[Rory McNeil]

Originally Posted by Greg Reimer 7376

Been there, seen all this before. We wish all Div 6 racers well on the long term preservation and operation of Woodburn Drag Strip. It was truly in the outskirts when built, the I 5 came along and skirted the east side of the track about two miles away, but development seems to gradually encroach. A large industrial plant may seem a very suitable noise suppressant, but the trick is to not have residential housing come in anywhere near it. In this neck of the woods, it seemed that most of the drag strip closures and land development was industrial or commercial. Lions Drag Strip was shut down and became a huge intermodal shipping facility. The track only leased the land, had they owned it, it would have required an eminent domain suit to get rid of it. Riverside raceway in the late 1980's became a commercial and a residential development. Orange County became a new industrial park in 1983. The original Irwindale became a large industrial site for the Miller Brewing Company in 1978. Palmdale became a rock quarry in the early 2000's. All of these sites were on leased property that was literally sold from under them.Sometimes, ownership of property isn't enough to guarantee the longevity of it's continued operation as a race facility. All businesses need to operate with a conditional use permit, business licenses, and other such things, and they can be yanked to close a business operation and force it out.
I hope that's not the case any longer, and that Woodburn carries on, but time will tell. Best wishes to all involved!

Interesting thing about Woodburn Dragstrip, is there is a golf course directly across the road. Have to wonder how many golfer elect to play there, during the LODRS points meets, or any race weekends for that matter.