Anyone remember Rocky Mtn. Dragway at Commerce, CO?
 

In the summer of 1964, I lived in Colorado Springs, CO, and saw a lot of drag racing as a spectator at Denver, which had a suburb called "Commerce City." There was a drag strip there at that time, named "Rocky Mountain Dragway" (IIRC) and it was one of the nicest facilities I ever visited.

For instance, it had TWO public-address systems, with two "sets" of speakers; one in the stands for the spectators' race descriptions, and another, completely separate one in the pits for the "racer information" (calling to the lanes, etc.) This made it especially nice for the racers, who didn't have to constantly monitor the general announcements about the goings-on on the track, in order to hear their calls to the lanes.

That was the first time I'd encountered that dual P.A. system. Haven't seen one since...

The grandstands were very colorful (everything seemed brand new, but I don't know how long this strip had been in operation when I discovered it in '64; not very long, from the looks of things.) The grandstands were wood, but good-quality, smooth wood seats, and every row of seats were painted a different color!!!

It was really nice to look at...

They seemed to generate good crowd numbers, and I saw a lot of really good Sportsman racing there; lots of Stockers, Gassers, etc....

I moved to Des Moines at the end of that summer and never got back to the Denver area, but have often wondered how long that strip lasted. Seems like it was in an industrial area, if I remember right.

Does anyone from that area remember that strip, and remember how long it was in operation?

They seemed to do everything right...

Thanks for any information!

Bill

Re: Anyone remember Rocky Mtn. Dragway at Commerce, CO?
 

Bill,

Was it located at 96th and Buckley Road, in Adams County? I'm not sure you're talking about the same dragstrip I'm thinking of, however I've only heard of one track remotely close to Commerce City (which the city still exists, but not the drag strip), and when I started racing it was called Dragway Denver (1975-77), then Thunder Road (1978), and finally Mile High Raceway (1979-80).

During the Dragway Denver period, it was an NHRA sanctioned track, and even held a divisional points series event there (I remember watching Warren Johnson race his burgundy/white Camaro Pro Stocker there)! However, from 79-80 (it's last years as a drag strip), it became an AHRA track (and in '80 even held a divisional type of race too). I got my start in racing at that track, and after I lost the first round of my first bracket race, I almost gave up, and thought I'd never race again...however the manager of the track came and sat by me and encouraged me to come out there and do it often because it took lots of practice and getting to know my car in racing mode, to become even an elimination round winner....ohh am I glad I did that, cause the rest going forward created some great history for me, with more to come GOD WILLING!!!

Re: Anyone remember Rocky Mtn. Dragway at Commerce, CO?
 

Gary,

You're talking to a 70 year old guy about something he did 45 years ago... lol!

"CRS" brain is surely a factor here... :(

I am reasonably sure that drag strip was located in Commerce City, but have no information beyond that.

I also seem to remember that it was called "Rocky Mountain Dragway," but, I wouldn't bet the farm on that, either.

Thanks for your input.

Bill

Re: Anyone remember Rocky Mtn. Dragway at Commerce, CO?
 

Eureka!!!

I have an old "1967 Drag Racers' Almanac" that lists a "Rocky Mountain Raceway" in Commerce City, CO, so maybe I'm not losing my mind after all... LOL!

Re: Anyone remember Rocky Mtn. Dragway at Commerce, CO?
 

Bill
Think you are correct. The drag strip I remember in that area I always thought was actually on the Rocky Mountain Arsenal property which is right by Commerce City. Likely had a Commerce City address. It was the first strip I ever went to, 1965, with my Dad. I was living in Arvada, Colorado. I seem to remember they ran 4 at a time the day we went. For some reason we went more ofter to CDR in Castle Rock. First strip I ever went down, 1966 I was 16.
Great memories.

Re: Anyone remember Rocky Mtn. Dragway at Commerce, CO?
 

Thanks, Stewart! We're gettin' there... :)

Bill

Re: Anyone remember Rocky Mtn. Dragway at Commerce, CO?
 

I certainly remember the place. I won the Div. 5 championship there in 1977, with my 65 Chevelle. It was the final Div 5. race of the season, and at the end of the day, Judy Lilly and I were tied for points. So Zim, our Div. director had us run a tie breaker for the championship, and she lit the RED bulb.
Eddie Rezac

Re: Anyone remember Rocky Mtn. Dragway at Commerce, CO?
 

Congratulations, Eddie!!! And, thanks for the info!!!

Any idea when it closed???

Bill

Re: Anyone remember Rocky Mtn. Dragway at Commerce, CO?
 

My only trip there was just after I moved to Denver from Phoenix. There was a Divisional held where I met Zim and a few other people. The were no altitude adjustments, we ran off the sea level indexes (or records) and that was my 1st try at racing a mile in the air. That was a learning experience!
There was a string of redlights and missed gears (nobody could break out) against me all the way to the final, where Scott Main freight trained me by 5 cars. He went on to win the World Championship that year so that sets the time frame if you wanted to look it up.
I don't remember it being very nice but nothing in Commerce City ever was.

Re: Anyone remember Rocky Mtn. Dragway at Commerce, CO?
 

Bill got any Des Moines Dragway stories?

Re: Anyone remember Rocky Mtn. Dragway at Commerce, CO?
 

So that's why they were always after your butt. Remember the burnouts at Minnesota Dragway before they had water?

Eddie, I need you phone number.

Jerry

Re: Anyone remember Rocky Mtn. Dragway at Commerce, CO?
 

Thanks, John; that was probably '69, or so. Are you the John Mason from the East Coast (New Yawk?) who used to run the red A/SA 427/425 Camaro in Div. VII about ten years ago? If so, we talked at Sonoma a couple of times...

A100 (whoever you are), I was only at that strip about three years; moved to Des Moines for the '65 season, and that strip closed after '68, I believe. I did hold down the Stocker tech job there for those 3 years.

There's a guy in Des Moines named Lary Latham who's writing a book about the Des Moines strip. His email address is larry49@dwx.com if you have something to contribute to the book, or would like to get on a list to get notice sent to you when he finishes it, you can contact him at that email address.

Right now, he's trying to locate a racer named "Don Biggers," from the Kansas City area who ran at Des Moines, some. Don was the 1962 AHRA Green Valley Nationals B/G Class Champion, having beat our car at Green Valley in the Class finals that year. He had a Hilborn injected SBC that ran a lot faster than anybody else in our neighborhood. His partner's last name was "Solomon," so the name on the door of this green, '40 Ford Coupe, was "Biggers and Soloman."

Anybody have an info on the whereabouts of those guys?

Wow; I hijacked my own thread.... is there some kind of Darwin Award for that??? LOL!

Re: Anyone remember Rocky Mtn. Dragway at Commerce, CO?
 

Here's the Biggers and Soloman Gasser...

Click on it and its size will increase incrementally... :(

Re: Anyone remember Rocky Mtn. Dragway at Commerce, CO?
 

Bill,
Bandimere went NHRA in 1978. The Denver Div 5 race and the 1st Mile-high Sportsnanionals were held there after that. In 1979 the National event became the Mile-high Nationals, with the pros included. I can't tell you when Rocky mountain closed for good, as I only ran the Div, & and National races in Denver. maybe some locals could tell you the exact closing date.
Eddie Rezac

Re: Anyone remember Rocky Mtn. Dragway at Commerce, CO?
 

I was just a kid but I remember the track well. We lived in Commerce City and went there often. My dad ran in stock and super stock in the sixties and did very well and helped a lot of people do well also. He had a number of drivers from the area drive his cars successfully. Thats pretty much where I fell in love with drag racing and still trying to do as well as he did, but enjoying it more than ever now. Some of you may have seen his blue 66 SS396 Chevelle or remember Dan Miller. At 72 he still goes with us some and still enjoys it all, but he just cant seem to get the index system figured out. What joyous memories those were back then.

Happy Fathers Day to all the dads on here.

Re: Anyone remember Rocky Mtn. Dragway at Commerce, CO?
 

Eddie,

I'm certain that the same place that you won your championship at (in '77), is the same place that Bill is talking about, and I'm thinking about too...Rocky Mountain Dragway, in Denver/Commerce City. I pulled up a webpage about a "Metalshapers Association", and they apparently used to make parachutes for cars such as "Guzman & Ward's Corvair 'Assassination' Funny Car", back in May, '68, plus they showed photos of other cars at that track driven by "Alan Bockla", (who was the first drag racer to reach 200 mph at that altitude..per "Pete Garramone" who took the shown photos, and made the quotes of those achievements at that track, by him and others).

Aparently that track has had several names, and Rocky Mountain Dragway must have been the first, because those pictures reminded me of the same drag strip that was later called "Dragway Denver", during the years that you spoke of Eddie, because I was there as a racing fan/newbe racer during that era, and I watched you win the runoff from Judy...wasn't your car Orange in color, and a 4spd.? My guess is that track that was originally called Rocky Mountain Dragway from at least '65-'68, was next called "Thunder Road" for a stint, then became "Dragway Denver" (sometime around '75), and held that name until '78 when it was called "Thunder Road Race/Dragway" again for only the one year. It spent it's last two drag strip years being called "Mile High Raceway", and after that the strip was split in half---the northern half became a dirt oval and was called "Rocky Mountain Speedway", while the southern part was made into a road course and became "Second Creek Raceway". As of 2005 it appears that the track is being leveled and is now being developed for housing/businesses, and about the only part of all that history that remains is the house that the owner of the track lived in (if it's still even there...what with the building of "Denver International Airport", just east of there, the "Rocky Mountain Arsenal/Wildlife Refuge" to the south/southwest of it, and housing communities from Commerce City encroaching from the west/northwest of it)?

The track was just east of Commerce City, north of the Arsenal, and you had to either take 96th ave. east to a turn that became Buckley Road (from Hwy 2 from Commerce City), or you had to drive up I-70 from Tower Road, to 88th Ave. Turn left and head west to Buckley Rd. (from the south/east), then make a right turn and drive up towards 96th Ave. to get to the entrance of the place.

WOW, I'm REALLY DATING MYSELF NOW (lol), but what memories that track had for me too...I won five bracket races in six final rounds in '79 at that track, and for 2-3 months I was actually a professional racer, driving the same '76 Chevy Vega that I later semi-finaled at the Div. V ET Finals with up there in Marion, Sd. Moreover, that track helped prepare me to win the '77 KING OF THE HILL MEMORIAL DAY HIGH SCHOOL DRAGS CHAMPIONSHIP, with at "BANDIMERE SPEEDWAY"!!!

Thanks Bill and Eddie for bringing back some great memories of one of my most successful race tracks in my history, along with Bandimeres & Thunder Valley Raceway (up there in great old Marion, Sd)!!!

Re: Anyone remember Rocky Mtn. Dragway at Commerce, CO?
 

Thanks for the rundown, Gary! I figured if I brought up that drag strip, somebody on here would have some memories from tthere; looks like you have a lot!!!

The one thing that stood out in my memory was the dual P.A. system that separated what the racers in the pits heard from what the spectators in the stands heard. It was REALLY NICE to get your instructions as to when to bring your car to the line from a dedicated audio circuit as opposed to having to monitor the general Public Address announcements that mostly were comments about on-track activity (mph's and e.t.'s.)

That dual sound system couldn't have cost them much more than the price of an amplifier. It's a shame more strips don't use that opportunity to talk directly to the racers, nowdays.

Sounds like that strip was in operation for at least fifteen years; I was there in '64 and it was pretty new, then; everything was shiny and clean.

Great memories... thanks, guys!!!

Bill

Re: Anyone remember Rocky Mtn. Dragway at Commerce, CO?
 

Don Biggers was my father.
He died 1993

Re: Anyone remember Rocky Mtn. Dragway at Commerce, CO?
 

Thanks, Ricky. I'm sorry for your loss. Don was a fine racer and had the reputation of always campaigning cars that were fast for their class. I know he had us covered by a full second at Green Valley, in 1962....

I appreciate the information.

Re: Anyone remember Rocky Mtn. Dragway at Commerce, CO?
 

Eddie, that was one for the books. Classic Div. 5..... Chevy vs. MoPar with two of the Divisions best punching it out. You have no idea how much that was discussed over the Winter up here.

Usually over an adult beverage or three...................... -Al

Re: Anyone remember Rocky Mtn. Dragway at Commerce, CO?
 

Usually over an adult beverage or three...................... -Al

Al, although all of the conversants were "of age", I don't believe any of them had attained "adulthood" yet. IMaybe some of them (us) are still trying.

Jerry

Re: Anyone remember Rocky Mtn. Dragway at Commerce, CO?
 

Laffin' here, Jerry.

I gave up on being 'overserved' years ago.....got sick and tired of waking up sick and tired, 'ya know?

Re: Anyone remember Rocky Mtn. Dragway at Commerce, CO?
 

Here is what it looks like today plus some shots from the 70's. Sorry I don't have a shot of the tower. Dwayne Scheitlin took the aerial shot, I hope the Co-Pilot was flying the plane....
We have lots of memories from Dragway Denver. My most memorable was crossing the finish line completely sideways and getting a win ticket that said 96 MPH. Since I did not cross the C/L until after the finish they did not DQ me, no "excessive braking" rule back then.
If you look close behind John Mason's Chevelle you can see the plane that the track manager used the track as a runway for. That shot was the staging lanes and the plane is sitting a little way behind the burnout box.
Bill Ringer

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...gwayDenver.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...wayDenver1.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...wayDenver2.jpg

Re: Anyone remember Rocky Mtn. Dragway at Commerce, CO?
 

Thanks Bill,

That's a bummer to see what the modern times has done to such a great dragstrip :( , but those cool cars, and even the airplane bring back great memories as well...I'm glad that Dwayne had a co-pilot too, or that I was far away when he took that shot...ROLOL!

BTW, MERRY CHRISTMAS Bill, and I'll be up there to visit my family in 2wks...

Re: Anyone remember Rocky Mtn. Dragway at Commerce, CO?
 

Those who remember Rocky Mountain Dragway (AKA Dragway Denver, Denver International Raceway) will also remember Century 21 Raceway just a few miles east of Rocky Mountain Dragway.
Google maps has good pictures of how it is today. Too bad It could not have lasted. It's a great location, close to DIA too.
Just paste this in the search for Google Maps S. Orleans way & Picadilly rd Aurora co
Sorry I couldn't find a way to post a link.

Bill Ringer