New "Drag" Event - Midstate Dragway Havana IL

Those in Illinois and surrounding areas probably know of Havana, or Midstate Dragway.

Now called Central Illinois Dragstrip.


We'll be talking about working out a Nostalgia Drags / HAMB Drags / Mokan / "type" show/racing for 2012.

Soon.

Stay tuned.

 

I was planning on running there this summer. Is a 67 Cougar nostalgia enough!?!?

 

Keep us posted, interesting

 

Sounds like a good idea. We have one in Byron. Keep us posted!

 

Looked at the site and was disappointed that while it said racing in the 60s, only 66 and older are allowed. Seems you left 3 years of 60s cars out of the picture. The video shows a nice 56 (I think) Chevy gasser running. But it was running against a 68 Mustang! Yep that was racing in the 60s! Yeah I am whining because I got a 67 and am left out of the games! :- (

 

Hmm I got this feedback from a person who is in the know so to speak when I asked himm what was up with the track;
"Not sold yet. Sale is at Mason County Courthouse March 29th. Gebhart lady went bankrupt on her trailer sales/track got dragged into it."

So it is not a done deal yet?

 

This is kinda odd....since it just came out in the paper today that it is being sold March 29th at Mason County Courthouse by the bankruptcy court????? Even listed bank contact personnell??

 

It's a done deal. It's not going to auction, Forclosure or anything, it's sold.

 

Is it 1/4 mile?

 

It's 1/8 mile.


Link to a few albums of the track

http://www.cokerphotos.com/Sports/NITRO-BLAST-2009/9315144_R3Z8H#622911234_spKqZ

 

1/8th mile.

Not sure whats gong on with the track. I would hold up on the celebrations and congratulations till Bob comes on and says "Hey lookie what I got!"

 

New Midwest Nostalgia drag racing events are always a good thing!

Here's ours: http:www.hunnertcarheadsup.com

We have also partnered up with the Meltdown for a Midwest Vintage Drags Series.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=563198

 

Thanks for letting us know your dates

 

Yeah, sounds cool! Keep us posted. Besides the Heads Up * Meltdown Vintage Drag Series this summer, I know the Bombers are looking into starting a vintage drag event at Cordova. There's also Whitehall in So Il, but I don't think they race anymore. Man, Illinois is turning into the hot bed of nostalgia drag racing!

Yeah, our cutoff is '65 and the Meltdown is '66, but that's because we wanted to avoid being overrun by muscle cars, and we all know that would happen.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=563198

 

Cool. Sounds like some possible summer road trips.

 

Keep us all posted, my Grandpa lives in the Quad City's....I will make a trip to visit him and watch some drags...

 

This is great news, we need more vintage drag racing!

 

I am sure Bob is going to be sure of things before he writes any checks. But it is in foreclosure as noted here:
http://eznotice.com/notices/2041571

and here:
http://www.judici.com/courts/cases/...J&ocl=IL063015J,2010CH33,IL063015JL2010CH33D1

There must be something being worked out so that the property can be sold? Funny thing is yesterday I could view the race track's forum as a guest and read the comments about the proposed sale and the denial of other things. Today one has to be a registered user to view anything. Hmmmm.

Don't get me wrong I am not a naysayer and will be happy that the track ends up in the control of someone that is going to do some great things for the track. Just so much other info it makes one wonder.

 

We signed the contract and issued the check for the track yesterday.
There will be no Auction.
The track will open this year in April.
We're making plans for a racers meeting in March. (tba)
A lot of decisions have to be made and we're welcoming the input of the racers that race there.
One of the issues that have to be settled is to go NHRA or IHRA.
Thanks, Bob

 

Will you still be doing the March 6th meeting that was already scheduled? Look forward to doing some 1/8ths!!

 

I know which one I'd prefer...and it's not "No Hot Rods Allowed"....they seem to be doing their absolute best to get rid of the little guy (i.e. anyone not racing in the Pro classes), with healthy increases every year in fees, license costs, and so on. IHRA actually likes the sportsman classes and for the most part seems to be doing their absolute best to hold the line on costs. My $.02.

 

The meeting that was to take place on March 6th will not take place, I will announce a date and place soon. I have some things to work out.

 

Last year was our first event at the track and we shared the track with snowmobiles and I think a ford club. This year it is all ours.

 

55Vickie.....please send a pic of your mustang for us to see...private PM.

Tks.

 

We had the same thing our first year... snowmobiles, tuner cars, muscle cars... and the hot rods our show drew to the track outnumbered them all, so we got our own day the following year!

I admit I don't know too much about the differences between NHRA and IHRA rules, but we've had no trouble running hot rods and other regular vintage cars at the Hunnert Car Heads Up at Great Lakes Dragaway, an NHRA track. I looked at the rules, and for cars 14 seconds and slower, the IHRA and NHRA rules are IDENTICAL. Maybe there are more issues with fast cars.

 

Congrats Bob!

 

the issue lies in how the sanctioning bodies treat the racers.

nhra treats the sportsman guys like they are lucky to be allowed on the track. Ihra tends to be a lot more friendly towards the little guys.

theres a lot more to it than that but thats my main bitch.

 

Exactly.

Hellfish- it's not a rules issue (my bad for not mentioning that)...it's the attitude. NHRA appears, in words, deeds, and upper management 'tude, to have no use for anything/anyone who is not in one of the top four classes. Contempt is probably the best word, all things considered. (At the working level, the NHRA staff is generally courteous to everyone.) The NHRA-sanctioned tracks don't have anything to do with that attitude and most of them are happy to deal with the little guys, who by and large are their core business.

Great Lakes by most accounts seems to be a good track. I've heard some things about a particular staff member, but other than that it's positive.

Whichever one Bob chooses won't likely affect H.A.M.B.-type classics in the least....but off-topic cars might be an issue...that's why I mentioned it.

 

Sounds cool, looks like lots of options coming up this year especially in Illinois!!

 

Thanks for clearing that up. I hear a lot of complaints about tracks because of the RULES of their sanctioning affiliation, which just doesn't makes sense when the rules are the same. I think there's an atmosphere of animosity towards some sanctioning bodies that gets translated over time to "those tracks suck and won't let real hot rods race"...which isn't true.