Lost Drag Strips

[Z28#107]

Originally Posted by Mike Carr

-P.I.D. closed in 1976.

Sadly, I am too young (age 31) to have been to or raced at any of these tracks. Another area track closed down is the Fairmont (formerly Eldora) Dragway in Fairmont WV. We had several S/SS races there from 1995 to 1999. It closed in, I think, 2000. Nice little down-home 1/8 mile track.

Other area tracks that have closed over the years that I have heard about. Peterson Memorial in Altoona PA, one in New Bethlehem PA, not sure if the track in Erie PA still exists or not.

Mike

a friend of mine won his class the last day that PID was open in 1976

we hoofed on-foot to find it again in August 1993, and found trees growing through the pavement
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I raced, at worked-at, Fairmont in the early 1990's, and still have a few caps & T-shirts from that facility

the track lost it's lease after 1999, but had paid it's NHRA dues for 2000 ~ a group of racers had the idea to rent Pittsburgh Raceway Park, hold races under the Fairmont banner, and field a team for the 2000 E.T. Finals at U.S. 13
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I've been told that the track you mention in Altoona is located less-than 2000' S/W of the village named 'Tipton', just East of an S-curve in the once 4-tracked Pennsylvania Railroad
it is easy to find using Google, as I believe it is still an active runway/airfield/industrial park, and although I used-to chase trains within 500' of the location, at the time I never knew it was a track

a few of my buddies raced at New bethlehem, and I think the track near Erie was once named 'Lowville'
sadly, I never raced or saw any of these 3 tracks in-action

[rod]

two more things.
1. the 1/8 mile strip at Topeka, Ks, this strip was between Ks 24 and I-70. in 1951 there was a big flood which washed out the bridge. the bridge was gone, but the 2 1/2 lane black top remained. so some guy got access to the blacktop and set up a strip. one shut down lane was shorter that the other. so the slower of the two racers got the short piece. the strip used an upside down traffic light for trials and heads up races. the tower [if you could call it that] was a 4 sided box attached to a phone pole, which ran up the inside of the box. this was an AHRA track which used a formula for the handicap. spots were actually painted out on the track, and the start was by flag. racers came form all over to race there.

2. does anyone have info on the original 'vegas valley strip in Henderson Nevada? please PM me.
thanks rod in AZ

[Steve1118]

Some pals of mine, including the original announcer at PID, were there over the weekend. The drag strip is still there! I'll post some pics tonight.

Altoona is where I raced at often, it was located in Tipton, near where DelGrosso Amusement park is now.

The track is still there, as well, but is the main drag through an industrial park now. It is very long, over a mile of shutdown area. One of the little known facts that it is on the site of the famous Altoona Board track back in the twenties, part of what today would be the Indy Racing League circuit. It was a wood track, like a lot of them were, and Altoona was part of the "tour". The late Jimmy Murphy, one of the heavies of the day, lost his life there. Remnants of it could still be seen in the shutdown area when we raced there.

[CycloneFE]

Soon to be released.......
http://www.cartechbooks.com/lost-dra...88381481237582

[Adger Smith]

Back in 1999-2000 I had sone input about Lost tracks in Texas, Ar, Ok and La. Bret Kepner and Tom Posthma 9SP0 were working on it. Never had any idea what happened to their project.

[Bret Kepner]

Originally Posted by Adger Smith

Back in 1999-2000 I had sone input about Lost tracks in Texas, Ar, Ok and La. Bret Kepner and Tom Posthma 9SP0 were working on it. Never had any idea what happened to their project.

The project is still alive and well, Adger, with the same four core members. It has taken up a substantial portion of our lives and is still eating up the equivalent of another full-time job in hours per week.

Our project is substantially different than any before it and, quite frankly, is far beyond a paperback book as a final product. Our goal is not neccessarily to sell books but, rather, to get a copy of our work in the National Archives/Library of Congress for use as a research tool for future generations...and we're not talking for the next fifty years; we're talking five hundred years.

If we do sell the finished product, I can promise you it will be very expensive. However, it will aslo be positively monstrous in size...for whatever that's worth.

[Adger Smith]

Bret,
Thanks for the update. I sure did enjoy working on that with you guys.
I can understand why the "Work In Progress" sign is hanging out. There is alot of history out there to be documented. I hope to get to see your finished product some day.

[ss wannabee]

Originally Posted by Steve1118

Some pals of mine, including the original announcer at PID, were there over the weekend. The drag strip is still there! I'll post some pics tonight.

Altoona is where I raced at often, it was located in Tipton, near where DelGrosso Amusement park is now.

The track is still there, as well, but is the main drag through an industrial park now. It is very long, over a mile of shutdown area. One of the little known facts that it is on the site of the famous Altoona Board track back in the twenties, part of what today would be the Indy Racing League circuit. It was a wood track, like a lot of them were, and Altoona was part of the "tour". The late Jimmy Murphy, one of the heavies of the day, lost his life there. Remnants of it could still be seen in the shutdown area when we raced there.

Might you have a few pics from the Altoona drag strip that you could share?

Any idea when and why it closed?

You probably bumped into Herb Kutz...the Super Stock racer...from time to time...think
he lived nearby.

[Steve1118]

Herb was from Altoona. I know he won the Summernationals at Englishtown...I can't recall the year, and then went to work for Comp Cams. Haven't heard from him in years.

I have a lot of pics at home, on my home computer. I will post them over the weekend.

A lot of reasons it closed...Petersen, the older gent that owned it, was getting in poor health, and the kids didn't want to mess with it. It was leased by John Dively in 77 & 78, then he quit, too. I'm pretty sure it's the same John Dively who owns Econo-trailer in Claysburg.

A few years back, a couple of the original racers and myself got with Jim Amos from Bee On Video (www.beeonvideo.com), who makes a lot of the old nostalgia races and films. Jim took tons of video of it is now, and we provided him with a lot of old 8mm films. He is putting together a production as we speak.

[bigsixman]

Does anyone have pictures or history on Seminole Dragstrip west of Tallahassee, FL on SR20? My parents live in Panama City, FL and I remember driving by this old closed track about 10 years ago. It is basically all there including the old tower. I never hear of any old stories regarding this track and I know that there has to be someone out there that can share some info on this track.