Just a little tidbit, Fremont Dragstrip opened in 1958(I Believe) at any rate, the first offically clocked car to go thru the lights, was a Dodge CHP. car, that turned about 85 MPH. I will always remember that.
Has anyone hear,d of Bunker Hill Drag strip? the reason i ask is that i found a class winner metal plaque in a car down here in Fla.its metal with blue writing on it,perhaps if you raced at that strip you might like to have it? let me know if you have any info.Gerry
Does anyone have photos of Twin City Dragway (later renamed North Star Dragway) in the Minneapolis-St.Paul area? It closed in mid to late '70's and the land was used for an industrial park. When I was last in the area in 1996, the timing tower was still visible from I-35. It was a great time for drag racers ... you could race at North Star on Tues. and Sat. nights and at Minnesota Dragways (NHRA sanctioned) on Sundays. We were too ignorant to realize how good we had it!
Bunker Hill? It was in Indiana, really short shutoff...they had a guy at the end with a flag, turns out that a railroad track crossed the shutoff and his job was to hopefully flag down the train if it came with a car in the shutdown area...one of our guys from Blair's made a summer tour and won a trophy at Bunker Hill...we kept it on the shop counter for years.
Your not the only "old fart" that remembers Half Moon bay drag strip. It was the very first drag race I ever saw, in 1957. That was all it took! Also used to sleep in my old '58 Ford panel truck at the entrance to the Fremont strip so I could be the first into the show when it opened. Good time memories. Crow.
Has anybody ever run at the old White City drag strip, near White City (near Medford) Ore. It was an old two lanne black top road with 4 foot deep borrow ditches on each side. No timeing lights, just a flag on each side of the end of the strip to tell you which lane won. Barney Oilcan, from the Southern Oregon Wheelers c/c was the starter, every once in awhile he'd do a back flip and drop the flag. Saw alot of "chokeing" when he did that. I was a member of the S.O.Wheelers when I was in high school. We also ran at the Port Orford air strip with our "Zombie" cars, numbers 1, 2 and 3. this goes back to '60, '61 and '62.
IM searching for old photos of "Bluegrass Dragway" that was located between Lexington & Nicholasville, KY on US27. If any one has any please post. Here's opening day in early 60's. Track closed in 1980.
I've got an old Goodyear sign from the dragstrip that was set up on an old runway at Westover Air Force base in Chicopee Mass in the early 70s. It was nothing fancy, just a bunch of Air Force guys racing on an old runway and I don't have any pics. Anyone here remember it ?
A scene from my misspent youth, we were there a few years later with a 440/4-speed transplanted into a friend's Sport Fury.
yep I used to go there when it was a qt mile drag and a qt mile circle .. nemecheck raced there too, had a ball watching the nascar boys test. you must be in my neck of the woods , greenswamp
any pics of the old riverside drag strip in proctorville oh. I had some from back in the early 60's but all my stuff got burned in a house fire in the 70's and those photos were in storage at my late mothers house everything went, and my late grandfather helped build the bleechers there man those were the days the gustin bros, ruled with a anglia bright orange, and a thing called the mowing machine was bad to the bone and 'ol running bear, man I wish I had my pictures back...I still have some from miami hollywood speedway from here fl..gotta learn how to post,
Anyone remember the 1/8 mile track in West Virginia, Fairmont Dragway and was called Eldora Dragway as well. It was an original 1/4 but later on was cut back to the 1/8. Pics would be appreciated.
wow fantastic thank you so much, looks like the built a bridge at the end of the strip, used to be a corn field there man when the brakes failed the corn flew I didn't know they had a circle track there, must have been built after I left in '64..but the drags were awesome there its sad to see it gone, we used to fish right back of the start line in the creek there. I have many fond memories of that place, come to think of it my late cousin ricky had a stock car back when he may have raced there .? me I raced here in FL.
Flowers: I don't have any photos of Raven Rock Drag Strip (Portsmouth, Ohio) when it was in operation. I do have a photo of what was left of the strip in 1994, shortly before it was dozed. The Portsmouth West schools now sit on the site of the drag strip. I found some newspaper clippings from Raven Rock from the 50's, and saw where Jeg Coughlin Sr. competed there. It was also the "home strip" of Gordon Collett, who went on to win several NHRA national meets in his Gas dragster.
Great thread- Got me thinking on my time off this week what ol Shuffletown Dragstrip in Charlotte, NC looks like. I never got the opportunity to go before it closed in 92. I haven't found too many pics of it on here- The few lights that were still left were absolutely beautiful- Trees that had grown up through the bleachers were left with permanent crooks back and forth and also 2x4 shaped indentions. A few scattered firestone and goodyear slicks remain from it last days in 92. A city park built next to it nearly claimed it, but only one section in the middle had been pushed over.
As bad as it is to see these old tracks sitting idle, I do enjoy seeing the piece of history that is left.
Hey Joe Do you remember Tumbleweed Dragstrip at Mtn. Home AFB or how about Gowen Field or Thunderridge in Star Id ?
I feel the same way- I walked on the track @ shuffletown for at least an hour and was dreaming about what all had taken place there. After returning home a friend of mine who went with me there, told me to check out youtube vids from there. There are some great videos on there but mostly 70-80's. It was kind of a weird feeling watching those after having stood on its remains just hours earlier.
Having grown up in SoCal , I've been fortunate to have attended races at the following dragstrips. 1. the first San Gabrial strip on Rivergrade Rd. 2. the second San Gabrial strip ('Ol San Gabe) 3. Irwindale drag strip. Where the snack bar was run by the In-N-Out burger guys ! 4.Fontana drag city 5. Lions drag strip 6. Orange County International Raceway ( OCIR ) As my friend Kenny Youngblood says , " We lived during the greatest time in drag racing ". At least we can be thankful for that.
Bunker Hill Drag Strip in Bunker Hill Indiana (just north of Kokomo) reports to be the oldest continuiously operated dragstrip east of the Mississippi. It was opened the last week of August 1956 by Mr. Jim Hollinger. While still in operation today, it has changed hands a couple times times since Mr. Hollinger sold it several years ago. My late grandfather raced there and I have a trophy from its 2nd week of operation. Rumers of its demise persist in Indiana almost yearly.
Photo of my late Grandfather (and my namesake) Bill Bronson taking off at Stout Field on Indy's west side. Cluster Busters car club operated races in conjunction with NHRA from around 1955 - 1959. It is now a industrial complex. Photo courtesy of Cluster Busters Car Club - Indianapolis, IN Additional photos are also (I believe) from Stout Field... For additional photos and details on my Grandfather and the dragster visit the link in my signature.
I was lucky enough, to grow up and race in the So.Cal area and built cars and raced back in the 60's and 70's. What a great time to be racing. I've raced my cars at many of the now gone strips. Lions, OCIR, Irwindale, Ontario, Fremont and Fontana are the ones that come to mind, that are gone. I raced at many others, that are still around, but to me, are not nearly as much fun any more. Great friends and fun times. Thanks for the memories.....
________________________________________________________________ Great stuff.......brought back great memories. I was looking for photo of me working at Islip, but no good. Great times, thanks for the stroll down memory lane...Bill
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