’s “Berry Wagon” wheelstander sponsored by Knott’s Berry Farm at OCIR in 1978.
