History What's your favorite old drag strip?

My vote is for Bakersfield (Famoso)

 

Pence's dragstrip here in Ohio...Carved out of a corn field and was a cool place to run in the 50'-60's... Closed her down in the late 70's..

 

actco dragway in atco nj or cecil county dragway in cecil county md
cecil county if i had to choose

 

Another vote for Island Dragway in New Jersey.
http://www.islanddragway.com/

 

If we could not do beech bend, i would vote for Silver Dollar in Reynolds Ga. lots of area and camping. 1/8,1/4 with a lot of stopping room.

 

Bakersfield!

 

Samoa Dragstrip, on the peninsula across from Eureka, CA. Second oldest still-operating track in the U.S. Got our 52-year old track repaved in April. Even the tower is still old-school. Sea level altitude, sea air (the Pacific is just over the dunes), small town vibe.

samoadragstrip.com

Before the repaving...
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'07 on the new track...
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The old drag strips I liked are "CARLSBAD RACE WAY" and the new one would be "FONTANA SPEED WAY" along with the back streets of "OXNARD CALIFORNIA"

 

Back in the early 60s when all the car dealerships were just starting to sponsor drag cars (409 Chevys, 406 Fords, 413 Mopars) there was a local track near Dunn, NC. called Easy Street Dragstrip. Sundays were wild and wooly events. I remember one in particular.

Don Nicholson was hired to show up for a match race in his Nally-Nicholson bubbletop 62 out of Atlanta. (I forget who he raced against.)

Spectators were so eager to see the race many had sneaked out and were actually standing on the pavement of the strip. The owner cleared the track by emptying his pistol into the air and the race went on. Years later I read where Nicholson himself recalled that one race in his memoirs.

 

lapeer is a fun track to run at. not far from the detroit area. they are pretty easy going out there, not like milan.

 

Maybe it's a little too small, but Speedworld Raceway just outside
of Phoenix might be an option.
They filmed a couple of the "Pinks" episodes there.
Might be what you're looking for.

 

I agree with this pick. A lot like Mokan.

 

Silver Dollar is great. I drove a nostalgia flopper there last year. Nice wide track.

Personal favorite is Bradenton Motorsports park. Used to be DeSoto raceway.

 

Beech Bend.

 

Beech Bend because the reunion was too much fun, lets hope it comes home soon.

 

BEAVER SPRINGS east coast

 

too bad detroit dragways gone...Milan, MI

 

Samosa looks cool, but it's way too far north! Bakersfield is right in the middle.

Too bad Carlsbad closed
video my dad shot in '66 - http://picasaweb.google.com/poutous/CarlsbadDragRacing

- Joe

 

Famoso or Samoa

 

Carolina dragway is cool... check it out!!!!!
http://www.carolinadragway.com/

 

hey everyone,been a while since i`ve posted do to computer problems at home,but i gotta DEFINETLY agree with littleman.i`m 39 years old,and have been going to thompson since i was 3.my pops always said back in the day,this track was the one to be at.i can remember being out there when i was a kid and everyone would run to the stands when the track crew would start spreading rosin on the starting line and broom it for the pro stock cars like grump,gapp and roush,fast eddie schartrman,and countless others who would come as amatch race show......another thing people may not remember is thompson and it`s then track manager erin polborn being responsible for helping establish the mid america pro gas circut in the late 70`s early 80`s that was a HELL of a show.sometimes 30+ cars.....man,i`m sitting here thinking how lucky i am to have this track in my "backyard" so to speak,even though it has had it`s share of hardtimes do to neglect through the years,it has really been brought back to a really fun family oriented dragstrip i`m proud to be able to take my 5 year old daughter to..might wanna take a hard look at this one ryan.

 

Agree 100% after this weekend!

 

Kingdon Raceway in Lodi Ca. http://www.kingdondrags.com/

 

It's two hours away from where I live, but Sacramento Raceway is still a nice old-fashioned drag strip. You can stand up pretty close to the track and the grandstands are pretty close to the track. It looks pretty much like it did probably 30 years ago. I love to go to their night time "Nitro Night of Fire" or whatever they call it with nostalgia top fuel cars, jet cars, and all kinds of cool old gassers driving at night.

 

OCIR. Never went to Lions, but did see some of the last 1/4-mile racing they did at Riverside before it succumbed to a hopeless mall. Still, the last Bug-In @ Orange County was pretty cool, even though I did get a cigar cherry launched in my eyeball.

 

Another vote for Island Dragway in Nj.

Here is a thought,
How about someone starts a poll of the top 10 dragways so its easy to keep track?

 

Riverside raceway in Ohio,it closed in the 70s

 

I LOVE Beech Bend. I've been to a bunch of tracks around the country, and it's by far the 'coolest' in my opinion. Plenty of shade, covered bleachers, history, new bathrooms, and right down the road from Holley (who support the bigger events held there).

I've been to Famoso too...and yes, it's historic. And hot, sticky, shade-free, dusty and dirty. But, I'd go back. My wife...not so much.

~Scotch~

 

Aquasco Speedway would be my first choice, but closed in '79. As such, I'll go with Beaver Springs or Mason Dixon (both 1/4 mile tracks).

 

LaPlace Dragway in 1962 and 1963