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Dragstrips and Other Stuff
This is an attempt to list most of the tracks that we ran at in the
1972-75 timeframe. I may have left a few off, but these are certainly
the more memorable ones. Many are no longer in operation.
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Ubly Dragway
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Ubly, MI
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A real small-time operation in an obscure little town in Michigan's
Thumb area. We went there once, before I had my license, and had
our first "match race" against our friends Ogle & Robinson.
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Tri-City Dragway
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Saginaw, MI
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An excellent track, and the place where we went a number of times
to make our license runs. Also had at least one WCS meet there.
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Onondaga Dragway
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Onondaga, MI
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Small, local track with a 50's feel to it. Ran an open "top eliminator"
event every Saturday, paying $50 for each round that you made.
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Milan Dragway
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Milan, MI
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A good, sanctioned track, but with unfriendly management. Ran
some NHRA and other events there.
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Keystone Raceway
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Pittsburgh, PA
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Made Ubly look like a superstrip. This was the track where the
first 200mph run was supposedly made, but it was hard to believe.
What we thought was the return road turned out to be the track!
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Marion County Raceway
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Marion, OH
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A nice, wide, long track in the flatlands of northern Ohio. Scene
of our first "event" win with the North Central Fuelers.
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US-131 Dragway
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Martin, MI
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Site of the "Popular Hot Rodding" meet each year.
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Sanair Raceway
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Montreal, Que.
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Our first appearance at an NHRA national event, we qualified
for it in '74 and '75.
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National Trails Raceway
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Columbus, OH
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I never did like this place. It was out in the flats of a big
cornfield, and always seemed too hot and too dry - no shade in
sight.
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Edgewater Park
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Cincinnati, OH
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This is actually where it all started for me. I grew up in the
area, and spent most every Saturday night when I was 16 and 17
standing by the fence to watch the drags. We only ran there once
in 1975 at a WCS meet.
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Ohio Valley Raceway
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Louisville, KY
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An eighth-mile strip that hosted an NHRA meet. We had fun running
the short distance, going almost 160 in 4.5 seconds.
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Bunker Hill Dragstrip
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Bunker Hill, IN
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Another eighth-mile track where we raced once with the NCF circuit.
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Beach Bend Raceway
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Bowling Green, KY
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Site of the Sportsnationals. Pro Comp was the top class at this
event. We didn't qualify either year, but did get our car sorted
out each time.
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Quaker City Dragway
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Salem, OH
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A unique layout, as we burned out going uphill before leveling
out at the starting line, and the shutoff also ran uphill. Ran
there once with the North Central Fuelers.
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Indianapolis Raceway Park
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Indianapolis, IN
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Host of the U.S. Nationals, which I attended as a spectator from
about 1964-1973. We competed in '74 and '75, finally qualifying
on our last trip.
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Cayuga Raceway
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Cayuga, Ont.
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Scene of our best results, winning Pro Comp in a Northeast Division
WCS meet in '75.
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Gainesville Dragway
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Gainesville, FL
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This was a good place to escape the Michigan winters. We debuted
our rear-engined car here at the '75 Gatornationals.
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The license that we spent most of '72 trying to qualify for.
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From our first event with the North Central Fuelers in '73. |

Hey, we did break into the 4's! Of course, it was an eighth-mile
track. Note the speed was only 40mph off our quarter-mile speeds.
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Possibly the last time slip for the "Purple Haze". |

Some rare ink in the NHRA news. |
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