![]() There's a class, and a vehicle, for everyone, and all of those vehicles can be found in the drag racing classifieds. The Oswego Drag-Raceway operated from 1955 until 1979, and Hettinger says that the old drag strip can still be seen from Route 34, west of Oswego-if you know where to look. But there are also whole series’ of street and stock-performance vehicles including Pro Street, Pro Stock, Sportsman and bracket, stock and super stock. Organizations like the NHRA, the PDRA (Professional Drag Racers Association), and the IHRA (International Hot Rod Association) serve as sanctioning bodies that create the rules for classes of racing, and govern the types of racing and series that amateur and professional racers participate in to ensure safety measures and standards of conduct.ĭrag Racing appeals to both drivers who want to challenge the powertrain in a daily driver, and those who want to build and race custom vehicles that only thrive by the light of the strip.ĭrag Racing encompasses many types of amateur and professional specialty racing vehicles including door cars, funny cars, motorcycles, dragsters, and pro modifieds. Now, drag racing is a professional sport, with classes covering everything from junior dragsters, to motorcycles, to vintage vehicles, to nitro-powered vehicles. Hot rodders would race each other on long empty strips of road. Professional organizations like the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) the largest sanctioning body in professional drag racing, were started to counteract illegal street racing, which can be very dangerous due to the speed and power of the vehicles and the magnitude of damage that occurs when something goes wrong and these vehicles malfunction or crash.ĭrag Racing really got its start as a contest in the 1950s with the rise in popularity of hot rods – vehicles with classic bodies ( 1932 Fords, etc) which were modified with modern engines and tuning to create more power and run faster. While most drag racing now takes place on a professional race track, there are both televised staged street contests and illegal street races which still take place. Unlike the times today when everything seems so fast-paced, the Oswego dragstrip existed in a world that was all its own.Drag Racing is a contest between two vehicles to determine which can go the fastest from a standing start to full open throttle over an agreed upon distance, which is usually an 1/8 mile, ¼ mile or 1000 feet. Choice Hotels near Gateway Motorsports Park (formerly Gateway International Raceway) give you the opportunity to cheer on the drivers in person. ![]() Patty Boyd, whose family owns the Mason County Speedway drag strip near Havana, says, Many. The local-but-famous dragstrip that was once known as the “Big O” was now extinct, and the entire staff, including manager Bub Thurlby and his wife, Debbie, were saddened by the loss to say the very least, but the memories that the now-extinct dragstrip left behind would linger long after the end of the dragstrip itself. Known before as the Meltdown Drags, Glory Days is the Vintage Drag Race, Car Show & Swap Meet at Byron Dragway. A drivers son or daughter may race his or her fathers car someday. One year later, according to this Oswego storyteller, he bought his first car, a brand new Mercury Comet, and the car that would eventually come to be known as “302much” would go on to win the Oswego Track Championships in the “Super Street Eliminator” class.Īfter 25 years of stable operation, the Oswego Dragstrip was closed after the property was sold to a nursing home. The author recalls that this was his very first drag race, and thus helped to give birth to his newfound love of cars and drag racing. Paved Drag Strips Byron Dragway, Byron, IL (new 11/03/05) Coles County Dragway, Charleston, IL (new 11/03/05) Cordova Dragway Park, Cordova, IL (new 11/03/05). The author of this online tribute to Oswego recalls his first trip to the track, in 1971. In fact, Oswego Dragstrip, located on Route 34 in Oswego, Illinois, was America’s oldest functioning dragstrip until it was bought out and renovated in the early 1980s. A hot bed for several generations of drag racing in the Oswego area, the stories that follow the landmark are as touching as any epic story you’ll hear this year. Oswego Dragstrip is a place of historical significance for many of Oswego’s locals, as well as for anyone who can remember the earliest days of drag racing in America. ![]()
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