October 2026 • By Kev Elliott & Tony Thacker •  Presented by FirstUpApparel.com & MicksPaint.com

Dust, wind and even a little light precipitation did not deter eager drivers racing their hot rods in the inaugural SCTA-RPM Dirt Drags held on the hallowed El Mirage Dry Lake where people have been racing for more than 100 years.

Formed in 1937, the Southern California Timing Association has been sanctioning land speed racing both at El Mirage and Bonneville while the RPM group headed by Justin Bass and Russ Hare has primarily been organizing old school 1/8-mile drag racing for vintage cars for more than 10 years. A big thanks also to the Hornets Car Club and the Hernandez family, Emily, Jesse and Martha who worked so hard behind the scenes.

Early in 2026, the SCTA and RPM groups put their heads together and hatched a plot to co-promote a drag race on the dirt for Pre ’36 cars powered by 4-bangers and flathead V-8s representing mid-fifties or older build style. Races were heads-up and flag started just like the early days.

Stefan Immke flew in from Cologne, Germany to drive his wife Katrin’s T restored by Jay Dean.

People came from England, Finland, Germany, and Sweden to watch and one German Stefan Immke flew in from Cologne, Germany to drive his wife Katrin’s T. “It’s an old forties race car,” said Stefan. “The restorer, the late Jay Dean of Nostalgia Ranch, traced its history and you can see from the decklid that Jack Truesdale ran 113.63 at El Mirage in 1949, then as guys got into drag racing Dick Hogan raced it at Paradise Mesa, won at Pomona in ’55 and won at Riverside in ’58. It’s amazing to have it back on the lakebed 70 years on.”

In fact, everybody attending commented that the event was historic in that it conveyed the spirt of early hot rodders racing on the very ground where the sport got its start. Bill Lattin, Vice President of the SCTA, and one of the main proponents of the event remembers as a kid riding in his dad’s Deuce roadster as they dragged across the lakebed, said, “The dirt drags were a blast from the past and we look forward to doing it again in 2027.”

David Steele of the American Hot Rod Foundation driving Tommy Sparks’ ‘29 rpu.

David Steele, Director of the American Hot Rod Foundation said, “Sixty-five early-style hot rods lined up in the staging lanes at El Mirage and raced as if it were 1948 all over again, only to finish the day four abreast for the first time since 1938. It was time travel at its finest.” David was racing the late Tommy Sparks’ Eddie Meyer-equipped ’29 Model A roadster pickup that Tommy raced at El Mirage in the 1940s.

Jerry Sherman driving Grandpa’s 1920s Model T-powered sprint car.

Another flashback was Jerry Sherman’s 1920s Model T-powered sprint car that his grandfather saved in the 1970s. The car even sported some speed equipment made by Grandfather Sherman. In the 1920s, it was a dirt track racer, in the 1940s and ’50s it was a dry lakes racer, and from the 1970s to the present it is back as a drag racer/hill climber. This car holds the overall Signal Hill speed ascent record at with an 8.97.

Kev Elliott, hot rod builder and ex-editor of Rod & Custom magazine had the final word saying, “that was as much fun as I have had at an event in a long time and I didn’t even get to drive. I was too busy taking photographs. If you ever wondered what the early days of dry lakes racing were like, this was absolutely as close as you’ll ever come to living them.