Abandonded drag strips

[Ghoste]

I was reading that book "Lost Drag Strips" or whatever it is and thought about this one close to me so I went took a couple of photos.  This is Windsor Dragway which operated from 1968 to 1971 and given its proximity to Detroit and border crossing conditions decades before we knew what Muslim terrorists were, many of the greats had a run there.
This first pic is from the starting line looking down the track.

[Ghoste]

Here is the staging area.

[Ghoste]

And what's left of the timing tower.

[Ghoste]

And a gratuitous photo of my Charger at the old spectators entrance.  I took some others but this is a good start.
Any other members live near ghost (without an "e" haha) tracks that the general public have no idea about?

[rt green]

wow. sad isn't it?

[el dub]

A lot of them around. There was one just south of town called raisen city drag strip I went to as a kid but its gone now. Once the real estate started going up the strips started disappearing. 

[Ghoste]

Here's an opening day photo for Windsor Dragway.

[John_Kunkel]

A lot of them around. There was one just south of town called raisen city drag strip

Famous for their four side-by-side Top Fuel racing long before Charlotte.

[Drache]

The one in my home town was abandoned simply because the Timing Tower was torn down by vandals who wanted the wood only a week or so after being built. The racing club didn't have the money to rebuild and the was left to be broken up by nature.

[mopar2]

Sad but    Kool Pics. Thanks For sharing

[Aero426]

I was at this one yesterday.    The track is called Meadowdale Raceway near Chicago.    Built as a three mile road course in 1958, it had a drag strip provision added for 1968.    It closed in 1969.   Plans to redevelop it as a two mile superspeedway never came to be.   The track property then laid dormant for 35 years and was purchased from the original owners family and converted to park use.   There is a once a year car show on the old main straight.     

The photo is near the finish line of the drag strip.   Return road and road course pits were off to the left.   Grandstands to the right.     The car is sitting on a newly paved walking/bike path laid through the old course.   Pavement to the outside is original. 

[Aero426]

This was a spectator entrance.   The Pure Oil lettering on the old farm silo was restored in recent years.   Although deemed structurally sound,  local government came "this close" to demolishing the silo to get rid of the liability.    It is the only remaining landmark on the site.   

[Aero426]

This is the silo in May 1969. 

[Aero426]

Drag strip timing tower and main straight where the car show is held today.  Photo is from the 1968 Trans-Am race which was the last pro event held there.  

[Aero426]

Rare shot of a funny car at Meadowdale in 1968.

[Aero426]

My car near the old staging area.

[Aero426]

Looking back towards the timing tower.

[Aero426]

Fuel station.   It used to be very easy to find ten years ago.    Trees are taking it over FAST.   

[Aero426]

Just to the right of the fuel stand was a food stand.   This is the concrete pad.  A piece of the roof visible as well.   I never knew exactly what this was until I bought a slide on ebay a few weeks ago. 

[Aero426]

From the grandstand, you can see the Pure fuel island, the concession stand next to it and the power pole feeding the concession stand.    I have often looked for evidence of the scoring stand, but have never found a trace of it.    Much of the infield which was been scraped clean in 1958 is now heavily wooded.

[Ghoste]

Those are great Doug!  I think I may have heard of that car show.

[Aero426]

The infield power pole visible in the last photo.    Looking towards the food stand.   Gas island is just to my left.

[Aero426]

Those are great Doug!  I think I may have heard of that car show.

Thanks, it is one of my favorite places to go.    I am sure I have posted some pics of it before.  

We got to take a "lap" of the road course yesterday.     The only down side to the new paving is the old surface to the outside got covered with dirt and grass has grown in.   On the other hand, it isn't a housing development.    It is now in a major suburban area surrounded by homes.   I think the reason it is still here is the heirs of the original owner wanted quite a bit of money for the property.    

[Aero426]

This was a drive over car bridge.

[Aero426]

View of the bridge in 1968.

[Aero426]

Deep into the back side of the course, we are now on the original track pavement.  

[Aero426]

Back in the 1990's,  I found pieces of bleachers in the field.   I'll bet they are gone now.

[Aero426]

Also taken back in the 90's,  the drive through tunnel under the main straight has now been completely filled in. 

[charge69]

Great pictures of the remains of an "era-gone-bye" and the remnants of the old raceway, Aero426  !!  It must be amazing to explore the area and attend the car shows held there !!

[Aero426]

Turn one at the end of a VERY long downhill straight was a banked corkscrew.  

[Aero426]

Great pictures of the remains of an "era-gone-bye" and the remnants of the old raceway, Aero426  !!  It must be amazing to explore the area and attend the car shows held there !!

It was probably a little more fun when it was in a feral state and you had to sort of sneak in.    The property was definitely a hangout and a dumping ground for many, many years.    I never had any trouble, but visiting near sunset by yourself could be a little spooky.   It is a big property with hills and some rough terrain.   Late fall is the best time to see it when the leaves are down.  

Here's a good example of nature taking its course.    There is a small stream running through the property.     I believe it had been filled in when the track was built.   Eventually, it eroded the front straight leading to the collapse you see here.   Vandals would dump cars down in the gully.   This is another old pic from the 1990's.   It has all been cleaned up and a large pedestrian bridge has been placed over the chasm.  

Drag strip return would be to the right of the photo under the bridge.    This bridge was removed a five or so years ago.   

[Aero426]

Down the front straight in 1959.  The 2nd, 3rd and 4th cars are what became the washout area.    You can see on the sides how the dirt was piled up by man.   Nature eventually fixed that.

The front straight was very, very, VERY high speed.   You ran flat for the drag strip portion then plunged downhill as shown here.   Just out of view is a small rise and another plunge into the banked turn one right hander.     There was little to no run off area designed into the course.

[Aero426]

There was a short course cutoff turn from the main straight.   Sports car clubs and some stock car races used this.  This photo is from a 1963 USAC stock car race won by Curtis Turner #26 leading Norm Nelson in #3.   

[Aero426]

I am running 51 years behind Turner and Nelson.   How many laps down am I?

[Ghoste]

Wow, that was quite a track!

[Aero426]

Wow, that was quite a track!

The full course was a very hairy in a big HP car.   Little to no run off anywhere.    Lots of embankments to run into.   That played a role in the downfall of the course eventually.   It was never a money maker for several different promotors and politics played a role too.    

Here's a short video clip from 1962 that isn't bad to give you the flavor of the course.     You will see a high banked corner called the Monza Wall dumping onto the front straight where the drag strip timing tower was eventually placed.   Probably the most famous feature of the track, it predated Daytona by a year.   It was very rough and a known as a car breaker.   It was leveled for that 1968 Trans-Am race in a flat left hander.     

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2CZ_rYtwW8

[hemi-hampton]

I took a visit to the old MOTORCITY Dragstrip in northern Detroit area about 5+ years ago. It's located near expressway I-94 & 26 mile rd. It was all weeds & run down, not much left of it. My old uncle in his 70's told me some cool stories about it from the 1970's. I'd post some Pictures but they are on my old computer. LEON.

[tan top]

 interesting  , stuff ! thanks for sharing 

[rt green]

how a guy would like to take a metal detector through where the consession stand and pits were.

[Ghoste]

I have to go up by the Motorcity one later this week, I should try and get some photos if I can.

[66FBCharger]

Great topic! Thanks for posted the pictures.

[Highbanked Hauler]

  WOW great pix. Doug, thanks for posting.  North Carolina has a lot of abandon tracks to find and check out.

[Aero426]

 WOW great pix. Doug, thanks for posting.  North Carolina has a lot of abandon tracks to find and check out.

Thanks Al.   Here's another local site a few minutes from home.   It was called Lynndale Farms Road Racing Course.     It operated 1963-1966, then closed.  It was a nice facility that failed financially.   The owner ultimately developed it for housing.  A lot of the original track layout was used for streets in the subdivision.

The original tech barn had been repainted years ago.    That paint is now failing and has revealed the original Sinclair Oil advertising underneath.    The pic with the Superbird was taken a couple of weeks ago.

[Aero426]

One of the last races in '66.   

[Aero426]

The same spot today.   I am "spun out".

[Aero426]

What it looked like in 1964

[Aero426]

A rare poster.    Great graphics.

[Ghoste]

I wonder if those are any of the same trees in the before and after.

[Aero426]

I wonder if those are any of the same trees in the before and after.

Have wondered the same thing myself.    They separate the former track property from the farm field that is still behind the trees to this day.    I don't think they were ever cleared.   

[Aero426]

Going back to Meadowdale, here is a shot at the bottom of the monster front straight.   What you can't see is the dip back by the third car in the line.      You shot down that big hill WFO.   Then you hit the dip and bottomed out.  The third car is just emerging out of the dip, suspension getting light and then about to plunge down the last hill towards turn one.   Nuts.

[el dub]

 Lions drag strip, Calif. and a link, maybe , to Riverside Raceway.

http://youtu.be/zakPard0iKI

[RIDELIKEHELL]

I took a visit to the old MOTORCITY Dragstrip in northern Detroit area about 5+ years ago. It's located near expressway I-94 & 26 mile rd. It was all weeds & run down, not much left of it. My old uncle in his 70's told me some cool stories about it from the 1970's. I'd post some Pictures but they are on my old computer. LEON.

I know that area well as we hit the Meijer there..is it East or West of 94 on 26 mile?

[Shakey]

How about abandon airports that turned into drag strips that turned (temporarily) back to airports?   

In 1983 an Air Canada plane runs out of fuel and tries to land at an old airport (Gimli, MB) the pilot had done some training on years earlier as they could not make it to Winnipeg.  Unbeknownst to him, the airport runway was now a racing facility and was in use that day.  Can you imagine!

Learned about this watching an episode of Mayday a while back.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Motorsports_Park

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTRAQAzey4w

[Aero426]

How about abandon airports that turned into drag strips that turned (temporarily) back to airports?   

In 1983 an Air Canada plane runs out of fuel and tries to land at an old airport (Gimli, MB) the pilot had done some training on years earlier as they could not make it to Winnipeg.  Unbeknownst to him, the airport runway was now a racing facility and was in use that day.  Can you imagine!

I remember that.

[RECHRGD]

Great stuff Doug!  I remember taking my original R/T to riverside raceway when they held 1/2 mile drags.  God, I sure wish I had pictures of that now.......

[Aero426]

Aerial footage from North Wilkesboro.   Excellent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iyfn-_AW1h4

[moparnation74]

This was a drag strip in the Edwardsville, IL area.  In the GTX is my father.  He bought this car new and was his daily driver.  When weekends came around he raced it.  The second pic shows the rat roaster intake.  His buddy was a max wedge racer and on one weekend and a few beers.  They dropped it onto the X's 440.  This was in 1967 when these pics were taken.  He was one of the top dog's in IL with his rat roasting Gittick!

The track as far as I know no longer exists.

[AKcharger]

Super cool!

[Musicman]

The old Ct Dragway... last I heard, Consumer Reports was using it for an Automotive Test facility

[Ghoste]

Yes, I've heard of it and CR are very careful about letting no one on the property.

[66FBCharger]

The old Ct Dragway... last I heard, Consumer Reports was using for an Automotive Test facility

I raced there a few times in the early 80s when it was called Ct. International Raceway. I'll have to see if I can dig some pictures up.

[Daytona R/T SE]

This was a drag strip in Edwardsville, IL.  In the GTX is my father.  He bought this car new and was his daily driver.  When weekends came around he raced it.  The second pic shows the rat roaster intake.  His buddy was a max wedge racer and on one weekend and a few beers.  They dropped it onto the X's 440.  This was in 1967 when these pics were taken.  He was one of the top dog's in IL with his rat roasting Gittick!

The track as far as I know no longer exists.

I'm about 15 miles from Edwardsville, Illinois.

I've never heard of a drag strip in Edwardsville. 

I asked three of the guys I work with about it today.

They are all in their 60's and have been into cars for decades.

None of them can remember a drag strip in Edwardsville.

Are you sure it wasn't Alton ?

That was big back then.

Or...

The track that's now called "Gateway" in Madison, Illinois? 

[moparnation74]

This was a drag strip in Edwardsville, IL.  In the GTX is my father.  He bought this car new and was his daily driver.  When weekends came around he raced it.  The second pic shows the rat roaster intake.  His buddy was a max wedge racer and on one weekend and a few beers.  They dropped it onto the X's 440.  This was in 1967 when these pics were taken.  He was one of the top dog's in IL with his rat roasting Gittick!

The track as far as I know no longer exists.

I'm about 15 miles from Edwardsville, Illinois.

I've never heard of a drag strip in Edwardsville.  

I asked three of the guys I work with about it today.

They are all in their 60's and have been into cars for decades.

None of them can remember a drag strip in Edwardsville.

Are you sure it wasn't Alton ?

That was big back then.

Or...

The track that's now called "Gateway" in Madison, Illinois?  

Daytona, thanks for clarifying that.  You are right, it was in that area.  My mistake