The smell of scorched rubber mixed with nitromethane signaled the opening of the Palm Beach International Raceway last Sunday (Sunday, Sunday, Sunday), at the PBIR Memorial Vintage Car Show and Nostalgia Drag Race. When originally constructed in the 1960s, PBIR was the name it took and remained until performance parts mogul Dick Moroso bought it in 1981 and renamed it Moroso Motorsports Park. Investors purchased it and have recently completed phase-one of a multi-million dollar renovation that has included a total reconfiguration of the road course and the dragstrip to allow events to be held simultaneously.
Sunday’s event saw a car show with over 380 entries featuring rat rods, resto-mods, originals, hot rods, racecars, muscle cars and trucks. On the dragstrip were old-school dragsters including front-engined Top Fuelers, Alcohol dragsters, Funny Cars, Pro-Stock, Super Stock, Gas-Altereds, Fuel-Altereds, which did their best to light the tires, and trip the lights.
Drag racing innovator and legend Don Garlits brought Swamp Rat VI from his Ocala, FL museum for static display, while others including collector Nick Smith brought the old Holman and Moody-built Gas Ronda longnose Mustang match racer.
Some participants in the events had other reasons to show. Wade LaPlatte from Jefferson, New Jersey, brought his father, Harold LaPlatte’s 1964 Plymouth Savoy aluminum factory drag racer. One of 55 made, it is only one of 23 left, and is itself, a survivor, showing in original beige paint, with 426 cubic-inch race hemi underhood, and the big word “Satellite†painted on the side doors. When uncovered, it was found in non-running condition. It is scheduled to undergo a restoration to running order in the spring.
While mostly a celebration of old-school vintage drag cars, the event did feature a few up and comers. Among them, 18-year-old Samantha Neild of Jensen Beach in her 1923 Model T-altered Nitro Dragster. Starting with junior dragsters at the age of ten, her current car is basically a funny car chassis with abbreviated body. Temperamental at times, it’s as fast as it is unwieldy. With wheels lifting and chassis tubes twisting, her best time of the weekend was 7.63-seconds, at 172 mph.
The track is currently awaiting re-certification from FIA and will continue to hold weekly drag racing as well as special events and driving schools on the road course. It will also be used extensively for off-season testing by drag teams from around the country.
Words and photos by Mark Elias.
