<Begin Segment 7>

MN: Now, what was your first impression when you arrived at Santa Anita?

TS: Oh, this is sure a big place. (...) There's a big parking lot there, there was nothing but barracks there. And we were the third barrack from Huntington Drive. Huntington Drive is (...) right on the south end of Santa Anita. And we lived right there by the main gate.

MN: So your family did not go into the horse stalls.

TS: Oh no, we had a nice, brand new building, twenty by twenty with five people living in there.

MN: Now, as a child what did you do at Santa Anita?

TS: Run around with other kids.

MN: Do you know what your parents or brothers were doing?

TS: No.

MN: Now, you mentioned about your older, oldest brother Tunney, Tsuneo, and he was into racing, and, and so Vic Edelbrock came to Santa Anita to visit your brother. Can you share with us who is Vic Edelbrock?

TS: He (was) a famous (person and owner of the) Edelbrock Equipment Company, one of the leading (firms) in the world of racing equipment. Vic Edelbrock (was) of German descent, and he was very sympathetic (...). He used to come to Santa Anita all the time to see Tunney.

MN: Now, how did Tunney get to know Vic?

TS: I think Tunney used to do gardening with my father and they used to work around at LaBrea and Sixth Street, and I guess he used to drop in there to see the racing cars, Vic had (...) a small garage there, an automotive repair shop, and then later on he became big time (operators, one of the) biggest in the U.S.

MN: And I guess, since that's how his relation, your brother's relationship with Vic Edelbrock continued and then is that when your brother started to work for Vic Edelbrock?

TS: (Yes), he worked for him. Vic Edelbrock used to get a lot of customers to build racing engine because he was so famous, and he used to bring all the racing engines to our nursery. We had a large place there and in back we had a big shed. I remember as a kid we had nothing but racing engines back there, and my brother was working on porting, making the intake ports larger so the gas would come into the engine better and that's what he did, porting engines for Vic Edelbrock.

MN: And then your, then your brother eventually went into racing cars for Vic Edelbrock, is that right?

TS: (He went into roadster racing using Edelbrock equipment).

MN: Where did he race the cars?

TS: Carrell Speedway in Gardena, and there was a place in Hollywood. (There were a few other places where races were held).

MN: And then later on the Carrell Speedway in Gardena became Ascot.

TS: (Yes).

MN: That's how I know it as.

TS: Well, it was Carrell Speedway at first and we did very well at Carrell Speedway. We held many track records there because of Vic Edelbrock. He, he was way ahead of the curve on racing engines, this German guy.

MN: How was Vic Edelbrock able to have such fast cars?

TS: He was a smart guy. He, I always felt that he was one up on everybody else in that, I don't know if you much about crank shafts, but crank shafts (have) ninety degrees throws, there's eight cylinders, and Vic Edelbrock figured out that Ford wasn't making 'em exactly ninety degrees. They were sloppily made. So he would spray metal on the cranks to straighten 'em out, and it made a huge difference, just by having the cranks ninety degrees, each of the pistons would be firing at the (right) time.

MN: Now, he was also an innovator in terms of the fuel. Is that correct?

TS: (Yes).

MN: Instead of gasoline?

TS: (Yes), they were running nitromethane. Vic Edelbrock was ahead of everybody. (...) Mixing nitromethane with the (...) alcohol. We were (using) alcohol, one of the first guys (who) were (using) alcohol.

MN: Sounds like a pretty volatile mix.

TS: (Yes), it was. Sure made the cars go a lot faster. We held many track records all over (California).

MN: Now, was it common for Japanese Americans to be racing cars before the war?

TS: No. There were, guy named Yam Oka, Y-A-M Oka. Oka is the last name. He was a well known wild driver, Yam Oka was, but his engines probably weren't as fast as ours. Yam always used to complain to me, says, "When I win the trophy dash, these white girls won't kiss me. They only shake hands with me." That's what Yam used to say.

MN: What about your brother? Did he encounter kind of racism like that?

TS: I don't think so because we were good friends with Vic Edelbrock and he was dominant figure in racing. So nobody fooled around with my brother because he had some of the friends (who) were leading guys racing in America.

MN: Your brother, was he, these car races, was it for cash prizes or just for trophies?

TS: They were paying cash and trophies. I think. I believe... I wasn't involved in the financial aspect, though.

MN: What happened to Tunney's trophies?

TS: I believe that his wife threw 'em away. She didn't think much of his racing career. He, he married a woman and she threw all the trophies out. I was outraged when I heard that she threw 'em away. She should have given 'em to me. He had a lot of trophies, from the Dry Lakes salt flats.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.