Drag Strip Landing at NPR

[Ed Wright]

Originally Posted by Jeff Teuton

Reminds me of the old airport drag strips at various places in South Louisiana. The plane would circle low a couple times, then the races would stop, followed by a white flag on a long pole to signal the plane to land. The plane lands, taxis off, and the races start again. Course there was a flagman, and the tower was a platform on top of an old panel truck. The finish line was a guy in a pickup with a flag to signal who won. All those old airports are still functional or have grown larger.

That is what the Tulsa track was when I started. At the North Airport. The " tower" was in an old school buss in which all the equipment was stored between races. The flagman at the finish line had a lot of interesting discussions with the racers after close finishes. ;-)

[will prater]

You remember this one Ed?
We had an accidental plane landing there during the races back around 1978. During eliminations a twin engine plane set down in the shutdown area and came right down the track toward the starting line. The Tulsa airport is just west of the track and he thought he was on approach to one of the runways.

[SC1448]

Reminds me of racing at York US 30 back in the mid-70's. There was so much shut-down there, the planes usually landed well past the finish line as I remember. The strip's still there operating as York-Thomasville airport although the Cragar Tower's long gone. There's still an aerial photo of the place taken during the Super Stock Nationals hanging on the office wall next to the Flight Service desk. Neat video, Pat....

Happy New Year everyone!

-Don

[Ed Wright]

Originally Posted by will prater

You remember this one Ed?
We had an accidental plane landing there during the races back around 1978. During eliminations a twin engine plane set down in the shutdown area and came right down the track toward the starting line. The Tulsa airport is just west of the track and he thought he was on approach to one of the runways.

I wasn't there, but heard about it. Had to be a little embarassing.