Ever hear of the Continental Divide Drag strip?

[lloyd3]

New one to me. Was supposed to have existed south of Castle Rock, Colorado?  Active in the late 60s thru the early 1970s?  I had the car out today to take advantage of the 80-degree weather (global warming, right?). Went to the store to get a few things and this fellow was waiting for me when I got back to the car.  He claimed his car club ran it and that it was a fairly successful venture.

He evidently had a 69 R/T Charger that he left with his girlfriend when he shipped out to VietNam in 1970. He told me that he has never seen either of them since.   Don't know what to believe about any of it.

Beautiful day here though.

[HPP]

Yup, it existed and was quite successful. Had a full road course built into it as well and the SCCA Trans Am series ran there for a few years as well. There are still some vague remnants of it that can be seen via Google Earth, but you would need to  know where to look. A subdivision absorbed most of its grounds.

My Dad ran his '68 Road Runner in stock class there in '69. Won class eliminator several times, including one event that I believe was called the High Altitude Nationals. I"ve got a partial album of pictures from there, although most don't readily show the track, just some of the cars. Read more about it here: http://autoracingmemories.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1502

[lloyd3]

Wow! Thank you for that.  Lived here for over 30-years and never heard about it before.  Very cool.

Makes me wonder about his lost car and girlfriend ?

[John_Kunkel]

Diagram of the track overlayed on the current landscape.

[polywideblock]

he wasn't hinting that he thought your car might be it was he   

[HPP]

Wow! Thank you for that.  Lived here for over 30-years and never heard about it before.  Very cool.

Colorado actually has a much more extensive racing background than most people would ever know. Most the tracks were gone by the mid '80s and most the ones that survived that era are still operating.

[lloyd3]

Nah! Mine's a '68 4-gear and his was a '69 auto.

[polywideblock]

 

[lloyd3]

Mr. Kunkel:

Where does that overlay fall? South of town and east of I-25?

[HPP]

South of Castle Rock, north of Tomah Rd exit, west of I-25.  All the lighter colored streets in the print above have no houses on them. The developer that bought it all went bankrupt and never finished the development. Access roads connecting those streets pictured are all bermed or plowed to prevent access.

[lloyd3]

HPP, thank you.

[303 Mopar]

Wow! Thank you for that.  Lived here for over 30-years and never heard about it before.  Very cool.

Colorado actually has a much more extensive racing background than most people would ever know. Most the tracks were gone by the mid '80s and most the ones that survived that era are still operating.

This is true, including the Grand Prix of Denver first held in 1909 in Brighton, then again in 1951-52, and 1990-91, and finally 2002-06.  There were quit a few dirt and paved oval tracks too including Englewood, Lakeside (still standing) and Century 21 (near E-470 and I-70) that you can still see the pavement.

[HPP]

Even Colorado Springs had a variety of tracks from the 1930s until the mid 80s. Three dirt ovals, four paved ovals, a couple of drag strips and of course The Pikes Peak Hillclimb. Only thing left is Pikes Peak International Speedway, which originally was a dirt track, then a horsetrack, and is now paved with a roadcourse, is rarely used and too big for weekly programs, and the Hillclimb.

[HPP]

Here are a couple bad photos of photos from CDR. The originals are better but my scanner is crapped out.

[lloyd3]

Neat stuff, thank you.