Closed dragstrips

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Open: Thompson Drag Raceway (but has a new name); Quaker City (great track but uphill burnout box); Dragway 42; Lapeer International Dragway; Milan Dragway (thank goodness for the new/current owner!); Mid-Michigan Motorplex; National Trails Raceway; Gainesville Raceway; Orlando Speedworld

Closed: Detroit Dragway
 
Open: NationalTrail Raceway
Summit motorsports park
Kil-kare dragway
Edgewater sports park
Dragway 42
Indianapolis raceway park
Quaker City motorsports park

Closed: Pacemakers dragway
 
-Boosted- said:
The race track with my fondest memories..... Hawaii Raceway Park closed in 2006. The last time I raced there was in 1996 just before I moved to WA State.
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I remember running my 86 GSXR1100 there in that timeframe when I was stationed at Kunia under the pineapple field. Those Hawaiians would race anything, tow trucks to YSR 50’s!
 
Closed: Atco, Englishtown and Bandimere.
Open: Maple Grove, Cecil County, Lebanon Valley, Island (north jersey), Virginia Motorsports Park (I think, anyway, it’s near Richmond, I believe.) US 13 in Delmar DE.
 
I have raced at 51 different dragstrips in my time. I would guess 2/3's of them are gone. 5 tracks in NJ, only 1 left.
Of 8 tracks in Florida, that I have been to, I think only 3 maybe 4 are still open
 
When I lived in Colorado we raced at Bandimere which is now closed and Julesburg which is still open and a great Bracket Racing track with many improvements . Moved to Arizona 11 Miles from Speed World in Surprise and planned to build a mid 12 second car just to have fun .They closed before I had a chance to build the car . All that's left now is Firebird which at one time was scheduled to close and Tuscon Raceway clear accross to State from me.
 
Back in Time said:
When I lived in Colorado we raced at Bandimere which is now closed and Julesburg which is still open and a great Bracket Racing track with many improvements . Moved to Arizona 11 Miles from Speed World in Surprise and planned to build a mid 12 second car just to have fun .They closed before I had a chance to build the car . All that's left now is Firebird which at one time was scheduled to close and Tuscon Raceway clear accross to State from me.
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What is current status of firebird? I have a friend building an Avenger pro mod, and firebird is his nearest track. I'm in AZ too, and Vegas is twice as close (maybe three times as close) as Tuscon.
Thanks, John
 
I would say get used to drag strips closing. Not just urban crawl, but the cars are changing. You have to get bums on seats to keep a strip open & today it is a different generation....
 
-Boosted- said:
The race track with my fondest memories..... Hawaii Raceway Park closed in 2006. The last time I raced there was in 1996 just before I moved to WA State.
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My car buddies and I were just talking about trying to get one of the local tracks to put in a drag strip. I’m up north in Wa. State we have nothing!
 
Back in Time said:
I think this story can explain things better . The investment they made makes me think it will be there Long term. Firebird Motorsports Park Prepares for 2025 with Major Improvements | Drag Illustrated
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The only remaining track in N.J... Island Dragway my " home track " for over 40 years , still going strong now being ran by the third generation of the original owners family who opened the track 65 years ago. Contrary to whats out there Raceway Park and Atco didn't close because of suburban sprawl it came down to the managements decisions to no longer support drag racing . It really hurt as I competed at both right up until they closed. Luckily the remaining tracks in the area , Cecil County , South Mountain , Maple Grove and Numidia are being ran by racers who enjoy the sport and have a deep passion for it. Look what the Koretsky family have done with Maple Grove and what " Mountain Mike " has done with South Mountain for example .
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Open: Gainesville Raceway, Maryland International Raceway, Colonial Beach Dragway, Sonoma International Raceway, Fomosa Raceway, Maple Grove Raceway, Lebanon Valley Dragway, New England Dragway, New Oxford Dragway, Winterport Dragway

Closed: Jax Raceway, Englishtown, Fremont Raceway Park, Sacramento.
 
BVoelzke said:
The only remaining track in N.J... Island Dragway my " home track " for over 40 years , still going strong now being ran by the third generation of the original owners family who opened the track 65 years ago. Contrary to whats out there Raceway Park and Atco didn't close because of suburban sprawl it came down to the managements decisions to no longer support drag racing . It really hurt as I competed at both right up until they closed. Luckily the remaining tracks in the area , Cecil County , South Mountain , Maple Grove and Numidia are being ran by racers who enjoy the sport and have a deep passion for it. Look what the Koretsky family have done with Maple Grove and what " Mountain Mike " has done with South Mountain for example .
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That's the same with Bandimere in Denver .Word out there it was urban sprawl which is partially true but not the whole story . They were landlocked by the Mountain and needed to expand to be viable . Also they had never had running water there so all water had to be hauled in meaning porta pottys instead of permanant restroom facilities among other things . Long story short CO-PARTS made them an offer they couldn't refuse . Nothing will ever be like the Mountain but they are doing due dilligence on a large parcel of land North East of Denver near Hudson and plan to build a Modern Motorsports park .They thought they could begin construction this summer but the process is taking longer than antisipated .The Bandimere Family has dedicated their lives to the Sport of Drag Racing and I'm positive the new facility will be state of the art.
 
Atlanta Dragway was my local track. The NHRA sold it apparently for a housing development. Been over a year and no development has happened yet, although they're torn down a lot.
 
-Boosted- said:
Yeah, if we did I would probably still be racing.
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Build another car, park it at my house...I have an extra garage spot big enough to work on the car.
Theres an extra room in the house.
That's not a thought....it's a demand lol
 
Our rural area is still cranking after all these years Hope to get The GTX ready They once had bleachers on both sides of the strip when I was a youngster the place was packed Things has changed but the strip is still going

Lucky Drag City | Wattsburg PA

Lucky Drag City, Wattsburg, Pennsylvania. 6,150 likes · 6 talking about this · 1,256 were here. Race Track
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Lucky Drag City

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Lucky Foley, owner of Erie County's only drag racing strip, dead at 81

Maurice 'Lucky' Foley, longtime owner of Lucky Drag City, dies at 81 after long battle with cancer.
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Maurice Foley Obituary (1939 - 2020) - Erie, PA - Erie Times-News

View Maurice Timothy "Lucky" Foley's obituary, send flowers and sign the guestbook.
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When I lived in SC I raced at Atlanta. They put on some monstrous events there, Southern Nationals, SCT for example. It was a huge facility. Every time I drove under the condo's to the burn out box I thought about every famous drag racer that ever raced had passed through that arch. I was shocked when it was shut down but it was pretty obvious that a tract of land that large needed more than 20 days a year heavy usage to make it financially viable.

I live in Upsate NY now, hopefully Lebanon Valley will remain open.
 
Vertex_Jeff said:
Did you guys see this news? Hopefully this is a good thing for these 7 tracks.
IHRA AND OWNER DARRYL CUTTELL ANNOUNCE GROUNDBREAKING ACQUISITION OF SEVEN PREMIER DRAG RACING TRACKS
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I saw this too. I've got mixed thoughts. Hope the IHRA doesn't buy these and run them like the NHRA does their 3 tracks. That would be a real shame as I used to race at Milan with the current owner and he does a fantastic job. They race there "all the time" unlike the NHRA that has brackets 1 weekend a month for maybe 7 months a year.

Also hope the new owner doesn't take on so much debt that he can't make a go of it and then has to sell off or shutter some of them. Oh well, time will tell the truth!
 
Demonx2 said:
I saw this too. I've got mixed thoughts. Hope the IHRA doesn't buy these and run them like the NHRA does their 3 tracks. That would be a real shame as I used to race at Milan with the current owner and he does a fantastic job. They race there "all the time" unlike the NHRA that has brackets 1 weekend a month for maybe 7 months a year.

Also hope the new owner doesn't take on so much debt that he can't make a go of it and then has to sell off or shutter some of them. Oh well, time will tell the truth!
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Agree, IMO NHRA did a poor job of running Atlanta. It was a great facility but didn't have enough events and most were run poorly unless run by some other promoter / sanctioning body.
 
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