Yup. Very sad. I ran there one time in the 80's.
So sad, I used to go there in the 90’s/00’s to the mopar Atlantic Nationals. Lots of racing, saw the little red wagon and hell on wheels, side by side do wheel stands all the way down the track, turn around and wheel stand all the way back. Cool stuff! I stopped going when show attendance went way way down.
Mike, horrible news! I remember my first time to that strip was when I met you and Piper the first time in person.
Glad you at-least got to make a pass down that thing! Wish I could've seen that!
Any time that a drag strip closes anywhere in the United States it's a sad event, but to be perfectly honest it's not surprising to me and others who were involved in drag racing for many years in the past.
Just as you and I were talking about just a few days ago Mike, the state of the NHRA and drag racing in general has been changing since NHRA decided to go from full quarter mile passes to it's current format which basically turned Top Fuel and Funny Car racing into extended burnouts. I haven't attended an NHRA National Event here in Arizona since the late 90's, early 2000's and have stopped watching it on TV as soon as they made the change to the shorter passes. For me, drag racing has become extremely boring and just isn't fun to watch any more.
In addition, it has been my personal opinion that the NHRA has treated folks like us who for the most part were, or still are weekend warriors poorly for many years and made me feel as if they were using us and our cars as track sweepers for the Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock cars and bikes. Some of you will completely disagree with me and that's your right, but I fell out of love with the NHRA back in the 90's and won't likely ever rekindle that love again until the NHRA adopts a much more friendly format for the weekend warriors who help track owners pay their bills when the pro's are somewhere else.
As always, just one old guys opinion.
Richard
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Believe it or not I was fortunate enough to make a pass there back in the 80's. It was in a new Dodge Shelby Shadow. The same weekend I crewed for Bill Maverick on the Little Red Wagon and I got to go to dinner with him too! I'll never forget it.
Sad to see another drag strip close . . .