Compiled by Darr Hawthorne

From the earliest organized drag races of the 1950’s, an additional source of revenue for promoters and track operators has been the souvenir program.  While informative for fans and spectators to identify racers and their cars, programs quickly became a collector’s item but many were tossed into the trash soon after the event was completed. 

Before big corporate sponsors, auto parts chains, oil companies and Winston cigarettes, the tracks and promoters sold local advertising and garnered a few national ads to give the new fan a perspective on previous winners, rivalries and an autograph page.

It’s refreshing to see these early programs from a more innocent era of drag racing when the image on the cover was usually bold and heroic without sponsor’s names above the words Winternationals, U.S .Nationals or SpringNationals.

Click a poster to enlarge it!