What a Dragmaster it is getting old

A historic building, once the hub of drag racing in the U.S., is getting a facelift in the downtown village of Carlsbad. The old auto-mechanic shop and quonset hut in the 2700 block of State Street was once the site of Dragmaster, the inventors of the dragster.

In 1957, it was Dragmaster founders Dode Martin and Jim Nelson who showed up with their custom machine to the Orange County Raceway. The registrar didn’t know which category to place them in, having never seen anything like it — a long extended rail with two little tires in the front and the driver sitting openly behind the powerful motor.

Soon, racing enthusiasts all over the country were coming to Dragmaster, which became a well-known manufacturer of race chassis, engines, and a parts house — so much so that even Dodge came to Dragmaster in 1962 to up their third-place race standings against Ford and Chevy. Many 1960s Dodge championships were won with Dragmaster-built motors.

The man with the plan

When Cardiff by the Sea architect/developer Brett Farrow purchased the vacant property in 2014, he wasn’t aware of its history. He quickly found out from the former owners and other racing fans that Dragmaster was famous. With its proximity to nationally known Carlsbad Raceway — a quarter-mile drag strip and motocross track that was about two miles east of Palomar Airport — Dragmaster’s history wasn’t going to die so easily.

The old industrial buildings are now in the middle of rehabilitation. Known as the Quonset Project, it will house two restaurants, including Carruth Cellars — a beer-and-wine tasting room with a café.

Building sections of the project are named after Dragmaster’s history, such as Quonset, Shop, Garage, and the driveway between the two buildings, where outdoor diners will soon congregate: the Speedway.

“The old service bay’s doors will be kept,” said Farrow. There will even be an old dragster in the center of the restaurant, donated by the former owners. Farrow is known for his coastal projects, which usually take into account the history of a building.

Burnt rubber memories

Three friends of mine shared their remembrances of Dragmaster. Warren Rapp of Encinitas raced often at Carlsbad in the 1950s and ’60s under the Kingsmen Car Club banner. Rapp said, “Dragmaster was top of the line. We didn’t use them much because we were just little street racers. They were racing NHRA [National Hot Rod Association].”

My 1970s car buddies all worked at the old Butler’s 76 Union gas station on Santa Fe Drive in Encinitas. The owner, Larry Butler, would let us order parts using his dealer discount. Most of our paychecks went into our cars.

Blane Adessa of Cardiff took his 1968 Pontiac Firebird and all the money he had at the time, $800, and told Dragmaster to make it the best car they could. “Dragmaster appreciated that I was a young kid, didn’t know what I was doing, and I gave them the freedom to do what was best for my car,” said Adessa. “I never lost a race after Dragmaster,” he added.

David Scheunemann of Oceanside installed a high-performance engine and transmission in his ’66 Mustang. It was so much larger than a stock motor, Dragmaster had to shorten his drive shaft. Me, I just remember being referred to the shop to have a clutch plate resurfaced. If I’d had the money, I would have had so much more done to my car.

"Other side of the tracks" means "hip" in 2015

Being only three blocks from the beach, the 2500–2700 blocks of State Street — once a heavily industrialized area along the railroad tracks — is being transformed into stylish eateries, boutiques, and three-story townhome buildings.

After being sold in 1995, auto shops came and went from the Dragmaster site. The final shop closed in 2013. Farrow expects the new restaurant to be opened by November.

Footnote: The last race meet of the Kingsmen Car Club at Carlsbad Raceway was Easter Sunday 1975. The writer was invited to race with the club with his stock 1965 El Camino with a 283 engine. He turned the quarter-mile in 10.74 seconds, much slower than his buddies, mainly because he forgot to release the parking brake when he got to the starting line.