History Iowa Dragstrips - New & Old

you answered my question: I was about to ask for confirmation whether Eddyville is still running...Thanks Al!

 

In the early '70's ,,,i was on a cammitee that a Doctor started ,to put a Drag Strip at Booneville ,,on West Grand just past I-35 ,,we had the land bought ,,but there was an old ,old family home at one end that woulda had to be torn down ,,and ,,the owners wouldn't allow that ,,so the deal didn't go thru ,,the Doctor was gonna buy the land and get investers to build the track ,,
Speaking of Dave Shafer ,,Here's a Pic of ole~ Dave in his '54 Ford Gasser at Des Moines Drag Strip ,,before he rolled it in the lights and went thru the corn field ,,,upside down ,,darn near killed ole~ Dave ,,,Dave was my Boat Mechanic when I had Boat-A-Rama on 2nd Ave & the River ,,Glad to see Dave and his Son Troy still racin' ,,

 

Dave Shafer's son Troy driving at Eddyville ,,

 

Back a few years ago ,,Karl Moyer bought Eddyville Drag Strip ,,but i hear he's sold it now ,,anybody know for sure ?? and who owns it now ??

 

Looking for more photos of a Green 1937 Chevy Truck with "Gang Green" on the tail gate that raced at Neita Raceway (Cedar Falls Raceway) back in the late 1960's and early 1970's.

Thanks

 

From Iowa Falls ,,Denny Prochaska's "Tasmanian Devil" top Alky RE Digger in the early '80's ,,in the '70's , he ran a Front Engined Top Fuel Digger w' the Same Name ,,i had the pleasure of pittin' for Denny at the Brainard Minn. Drags on both the FED and the RED ,,,,

 

If I remember correctly, wasn't NEITA an AHRA track?

 

Do you have any pics from Lee County Dragway?

 

The old Lee County Dragway, Lee County Raceway Park

 

Man, I love reading about all of these old time tracks around DSM. Grew up running around Porkys and street racing.

 

I'm getting a bit lazy with this, tell me which perminant tracks that I need to add to the list in my first post. Name of the track, years in service, town, and web site if there is one.

Thanks

 

There should be some info about the Sioux City drag strip (airport) in this thread:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=232331&highlight=sioux+city+malcolm&showall=1



Malcolm

 

Added to the list

 

Carl Moyer sold the Eddyville track 4 or 5 years ago to Scott and Laura Gardner, who own Cordova Dragway and thier partner in Eddyville, Gerald Kramer who also is the track manager. The Gardner's do not own, but also manage the Cedar Falls drag strip. If any of you are a member of Facebook there is a Lee County Dragway page on there. I think Neita has been hooked up with several sanctioning groups. All the Gardner tracks are now NHRA, with Cordova even holding a Division 5 Race. Carl Moyer has a K on the Chevy dealership, but his name is spelled with a C.

 

Scott also has a point system for all three tracks. I think that only one track has a points race per weekend. And I think you could possibly win a championship at all three tracks in the same year. Al, you would probably know more about that then I would.

 

This is so damn cool! I had no idea there was such a rich history of drag racing in Iowa...and I live here!

 

Lots of Drag Racing History in Iowa ,,1973 ,,Brainard ,Minn,,Denny Prochaska of Iowa Falls ,,aka the Tasmanian Devil top fuel FED ,,the Last front engined digger to qualify for a major NHRA points event,,we went three rounds ,1981,,Brainard ,Minn,,Denny in his new Top Alky Rear Engined digger ,,we won the class over Darryl Gwinn ,,
Vern Moats of Des moines ,,has won every top alky funny car event you can name for 35 years ,,STILL running at major events,,
Dave Shafer,,my mechanic in the '70's when i had the Boat-A-Rame boat shop ,been ruuning a Ford in pro stock for 35 years ,,gassers before that ,,won more than he lost ,,
i'm sure there are more ,,these are just the ones I knew ,,

 

Does anyone have a scan they can post of the old NEITA logo?

 

Hello, I am contacting you wondering if you have any pictures of the drag racing at Lee County Dragway, you are right the track closed due to the cost of operating it. But not due to noise.
Thank you...

 

There is a page on FaceBook for LCD.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lee-County-Dragway-Raceway-Park/122119867810120

 

Cool thread! I grew up about 15 miles from Humboldt Co. Dragway. Although I am not old enough to remember when any big name racers were there, it was still alot of fun. My Dad often talks about the days of the factory race cars being at Humboldt. Chuck and Gary(?) Ostrich out of Nevada raced there. These guys were on the list to get the cool 'new' Mopar toys in the late '60s. I know Judy Lilly also raced in Humboldt.
Jimmy and Jerry Groves raced in Humboldt for a number of years. They had a Willys that went through a few configurations(The Gladiator) and then an Opel. I've posted a couple pics below, although I'm not sure where these were taken.

 

I remember that truck, they also came to Eddyville and race it.
There was also a metalflake green Corvair that ran a small block Chevy that was also named the same.

Then I recall a '57 Chevy driven by Larry Boucher (?) named 'White Lighting' ......

 

The background of the Opel pic reminds me of Cordova, because of the power poles. The background of the Willys pic looks like Indy, because of the huge oil containers. Probably way off on my guess tho. Alan Booton might know better than I, since I'm a youngen.

 

Anyone have any photos of the following racers/racecars from Iowa? They all raced at Eddyville as well as other Iowa strips and throughout the Midwest.
Jim Carter/Jesse James- '66 Chevy II, Vega
Whitaker,Elliott&Allen- Vega
Beck Bros.- '56 Chevy, Camaro, Hornet
Merrill Frost- Opel Cadet, Opel GT, Bantam
Vern Moats- Bantam
Roy Long-- Camaro
Bill Pennington- Yellow Page Anglia
Cliff Tipton- Chevy II
Art Craver-Anglia, White Lightning '37 Chevy, Colt
Wild Child-Bantam
Taxi-Anglia
Lightning Bug-Injected Hemi VW
Dave Shafer-Maverick
Yellow Submarine
Steve VanDussen-Nuerotic Camaro

 

I have photos of Merrill Frost's Pinto TA/FC that he bought from Ralph Rowe. I was trying to find that car, so I found as much as I could about it. But, you probably don't need/want that.

 

I had a box full of pictures from Eddyville from the '72 - '77 era, I'd have to really dig to see if I can find them.
I lived in Oskaloosa .... I ended up as President of the Eddyville Drag Racers Association that opperated the track for a year after Jok Nicholson left.

Here is a picture of Jimmy Carter's Chevy II and his '40 Ford Coupe that he raced back then. He street drove the '40 once in a while, brought his wife Becky and his son and daughter to Church in it on Sundays.

 

I'm actually interested in photos of any 70's Iowa/Midwest drag cars.

 

Awesome! Thanks!!

 

I remember ......
Roy Longs - Hemi powered Wagon named the 'War Wagon out of Knoxville
Jim Van Zee - Hemi powered Dodge Wagon named 'Led Zepplin' out of Oskaloosa
Jim Durian - 292 CID SBC Chevy II out of Oskaloosa
Tommy Johnson - Small Block Camaro named 'Nine Lives' from Ottumwa

I was there the afternoon that the Whitaker-Elliot-Alan Car left the starting line and about mid track lost control and hit the gaurd rail and flipped it over.