The post from oldandkrusty about the tarck in South Butler NY made me wonder how many old 50's/60's dragstrips are still in use. Looking for old bare bones type places. Pics of tracks no longer in use are Ok also. I like seeing the remains of whats left, such as the Pocono Drag Lodge pictures I've seen.....What have you Hambers?
I don't have any pics but HRM did an article on an old track in Arkansas a couple of years back that was till open at the time. They still have telephone pole gaurd rails and still let folks stand on the rail to watch raceing. If I recall its on that road that runs east and west from Memphis. OK that's pretty cryptic info, but maybe one of our ARK HAMBers knows what I'm talking about and has pics.
George Ray's Wildcat DragStrip has been in operation since 1961. Here are two very good links that depict the track. http://www.odiesgarage.com/Pictures/GRWD/ http://www.quartermilestones.com/hallucination.htm
Man oh man what cool places to be. Any other ideas, fellas? Planning to do a trip along Rt 66 next year around easter, and places like these would suit me just fine. I'll celebrate my big 5O'h my god then and this is exactly what I'd stay at and grab a cold one and relax. Dragracing is in my blood.
The one Porkenbeaner is talking about is Carlisle dragway, it was located at an old airstrip.Spent a few sundays there.
going to one tomorrow in mercer pennsylvania called sunset drag strip (started as a 1/8th mile deal but my machinest said when the cars got faster they turned it to 1/5th mile so they had more room to stop )they are opening it back up closed since the 70s .. originaly opened in 59 its in the middle of a cornfield should be quite interesteing i should have a bunch of pictures of it on sunday
My home dragstrip, Magnolia Dragstrip (Magnolia, OH), is pretty old school. It opened in the fifties as a 1/4 then closed in '77. It re-opened in the early '90s as an 1/8 mile track. Lots of down home, good old fashioned dragging going on there. The neat thing is that a lot of the people that used to race there in the 50s/60s/70s still had their cars in the 90s when they re-opened and started racing them again. They host some really cool meets there based around the glory days of drag (stick shift meets, gasser drags, etc). Speaking of gasser drags, time your trip to go to the Gasser reunion at Thompson in Northern Ohio. ALWAYS a good time!
While visiting my folks in Kingman Arizona we were goofing around with my brother and stumbled upon an old strip between some railroad tracks and I-40 just outside of town. Part of the grandstands are still there and one other building like the timing stand/tower. There are a few dead cars and trucks kinda scattered around and just shuffling through where the pits once were you could unearth old spark plugs and other small discarded tidbits. I need to go through my file to find a few digital images I took. That was a couple of years ago, it probably is still there. I bet C9 knows what I'm talking about.
Holy jumped up Jaysus!!! Magnolia, Ohio. I haven't heard that name in a good many years. And the only reason I heard that name back then was because I was flying with a friend of mine to, yep - you guessed it - Magnolia. We were going there to pick up a '49 Desoto woodie my friend had purchased. He had a friend that had a small plane and we were going there by plane and then we were going to drive the woodie back to Rochester, NY. Anyway, we got in the vacinity of Magnolia and the pilot was in contact with the small airport getting directions as to where it was so that we could land. Well, it wasn't as easy as that, or so it seemed. We flew around and around and the guy or the ground kept saying he could see us, but we couldn't see the airport. Not a good feeling. Finally, the pilot said "Aha, I see you" and we headed in for a landing. Not too bad, a paved strip although when we got to the end we had to turn around and come back down what looked to be a return road. The little plane's wing were mowing down stalks of corn. It was weird. When we got to the "airstrip" we found that we had actually landed on the drag strip which was right next to the airstrip. The airstrip, incidentally, was a grass field! Boy, was that a strange feeling. The trip home in the woodie was far less eventful. My friend still has the woodie and it is just the way he bought it back then. Thanks for the memories!
You want an Old Drag Stip? This one started as Presque Isle Timeing Assoctation PITA in the Late 50's Early 60's (Saw Art Arfons original Green Monster jet car run off the end), then changed name to Lowville Drag Strip, Now Lucky Drag City. Definatly a "Run What Ya Brung" place (even snowmobiles). Locate just South of Erie, PA http://www.luckydragcity.com/
20 miles east of Albany,NY is Lebanon Valley Speedway. I dragged there in 1960s. Been modernised in recent years. On Oct. 1 is the Nostalgia Drags/Car Show. Good event. To the North was So. Glens Falls Dragway. Was there too in the 1960s. Been closed for many many years. Believe the track is still there, but is a contaminated area because they used oil with PCBs from General Electric on the roads to keep dust down.
Cut my teeth at Quaker City Dragway(Salem,OH)advertised as oldest operating drag strip east of the Mississippi(1958). Magnolia,Sunset wow gonna have to do a reunion tour. Soon as I figure out where my Sunset Dragstrip class winner windbreaker got to... What about Meander?? later called Youngstown Drag City maybe. I seem to recall a flatnose Chevyvan on blocks as a timing shack and needing that gasser stance to negoiate the return road...
In Birmingham Alabama Lassiter Mountain drag strip was built by The Black Widows car club and opened in 1956 or 57.. In Huntsville Alabama in 1958 what is now called huntsville dragway was orignally named manassis drag strip. It was ran by the coachman car club both of these are still open. Both are now 1/8 strips. In near by Arab Alabama the Baleiton good time drag strip has been in operation since 1966.it was built and owned and still ran today by Mr.Jack Walker the strip now is also 1/8. As housing moves out lots of these faculitys will be closing all over the united states. If I think of more I will add.. Bobby..
local track has been around since 53....started with flagman ....then a stop light....then went to clocks....now has christmas tree....same tower since the early 60's / late 50's possibly ....1/4 mile.....called thornhill.....i have a shot of the tower from last year when it was still checked......brandon
My co worker has a farm in NC that has an old 1/8 drag strip on it. It was closed back in the early 70's I think he said. all over grown and the concrete is being taken back over
Dragway 42, West Salem, Ohio Opend in 1957 was actually a 4 lane dragstrip. Lots of history there. Still in operations today as a IHRA 1/4 mile track. about 20 minutes from my house. I actually worked up there for 3 seasons. Used to push the button on the starting line. Derrick
If my memory serves me correctly,Alex Theofilous(sp)? ran meander and sunset,and used the same timing equipment at both tracks,hauling it back and forth between strips.Sunset never officially closed they raced occasionly to keep the strip grandfathered in.If the strip closes it would not be allowed to reopen due to zoning restrictions.They are racing every sunday currently.
Yellow Belly dragstrip between Dallas and Fort Worth. Was 1/4 mile back in the 60's but now races 1/8. I think it opened in late fifties.
Our Local strip is Island Dragway, I believe started about '59. It was, and still is an NHRA track, but It has a really short shut down area, so once guys got into the 200's Island got left behind by big name drag racing. Luckily it's still popular with the average Joe
6-71...My dad has mentioned in stories of racing at Sunset, that they had to use wood blocks to hold the cars back on the starting line. Ohio is fortunate to boast a number of drag strips in continuous operation since the 50s and 60s. Pacemakers Dragway in Mt. Vernon, OH, has been in operation and sanctioned by NHRA since 1956, which might make it the oldest operating track in Ohio. The track's web site offers a pictorial overview from the last 50 years. Worth the visit. http://www.pacemakersdragway.com/
Just out of curiosity, have you been to Yello Belly lately? Still quite a few old dragstrips running in Texas/Oklahoma area. Wichita Fall's still runs at it's original dragstrip. Kennedale's been around for a while. So has Temple/Academy, and Ardmore, Oklahoma (always enjoyed the Cow Patty Nationals). Just out of curiosity, how old is Cedar Creek. Ya gotta love a strip that's close to Gunbarrel City. Larry T
My favorite oldies are Ardmore Okla billed as the oldest continously running dragstrip in Oklahoma. The operator there is an old fuel car guy Johnnie Laird. When I built my FED he let me use the track for shake down runs on an off weekend, and gave me great pointers. Basically taught me how to drive a dragster. Great Bend Kansas is another great old one. Still around from the 50's and is all paved. Some wonderfull nostalgia racing there
OOPS Ardmore is oldest continously running track in the country not Oklahoma. Sorry about that Johnnie
In Northern Indiana is Osceola Dragway started by the late Art Chizum and now run by family members.Its 1/4 mile and used to end just a few feet from state rd 219. When the cars got faster and a few jumped the dirt mound at the end and crossed the hiway it was decided to turn the thing around(I don't remember the year) and run at the cornfield. Its been upgraded alot since the early days and now is IHRA Div.5 sanctioned. I had a talk with Art one race day and he told me he believed his track was the oldest continusly operating strip in the country. I don't know about that, I see some others are saying the same about theirs,but I do know it was started in1957. I raced there in the '70s Stock classes(before bracket racing) My son and I race there now in his altered (QR class).Sure wish I had some pics. Normal
A friend and I went to Arkansas to get a hood for his Nova. On the way back I took these pics. Its for sale, so it may end up a subdivision.
I went to the drags last weekend in Jackson South Carolina, they put on a hell of a show. I got to talking to a guy with the track and this is the 50th anniversary this year. He said they are trying to work up some kind of a old drag car getogather in the near future and wanted to know if I would bring my Henry-J. Of course I had a picture of it in my wallet and he fell in love with it. I proceeded to tell him about the HAMB and he seemed very interested. I will be giving him a call tonight and have more info soon. The track has had many renovations, repaved, the new timing tower( due to a Jet Tractortrailer burrning it down last year) 1/8 and 1/4 mile lights. All and all it is in good shape, not quite what this thread is looking for but 50 years and still in operation?????? The perks to me is it is 25 minutes south of Augusta, the town I now call home.
I was told that this is the last season for pacemaker. that it was bought buy some guy for the land to put in a new subdivision or some crap. Its sad to see them go. But there will be a new 1/4 mile track in Mansfield Ohio next summer. On the same property as Mansfield Motor Speedway. Home of the mansfield 250 nascar truck race. 10 minutes from my house. Derrick That will leave 3 1/4 mile dragstrips at least 2 of them IHRA Norwalk and Dragway 42 and now mansfield within 30 minutes of my house
We were at Ardmore, Ok. strip last weekend for a Nostalgia drag meet, and reuinion of the Slo-Pokes who started the track in 1954. As HG Wells said a few posts back, it's advertised as the oldest, continuously ran track in the country. They are wanting to work on the nostalgia aspect, and have a couple of meets a year.
There was a drag strip at an old airplane factory that was built near WWII call Convair Field, It ran in 55,56 with N.H.R.A. holding reagional drags there in Aug. of 55. I still have my brass dash from that day. There was also one near Quakertown PA. that was call Vargo Dragway, it ran from 59 till the late 60s. The strip is still there but in bad shape, they hold a reunion there every year This is my coupe in Aug. 55, also my 34 in 59
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