Moldy Marvin's 8th Annual RFP 2k7

Palmdale International Raceway opened its 4,000' by 70' strip of asphalt for business in Oct. 1964.

The grand opening was held on June 12 & 13 1965 under the management of Scott Franklin. Around 1969 it closed for a short time, then opened and closed several more times up to about 1974. The mid 70's brought a new name, King's Antelope Valley Raceway.

In 1980 Bernie Longjohn took over and that's when the track's name changed to Los Angeles County Raceway (L.A.C.R.)

On June 12 & 13 1965 during the grand opening of Palmdale International Raceway, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth and George "The Bushmaster" Schriber along with the Ed Roth "Yellow Fang" were here to race that weekend.

George and Ed were partners, George the driver and owner with Ed as his sponsor.

I spoke with George just the other day; he had mentioned that even though L.A.C.R. could never be compared to some of the other larger tracks out there, because it has always had its issues with altitude the heat, wind and dirt, that still, L.A.C.R. was always one of his favorites and when ever he came up here to race that Ed would join him.

George reminisced that how in the summers he and Ed would come up and how all the racers would get together around 6:00pm in the evening and race all night long, that how the gang would take a brake from racing and have watermelon eating contests and tell war stories of broken parts and burning rubber! Then in the wee hours of the morning when they were all finely tired of racing, that how the cool desert breeze would kick in and they would all take their sleeping bags out on the track where the heat from the evenings festivities would keep them cozy while they gazed at the clear skies and the stars that shined down upon them.

The Bushmaster with "Roth's Yellow Fang" show muscle as they arm wrestle the track manager, Glen Easterling on June 13, 1965 Opening Day, Palmdale International Raceway A.K.A., (L.A.C.R.)

For the past 3 years I've held our annual Rat Fink Party and Kustom Kulture Extravaganza here at L.A.C.R. and during that period I along with a small group of dedicated racers have tired to save this landmark but to no avail, it looks like this year will be our last.

With this in mind I wanted to do something special in regard to the theme of this years show so I started with the show image and I called Ken "Mitch" Mitchroney long time friend and art director for the Ed Roth estate. Ken's creative intuition pretty much sums it up with Rat Fink Driving the infamous "Yellow Fang". Rat Fink representing the general themes of the show the Yellow Fang representing historical value of the race track and obviously Roth's influence with yours truly hanging on for dear life while trying to stop the forward movement of progress and the destruction of a beloved landmark, one of the last quarter mile tracks in Southern California .

A Drag strips "Standing" in history can be judged by the number of black stripes and the weight of the burnt rubber it has bared over the decades.

See if you recognize some of the following names they have all raced here and left their mark not only in the history of drag racing but the history of this track.; John Mulligan, The Surfer's, "Flaming" Frank Pedregon, Jim Nicoll, Connie Swingle, Don Prudhomme, Gas Ronda, Shirley Shahan, Bill Martin, Goob Tuller, George Bolthoff, Dave Uyehara, Marcellus & Borsch, Bobby Hightower, Hayden Proffitt, George "The Bushmaster" Schriber, Harrel Amyx, Dale Emery, Paula Murphy, Danny Ongais, Gary Gabelich , Sush Matsubara, Gerry Glenn, Harry Payne, Joe Winters, Ronnie Martin , Tom Toler, Junior Trucker, Eddie Florney, Dave "Nanook" Hough, Bill Alexander, Jimmy Boyd, Tom Hunnicutt, Gary "Blazen'Hazen", John "Zookeeper" Mulligan, "Iron Mike", "Sneaky Pete", John Garrison, Bob "Homer" Thompson, and that is to name just a few.

L.A.C.R. has also served as home to a plethora of clubs such as, The Road Kings, The Bean Bandits, The Early Riders, The Tyrants, The National and International Brotherhood of Street Racers, The Mutilators, The Wheel Tramps, The Rod Tossers, The Lordsmen, and associations like So Cal ProGas Assoc, So Cal Super Street Assoc,. NDRA, WTA and the ANRA. L.A.C.R. has been host to events like The Pontiac Drag Days, The Antique Nationals, American Nostalgia Racing Assoc, NMRA, The World Jet Finals, The Annual Big Rigs 4 Kids Truck Drags and our own Rat Fink Party and Kustom Kulture Extravaganza!

Like George and Ed, I too have spent a lot of my time here at this track, maybe even more, my father used to bring me here when I was a kid and here I am today, I even moved less than 5 miles from this track 6 years ago in order to be closer to it. L.A.C.R. is like Cheers it is a place to go where everyone knows your name, I've made some great friends here, I've seen a lot of action, I've been sideways, almost hit the wall a couple of times and so far I'm still here and alive to talk about it.

Yup and I think it is just a little ironic that Ed "Big Daddy" Roth and the "Bushmaster" along with the "Yellow Fang" were here on opening day and here we are today to say good bye to her.

Maybe we can't save our beloved track, but there is a group of us who do have a dream and we've made a promise to find a way to build a new complex in this community, but we can't do it alone.

Won't you join us to help find a solution? Please visit www.SaveLACR.org for more information and please keep in touch.

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Rat Fink� name and device and Ed "Big Daddy" Roth
are trademarks of Ed Roth � 1999/2000/2001/2002/2003/2004 /2005/2006/2007 Rat Fink device � Ed Roth 1984/89

(Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, Rat Fink, Yellow Fang, Beatnik Bandit, Road Agent, Outlaw, Mysterion, Tweedy Pie, Stealth 2000, Surfite, Wild Child, Race ?, Angel Fink, Robin Hood Fink, Mothers Worry, & Dragnut are all trademarks of Ed Roth (C) '99)

Last Up Date 07/25/07

Rat Fink.Party and Kustom Kulture Extravaganza TM Moldy Marvin TM
@utomated Entertainment Little Rock CA 93543