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.
Raymond Beadle’s “Blue Max” Mustabg II at Irwindale in 1977. Beadle won three NHRA championships from 1979 through 1981 and his Blue Max entries were always fan favorites.Tom McEwen has a half car length lead on an unknown front-engine car at the 1972 March Meet. Note the aero aiding canard wings ahead of the slicks.Larry Christopherson in the “Arizona Wildcat” Vega Funny Car at Fresno Dragways in 1973. Look closely and you can see a piece of the blower belt stuck in the injector. The ensuing crash left the body on the right side of the track and the chassis against a telephone pole on the left side. Christopherson was uninjured in the crash.There was a time when BUGs (back up girls) actually had to push the cars back. Here, Wayne Stoeckel is assisted by a trio of long hair ladies at the 1974 March Meet.Phil Featherston in the Panella-Minor Opel and Ed Sigmon at the finish line in a very close Competition Eliminator race at the 1974 Winternationals. Featherston went on to the runner-up spot that weekend and won the event in 1975 and 76.Unknown 1948 Anglia bracket car racing at Irwindale Raceway in 1975.T.C. Christenson’s twin-engine Norton TF bike at the 1976 Winston Finals at Ontario Motor Speedway. At one time, this was the baddest fuel bike on the planet!Brad Anderson’s BB/FC at Fremont in 1976. Anderson won three national and seven divisional championships, and both son Randy and daughter Shelly had very successful driving careers.Rick Chavez, “The Cisco Kid” FC at Irwindale in 1976. Chavez raced out of Albuquerque for just a few years in the mid-70’s.Ray Higley’s “Climax” AA/Fuel Altered “T” at Tucson’s Fuel Altered Nationals in 1976.Richard Tharp in the Candies & Hughes TF dragster at the 1976 Winston Finals. Tharp won two of the eight national events in ’76 and earned his only Winston championship that year.Dave Kanners in the Maskin and Kanners AMC “Hornet X” Pro Stock at the 1976 Winston Finals. Kanners won the event and finished 4th in the final standings behind Larry Lombardo, Warren Johnson and Wally Booth.Dale “The Snail” Emery in “Big Mike” Burkhart’s FC at the 1976 Winston Finals. Emery, best known as the pilot of Rich Guasco’s “Pure Hell” AA/FA, also drove numerous funny cars and then became a well-respected crew chief.Ron Smith’s “HMS Odyssey” Mustang Mach One FC at OCIR in 1976. This car was previously campaigned by John Hoven with a variety of drivers.John Force in the “Brute Force” Monza at OCIR in 1977. He didn’t look like a future 14-time world champ, but who knew?Dennis Geisler’s “Instant T” AA/FA on a dry hop at OCIR in 1977. This is what happens when the flash fails to fire on the photographer’s camera, but he gets lucky and picks up another flash from the side.Englishman Clive Skilton at the 1977 March Meet. After driving both TF and FC in England, Skilton came across the pond and competed in the states for a few years before opening a Chrysler/Jeep dealership in Southern California.NHRA Senior VP Graham Light was a Top Fuel racer at one time. This shot is from the 1977 Winston Finals.Frank Mazi’s CC/A at the 1978 Winternationals. Mazi raced in Competition Eliminator with this Opel GT Altered and later a Firebird Trans Am from the mid 70’s through the late 80’s.Dave Condit at the 1978 March Meet. Condit started driving a TF car in 1965 and was a popular fixture on the west coast Funny Car scene from 1969 through the early 80’s.Ken Finke’s very clean “Black Ice” F/Gas ’57 Chevy racing in Modified Eliminator at the 1978 Fallnationals in Seattle.Don Wolff’s Super Stock/M Chevy II wagon at the 1979 Winternationals. Wolff won 3 national events in a long career including the 1979 U.S. Nationals.Billy Wash’s Pro Stock Monza at the 1979 Winternationals.Gerry Steiner shed the Vega body from his Funny Car and added a wing so he could compete with the Top Fuel boys at Fremont in 1979.Vern Moats BB/FC at OCIR in 1979. Vern recently passed away at the age of 77 after a 40-plus year career that saw him garner 16 national event wins, 56 divisional event wins, and 15 division championships (second only to Frank Manzo).
