This is a print on demand (POD) book with color photos. The paper and photo quality in this book, although good, often does not match the original version but the information remains the same.
.During the 1950s and 1960s, the sport of drag racing exploded in popularity. In its early days, drag racing had a class for everybody, from professional rails to four-door sedans. As a participant sport, drag racing made itself very accessible, and as a result, drag racing facilities sprang up all over the country, some national in scale and others very small and local. This was great, for a while, but with the sprawl of suburbia and various economic conditions including the growing expense of racing, hundreds of drag racing facilities were lost across the country. Many of these were places of legend where the biggest names in the sport got their start or ran some of their most memorable passes. Others were relatively unknown, but served a local area's needs for a safe place for local speed addicts to run their cars. For whatever reason, they are no longer in business, but evidence of their existence remains.
This book takes a look at many of the lost quarter-mile tracks across the country. Some of them are gone completely, paved over to make room for housing developments or strip malls. Others are ghostly remnants of what once was, offering a sad and even eerie subject for the photographer.
The images are teamed with vintage shots of drag racing's glory days, sharing what once was one of America's most popular pastimes with the modern reality facing these facilities today. For fans of drag racing's past, it's a sobering and interesting study. The stories are true and the photos are thought provoking, which makes this book hard to put down.
Lost Drag Strips is a 2013 International Automotive Media Competition award winner and won "best-of" in the book category.
Tracks include: Lions Associated Drag Strip, Orange County International Raceway, Riverside International Raceway, Bee Line Dragway, Motion Raceway, Motor City Dragway, Oswego Dragway, U.S. 30 Drag Strip, Dover Drag Strip, Pittsburgh International Dragway, Connecticut Dragway, Pocono Drag Lodge, Lakeland International Raceway, Green Valley Raceway, Dallas International Motor Speedway, Hudson Drag Strip, Shuffletown Dragway, Brainerd Optimist Club Drag Strip, Brainerd Optimist Drag Strip, Paradise Drag Strip, Double H Drag Strip, Southeastern International Dragway, Smithville Drag Strip, Lloyd's Drag Strip, Harriman Drag Strip, Green Valley Raceway Drag Strip, Drag City, Loudon Raceway.
This is a print on demand (POD) book with color photos. The paper and photo quality in this book, although good, often does not match the original version but the information remains the same.
.During the 1950s and 1960s, the sport of drag racing exploded in popularity. In its early days, drag racing had a class for everybody, from professional rails to four-door sedans. As a participant sport, drag racing made itself very accessible, and as a result, drag racing facilities sprang up all over the country, some national in scale and others very small and local. This was great, for a while, but with the sprawl of suburbia and various economic conditions including the growing expense of racing, hundreds of drag racing facilities were lost across the country. Many of these were places of legend where the biggest names in the sport got their start or ran some of their most memorable passes. Others were relatively unknown, but served a local area's needs for a safe place for local speed addicts to run their cars. For whatever reason, they are no longer in business, but evidence of their existence remains.
This book takes a look at many of the lost quarter-mile tracks across the country. Some of them are gone completely, paved over to make room for housing developments or strip malls. Others are ghostly remnants of what once was, offering a sad and even eerie subject for the photographer.
The images are teamed with vintage shots of drag racing's glory days, sharing what once was one of America's most popular pastimes with the modern reality facing these facilities today. For fans of drag racing's past, it's a sobering and interesting study. The stories are true and the photos are thought provoking, which makes this book hard to put down.
Lost Drag Strips is a 2013 International Automotive Media Competition award winner and won "best-of" in the book category.
Tracks include: Lions Associated Drag Strip, Orange County International Raceway, Riverside International Raceway, Bee Line Dragway, Motion Raceway, Motor City Dragway, Oswego Dragway, U.S. 30 Drag Strip, Dover Drag Strip, Pittsburgh International Dragway, Connecticut Dragway, Pocono Drag Lodge, Lakeland International Raceway, Green Valley Raceway, Dallas International Motor Speedway, Hudson Drag Strip, Shuffletown Dragway, Brainerd Optimist Club Drag Strip, Brainerd Optimist Drag Strip, Paradise Drag Strip, Double H Drag Strip, Southeastern International Dragway, Smithville Drag Strip, Lloyd's Drag Strip, Harriman Drag Strip, Green Valley Raceway Drag Strip, Drag City, Loudon Raceway.
Foreword by Don Garlits
Introduction
Chapter One: The Rise
The Cars
More Speed and More Fun
Chapter Two: The Fall
Safety
The Economy
Population and Politics
Moving On
The Alternative
Chapter Three: The Wild West
Lions Associated Drag Strip
Orange County International Raceway
Riverside International Raceway
Bee Line Dragway
Chapter Four: Somewhere in the Middle
Motion Raceway
Motor City Dragway
Oswego Dragway
U.S. 30 Drag Strip
Chapter Five: East-Bound and Down
Dover Drag Strip
Pittsburgh International Dragway
Connecticut Dragway
Pocono Drag Lodge
Chapter Six: Southern Comfort
Lakeland International Raceway
Green Valley Raceway
Dallas International Motor Speedway
Hudson Drag Strip
Shuffletown Dragway
Chapter Seven: Chattanooga Hotspots
Brainerd Optimist Club Drag Strip
Brainerd Optimist Drag Strip
Paradise Drag Strip
Double H Drag Strip
Southeastern International Dragway
Smithville Drag Strip
Lloyd’s Drag Strip
Harriman Drag Strip
Green Valley Raceway Drag Strip
Drag City
Loudon Raceway
Chapter Eight: The Modern Era
The Rebound
Index