I am looking for pictures and information about this short lived drag strip. They started building it I believe in 1954 and had it up and running for the 1956 season. This was a 1/5 mile strip. By the end of 57 part of the asphalt was starting to break up and the owners didn't have the money to fix it. Today, you can still see where the strip was on old national highway 40 just east of Reynoldsburg. The group MOTA - Mid-Ohio Timers Association was formed from local car clubs. The Pipers Hot Rod club (NHRA member club) in Columbus did most of the work, they basically built the strip to NHRA safety standards. Bob Daniels who worked for the NHRA was a member of this club. My Father in Law Ed Eubanks joined the Pipers right out of high school. The members of this club have been getting together and staying in touch over the years. My hope is to document the history of the Pipers, Piper Puffs, MOTA, and the Columbus Drag Strip. The Pipers and Piper Puffs were featured in Hot Rod Magazine in 1959. The Strip Picture is from 1964
There was also a drag strip somewhere around that area called Hyde Park, I found an old trophy dated 1961 at a flea market from there. Any one remember it?
David, it might be worth talking to Eileen Daniels as she has a memory like a steel trap. I will call her and see if she has any relevant memories. Roo
Back a little earlier.Also had drags at Don Scott Airfield.(OSU airport)t in Linworth,Ohio,,This was around 1951 or 1952,,,I'm too old to remember the exact years
Wow Mr. Walcott, I know where Don Scott field is, or perhaps was since it's been 20+ years since I have been there. I had never heard of that area being called Linworth. Nice to learn something new.
The airport belonged to Ohio State University..is probably still there but don't know..I haven't been out there in about 60 years
Thanks for helping out. My wife's mom Sherrill Eubanks has been looking for contact info for Eileen and a few others for me. The Eubanks used to host many get togethers for the Pipers. Thanks for your time Rooman. My Email is [email protected] and 330-466-7162 is my phone.
Hey where in OHIO do you live??? I grew up in Columbus, but have spent the last 29 years in Wooster, OH. I work for OSU/OARDC Yes, I have run into information about Hyde Park. Here is a little bit. Elwood Dodrill's Hyde Park Drag Strip located in Newark/Heath, Ohio from July 21, 1957 through 1968. Racing down St. Rt. 79 in Newark, Ohio on a Sunday afternoon, your little heart beating like a piston in the engine of a 1948 fat fender Ford. You were on your way to the Hyde Park Drag Strip where the action was non-stop. Passing the Hi-Boy Drive-in, a sanctuary of all things “fifties,” turning left on Dorsey Mill Road, over the creek, around the turn and you were there. You pulled into the spectators lane, paid a dollar and found a hillside place to park in the grass. No way could you afford to go to the other side of the track, where the “pit” section was. The actual race cars, mechanics and high rollers were located there, wearing their fancy racing gear and grabbing high tech tools. Now let the smoking tires and burn-outs begin! Richard Padar leaves a trail of smoke from burning rubber as he starts his 650 horsepower dragster down the track at Hyde Park. Roger Hunt watches a car on the Hyde Park Drag Strip from the timing tower. He announces elasped times and speed which is shown on electronic timing devices seen next to the window. Dragster lands in Tree The Hyde Park track was reconstructed in 1962. Racing speeds had multiplied two-fold and there was not enough room at the end of the track to stop the high speed vehicles. A small hill was there but that only served to launch Dick Padar's dragster into a tree. Immediately after the crash a new, longer track was constructed with a much higher hill at the end. Shown below is a 1994 satellite image of the strip showing the original track in red and the post 1962 track in blue. The mobile home park is visible on the left (west) side of the image. Old Hyde Park Drag Strip in Heath,OH. on Dorsey Mill Rd. 1957-1968. River Oaks Subdivision now occupies this area. Hyde Park opened during the founding stages of the sport on July 21, 1957 and operated through what many would consider to be the golden age of drag racing, closing its gates forever in 1968. Spectators would line up in the spectator line, just off Dorsey Mill Road, and pay their dollar admission before staking out a spot on the hillside to park their cars to watch the slingshot dragsters, gassers, and stockers wage war on the Hyde Park quarter mile. In 1962, after the speeds racers were attaining had more than doubled from its 1957 opening, the Hyde Park strip was reconstructed with a small hill at the end of the track, mean to help the cars stop on the rather short shutdown area. As one can imagine, this only served as a launching ramp, as was the case for Dick Padar and his dragster that ended up in a tree. Following that incident, a new, much longer strip was built with even larger hill built at the top end. The site of the two former strips remained intact until sometime through the 1990’s and possibly into the early 2000’s, but today, a development of new homes has overrun the center of what was once the dragstrip property, leaving virtually no distinguishable sign of the straightline racing that was once conducted there. Undated Hyde Park Poster seen on Facebook. Mark Howell - Licking County Legends http://dragstriplist.freesite.website/ohio#!id1454423573959 Hyde Park Drag Strip Years of Operation: 1957-71 The Newark Timing Association conducted drag races every Sunday at this new asphalt drag strip located east of Route 79 between the towns of Hebron and Newark. Racers were timed on a 3/16th-mile distance. One of the early meets, but probably not the first race, occurred on July 28, 1957. On June 14, 1958, Carroll Booth from Elyria was injured while racing his dragster during time trials. He brought a damage suit for $60,000 against the strip, which went to court in March 1961. He claimed that his crash was the result of hitting a chuck-hole, claiming negligence on the part of the strip. He received a settlement. Blaine Shively of Strasburg set a new track elapsed time record of 8.08 seconds in early July 1960. In 1960 drag races were held on Wednesday and Saturday nights and on Sunday. Racer Larry Karshner died in a fatal racing accident on August 8, 1965. Races were held on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights in 1965, conducted under sanction of the National Association for Timing and Acceleration Clubs (NATAC). One old timer recalled that the "the pits were carved out of a hill and had several levels." The site of the old strip is now occupied by the River Oaks subdivision in the village of Heath, Ohio. In 1961, races were held on Saturday night and Sunday.
I have not been able to find much on Don Scott. When I was going to school at OSU I used to go out to the airfield to manage bee hives for the bee lab. I have not been able to find anyone except for Bill Hunter (a Piper) who knows much about racing here. http://dragstriplist.freesite.website/ohio#!id1454423573959 Don Scott Airfield (Columbus) Years of Operation: 1955 An NHRA drag race was held at this airport (now called Ohio State University Airport), located six miles northwest of downtown Columbus. Bill Hunter wrote, "The N.H.R.A. Drag Safari came to Columbus to Don Scott Airfield. We had over 10,000 spectators and 400 plus entered to compete."
David,Yes I grew up in Worthington...left Ohio for Texas after my brother graduated in 1952,,I graduated in 1951,,After reading your above postings,I have friend that lives in Heath today.he also is a Worthington grad..When I lived there the airport was called Don Scott field.was out close to Linworth on Case Rd..I seem to remember that when the drags were held there,the fellow that was responsible for getting all things worked out was named Clark Rader.. speaking of Wooster,there was an Old, old guy that lived there,kinda excetric,that had a massive modle RR set up..I remember as I went to a school my freshman ,soph years at Mt Vernon Academy.
While waiting for David to reply, I have to admit surprise to find out you're a displaced Buckeye also. You have supplied so much Texas history here. I had a good childhood friend who lived in Clintonvillee when I lived in Whitehall. I would drive there on Saturdays, and occasionally we would eat in the little restaurant at Don Scott Field. Funny you mentioned going to the Mt VernonAcademy, I had another friend who graduated from there. There was another SDA school in Glouster at one time, but it closed and became somewhat an annex for the Athens church, where I am from.
55Merc,,,I am not really a displaced Buckeye..Born in Texas.my folks moved to Ohio when I was 4 yrs old...but always returned to Texas every summer for vacation,,so when my brother and I graduated from Worthington Hi,we split for Texas...By the way,The Whizzer bike mentioned on my profile was purchased new by me at Clintonville Cycle..It currently resides in one of my spare bedrooms. My home here in Texas is just 200 yards from Jefferson Academy,an SDA school.....small world Bob
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