great lakes drag way union grove wi. pics

[racer-x]

i would like to start a thread dedicated to great lakes dragaway that is located in union grove wi. the track opened around 1958 and has been in operation ever since. broadway bob booked in everyone who was anyone into that track. i have sent some pics to a friend to put up here to start this off. lets see what you have.

[FunnyCar65]

Scanned these for Racer X hope everyone injoys them as much as I did while scanning them.

[FunnyCar65]

group 2

[FunnyCar65]

group 3

[FunnyCar65]

group 4

[FunnyCar65]

group 5

[FunnyCar65]

group 6

[Dakota Kid]

Awsome Pics!!! thanks

[FunnyCar65]

group 7

[slayer]

Awsome pictures guys, keep them coming.

[SKULL ORCHARD]

does anyone know how fast the dart turbine was and thee vw? 1/4 MILE TIMES?

[Lebowski]

I was born and raised not far from there in Waukegan, IL and used to go to "The Grove" for grudge races all the time in the late 60s and early 70s. I remember seeing Evel Knievel jump 16 school buses there once. Before the jump he gave a lecture on not doing drugs. It seemed to my friends and me that sitting in the living room smoking some weed was a lot safer than jumping over a bunch of school buses on a motorcycle so that's what we did. I don't have any pics from back then, just a few memories....

[Curt R]

for this thread to start off right, it's history time,

the Union Grove, Wis. land for the drag strip was purchased in April, 1955 by husband and wife, Lynn and Marge Bennet. Mostly, Marge's money.

the Bennett's were responsible for the construction and operation of the dragstrip until the early 1960's.

Great Lakes Dragaway opened officially on October 7, 1956.

Attached are original newspaper articles.

I have attached early photos of the land during the grading process and what happened when it rained. As a result of the rain problem, all the low areas were filled and the surface of the drag strip was raised.

Attached is a photo of the 1950 Cad powered Merc that had the fastest speed for opening day at 97.82 mph, not et's due to no et timers. The Merc photo is not of opening day.

Bob (Broadway) Metzler purchased the operation from the Bennett's in the early 1960's.

I don't know if the articles will be readable as I posted them. If, someone wants to make them larger or readable with better pc skills, please do. Thanks in advance.

And yes, I was there opening day.

Curt R

[racer-x]

curt r cool pics and history. i have never seen anything this early on the track before. its good to get the correct info out there before it gets lost and screwed up.

[outlaw256]

i remember as a kid growing up in hanover park il, just outside chicago, hearing about the weekend line ups on the radio.after moving away in the early 70s and coming back to the area for a 1 1/2 yrs i finally got to run at the grove.55 chevy pulled a 10.92 in the mid 80s. didnt take much pics back then. now i regret not doing it.

[big bad john]

....Great pictures......I spent a lot of time at Union Grove in the sixties.

[Pro Stock John]

Neat info Curt, never knew someone owned the track before Bob.

[Hellfish]

Here are some pics from the the Grove from the past 3 Hunnert Car Heads Ups. Ok, so they're not vintage, but we're trying to recreate that vintage feel at the track. This year the Heads Up is June 16!!

[Django]

Kick ass vintage photos!

[racer-x]

keep a eye out for more pics we have more to post anyone have info on the dragsters. one pic looks like pruedome