History What's your favorite old drag strip?

Reynolds, Georgia. Silver Dollar Raceway.
It's kinda off the beaten path, small town and real nice track.
It is an NHRA sanctioned track, but this is where they hold the "Run What You Brung" and the track seems pretty receptive to it.
All the good "old" tracks have been shut down in Florida, they call it progress.
I went out to a track that I ran on in high school and about 100' of it is still left, the rest has a subdivision sitting on it.
The tower sat in the middle of the track and the last time that I ran on it, there was only a fence between you and the spectators.

 

Epping N.H. , Island Dragway N.J. , or Beech Bend in Ky.
I would have said Atco as it has been my home track for 38 years, but I don't think Joe and his people would be very receptive to us.

 

Dragway 42!!! in West Salem, Ohio.....

 

Dragway 42. West Salem, Ohio. Come out this weekend and check out the track... This is a great track that has not changed much in the last 50 years.

 

S I R here in Tucson. Nice weather, and not far from my house!

 

Besides, think of the photo shoot opportunities out here with the Air Force Boneyard, or the Pima Air Museum!

 

West coast=Famoso, Deep south=Bowling Green

 

Beech Bend in Bowling Green, KY. gets my vote.

 

BEECH BEND

www.beechbend.com









Rich

 

What about having an event up here in Canada? St. Thomas Dragway is a great track and inexpensive to rent. We have rented it several times for private test and tune and it was only 3 figures a day. Its a great track and the unpaved pits are a real throwback to the 60's.

Its an hour or two from detroit.

 

Beech Bend has a great feel to it and camping right there. Dont know the cost though. Dragway 42 is old with lots of history and home to Rock and Race this weekend. You could merge the two events and lower the year from 73 to what ever the hamb drags is. Thompson is another great option as it already is home to the Gasser Reunion. Just check out Gassermadness.com for comments about how that facility pulls off a nostalgia event. I also personnally know the folks at Thompson and get the ball rolling there. Don

 

I second Island. How can you deny the strip that Big Daddy broke 200 mph at?

If you ever saw the end of this track, you would realize what a big deal that was. Those trees come up on you quick.

 

Exactly. I like the (County owned) track here in Medford (see pix at "Son of Godzilla Update"), which would make a good host town. I worked at the track for a while and have solid connections here. Will gladly get as involved as neccesarry. If not here, second vote would be for Crusty Nuts track, at Somoa. Both tracks are very unique, scenic and out of the saturated markets.

 

Island Dragway NJ would be a great site, it's old and unchanged, it doesn't have that new track feel at all, there is some great history there as well. The only thing I never like is that every nostalgia meet there they go up to 1974 or something, we all know that sucks, pre 64 would be killer, there is plenty of room at this track and there is great parking for non hot rod cars as well. It would be great to rent this track and have HAMB drags type of tech, I can think of tons of cars that would hit this event and would make a great turn out, if interested in any help shoot me a pm.

 

Definitely Shelton.....Bremerton is cool, but it's out from town a ways....
After attending the Shelton event this year, I'm sold on that place....
The PERFECT track is TOO far for anyone.....Polar Raceway.......in Alaska!hahaha...

Won't ANY track in Ca just be too expen$ive to rent?????

 

if there is another event in southern california im gonna puke.

 

don't know if the one in marysville, tenn. is still active or not?
and then there is rockingham, nc.

 

Redding was nice and green, cool, a nice place to be when I last ran there. Can't say that about Bakersfield. They claim to be the oldest continually operating NHRA sactioned drag strip. Key words here are continually-NHRA

 

Atco,,,and Front Street in Philly

 

Yeah...Atco is cool....Epping NH has history also....but Island looks like it is still 1965....great track....great bite....and very racer friendly...

 

island dragway nj.....

 

anyone mention lebanon valley dragway in eastern NY?? got a nice 5/8 mile dirt track too. maybe we could get drags and a couple hot laps around the dirt track

 

Mid-State Dragway ( Mason County Dragway ) in Havana Ill. It opened up about 1969, and hasen't changed much since. Nice little track out in the cornfields, about 5 - 10 miles from Havana and maybe 45 miles from Peoria. I did hear that they have real flush toilets now, no more rain gutter urinals. However it's only an 1/8 mile track.

 

I used to run last at Island around 73 ish with my sportster.Went back about 10 years ago run again,what a time tunnel.It did not change much.

 

Here's some history,,got this on Front Street one night back in the 80's the headlights and smoke glow in the dark

 

Its a shame 75-80 in Maryland is not longer open. Other than being grown up in weeds, it still looks the same today as it did when my dad started racing there when he was a teen

 

Union Grove Dragway, just south of Milwaukee, Just north of Chicago.

It's still 1959 there.

BB

 

Thunder Valley, Norman Oklahoma http://www.okthunder.com/index.html

 

That Beech Bend track seems perfect. Old look with the bleachers still there, and they obviously don't mind the old stuff being out there.

Plus, you have the Corvette Museum there as extra incentive for folks that are coming from further away. I, for one, put value on the "side attractions" like the Corvette Museum and the Springfield swap for locations to draw people to the show.

I don't know if the Bowling Green area is East enough for what you are wanting, but I think it's Central East is an advantage. More chance that guys drive from Florida, or Texas to Kentucky than to NJ.

I like the idea of the Ohio tracks, but it seems like they get a ton of Nostalgia Drag events already. Plus, Ohio is Mid West, not East!

 

Is Norman East or West?