AUTHOR: EMMANUEL BURGIN

San Diego Drag Racing And The Bean Bandits

It is 1955. James Dean is starring in “Rebel Without a Cause,” Elvis is recording at Sun Studios, Jack Kerouac is writing “On the Road”, and in Northern California on a crisp October night at the Freemont Drag Strip, two thousand people stand on either side of a quarter mile long strip of pavement, leaning ever forward until those at the end look as if they are bowing with their heads turned toward the starting line, their eyes transfixed on a banana yellow dragster.

Drawn on the nose of the enclosed, mid-engine dragster is an upright bean on wheels, wearing a sombrero and a bandit’s scarf. It is the logo of the famous Bean Bandits Car Club. Behind the wheel, revving the ‘54 Ford 280 cubic inch, flathead motor sits Joaquin Arnett. With his welterweight boxing physique, strikingly large-tooth smile and thick black hair, Arnett has become the darling of the screaming girls.

Earlier that day, Arnett and the Bean Bandits smoked all comers, turning 148-mph, a speed faster than they had ever gone in a quarter mile. Now the meet officials had granted their request for a speed run–an uncontested race against the clock. In 1952, the Bean Bandits were the first to surpass the 130-mph mark, clocking 134.32.

In 1953, they pushed the record to 147.02. But four months ago, Lloyd Scott in his Oldsmobile “Bustle Bomb” went 151 mph, and now the Bandits want the record back. Arnett revs the engine again, listening for any glitches with ears as sensitive as a sonar operator. Satisfied, he signals thumbs up to the flagman. The Bean Bandits yell to Arnett “let her rip.” The flagman leaps into the air, snapping the white starter’s flag, and two thousand fans inch closer, further narrowing the corridor, wanting to see history made.

The engine roars. Arnett is hurling the yellow dragster between the rows of screaming fans who toss hats and handkerchiefs into the air as he rushes past. Through his goggles he stares at the blackness at the end of the tunnel and in his peripheral a continuous streak of white flashes. The steering wheel jerks and shimmies. Arnett tightens his grip. There is no room for error; there never is when you are going fast.

“San Diego enjoys a long and storied drag racing history, and the Bean Bandits are a huge part of that heritage. Yet their story remains buried in plain sight. Told here in photographs garnered from private, personal, and historical collections, the 1950s pioneering exploits of Bean Bandits leader Joaquin Arnett and his contributions to that racing history come to life. The San Diego native led his Bean Bandits to over three hundred wins during their career, winning the first National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Championship in 1953. In 1992, Joaquin Arnett was named to the International Car Racing Hall of Fame, and in 1994, he was awarded with a NHRA Lifetime Achievement Award.”
-Arcadia Publishing

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FROM THE BLOG

Walkabout

A quick note on Walkabout. I took the name from the Australian Aboriginal rite of passage. In Aboriginal society, when a young male comes of age, he is sent to live in the wilderness and to walk the same paths his ancestors walked. In so doing, the journey becomes a spiritual communion with them.

Like some of you, I too am on a Walkabout. And the stories I find and tell here are my effort to see the path more clearly.

Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images
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