Lost Drag Strips

[terrylee]

western Pa. and east Ohio
anybody remember the Greeks operated strips in mercer, Pa.
and drag city, in east ohio.

pittsburgh international dragway

sunshine dragway, new castle, Pa.

won alot of races at those old tracks

[Mike Carr]

Originally Posted by terrylee

western Pa. and east Ohio
anybody remember the Greeks operated strips in mercer, Pa.
and drag city, in east ohio.

pittsburgh international dragway

sunshine dragway, new castle, Pa.

won alot of races at those old tracks

-Alex Theopolis (sp?) ran Sunset in the Mercer PA area, and Ohio Drag City in Meander Ohio. Alex passed away a few months ago. Sunset has raced the past few years as an outlaw track. Meander has been closed for several years, and when it closed, there was a clause in the contract that said the new property owner(s) could do anything they wanted with it, EXCEPT have a working drag strip.

-Skyline was the track near New Castle. My dad's uncle helped build Skyline.

-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. Or the one in Steubenville OH, an outlaw 1/8 mile track that also hosted several of our S/SS races from 1997-2002

[BKSG1198]

Down by my neck of the woods I live about 10 minutes from the Old Vineland Motor Speedway in Vineland, NJ. Started out as a Circle Track then they added a Dragstrip and Dirt Road Course. Track is still their today with overgrown weeds and a College Soccer Field at the end of the Dragstrip, A Hospital at one end and a Mobile Home Park & Solar Field at the old entrance.

http://www.vineland.org/history/Vine...dway/index.htm

[Joe Bellardo]

Originally Posted by Mike Carr

-Alex Theopolis (sp?) ran Sunset in the Mercer PA area, and Ohio Drag City in Meander Ohio. Alex passed away a few months ago. Sunset has raced the past few years as an outlaw track. Meander has been closed for several years, and when it closed, there was a clause in the contract that said the new property owner(s) could do anything they wanted with it, EXCEPT have a working drag strip.

-Skyline was the track near New Castle. My dad's uncle helped build Skyline.

-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. Or the one in Steubenville OH, an outlaw 1/8 mile track that also hosted several of our S/SS races from 1997-2002

Mike: Erie PA dragstrip: www.luckydragcity.com.

[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.

[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.