History Roanoke Drag Strip Pictures...

This is a pretty good picture collection from the old Roanoke Drag Stip here in Virginia. Most of these date from the early '60's. Gives a good idea of what the our poor east coast hot rodders were doing at the time.
It takes a while to go through them all but it's well worth it. There's even a shot of the 'Hemi Honker' and Richard Petty's 43jr that must have been brought in for match races.

Nothing left of this track now except for a small strip of asphalt that use to be the shut down area. They've built two subdivisions over top of this history. So much for progress.

http://www.vaautoracing.org/Gallery2.html

 

Thanks for the link!

 

Great shots! Thanks for posting the link!!

 

it's always nice to view those old photos from the 60s. gr*** roots racing just before the factory hot rods took over. what an abundance of hemi's, but i noticed those other BOP motors that were popular swaps also.

 

Hi Rust Monkey.
Thanks for the link. I am from the Roanoke area. I barely remember the drag strip, but some of my older buddies have told me some stories. Supposedly one of the altered wheelbase Mopars crashed into the trees, and when the crew came back to retrieve the car the next day, the hemi had been stolen! Any one on the HAMB ever heard that one? I did actually get a chance in the early 80's to make a few laps around the old Starkey circle track next to where the strip was. (Sports car autocross) The circle track is gone now too. I think the County made a park out of it.

 

haha "our poor east coast hot rodders"...we did it better then those jacks on the west coast.....great link thanks...

T. Hilton

 

great pics thanx!

 

Big Bad Dad,

Yes starky speedway is now soccer fields as you suspect. No hint of the track left. If you use google maps and search "Buck Mountain Rd, Roanoke, VA 24108" the street labeled at "Turkey Hollow Rd" is/was the old Roanoke Drag Strip. This areial photo was taken before they started construction of the second subdivision...

Makes you wonder where all those early Hemi's are now?

 

You know its good when the flagger is a foot off the ground. Thanks alot for the link.

 

Those are some absolutely beautiful photos! The true Golden Age of drag racing! You know, I wish we had an archive of being able to find these photos again in the future. In a couple of months, this thread will be so far buried in the Journal archives, it may be hard to find, as I'm sure there's other threads with early racing pictures I've never seen before. It might be nice to group all these early racing pictures in their own category, similar to the cl***ified or tech sections.

 

Thanks for posting those, Rust Monkey. I love those old photos. Miss Roanoke is hot. Wonder where she is today, some 45 yrs. later?

 

Some times it's best just not to go back, C.W.

 

Theses are great. Thanks for the posting. I love the 55 gallon drum and the guy waving the flag. Simple is often better. Slim

 

Thanks for the post. I remember when my uncle used to take me there. Loved seeing the cars go up the hill at the end of the run. They would shut the engines off an just coast back. I remember the announcer used to yell, "And there he goes, he's got 4 on the floor and a fifth under the seat!"

 

There are some awesome photos on that link. Thanks a lot for posting this. Mike

 

Great stuff there ... that shot of the flagman is cl***ic!

 

Can anyone ID the owner/driver of the Lyndwood rail with the front mounted blower?

 

Interesting how many otherwise nice hot rods didn't bother with grilles/radiator shells.

And did anyone recognize the famous Frank Maratta 'A' coupe?

 

Thanks.

 

That slide show made my day. Thanks. Wonder if a jet car could've taken flight at the top of that hill?

 

I was lookin' at this photo again ... and I must say ... it's gotta be one of the coolest old photos I've ever seen. I can't take my eyes off of it. It would look neat blown up to poster size and hangin' in my shop. And that's what's goin' to happen.

 

I sent this link to my dad, we have a house and acrage up on Bent Mountain...

HE LOVED IT .. made his mothers day

 

Thanks brother......great site.....very kool pics.

 

Cheers to whoever took and preserved them!

 

*****in pics , thanks!

 

When I looked at the URL (link to the photos) that Rust Monkey posted, I noticed "Gallery2" was part of the address. I figured .... hmmm ... what would happen if I put a "1" where the "2" is and click. I got a pleasant surprise.

If interested, click the link and keep advancing the photos ... there's some more great stuff to see!

http://www.vaautoracing.org/Gallery1.html

 

Great pics! Thanks for the link.

 

Thanks for the great pis, my uncle took me to my first drags around 62

 

That was great!
Thanks,
Bill

 

Thanks for the link...backyard engineering at its best! This was what drag racing was really about