Mel Bashore
Status Legend
1 - Site of drag strip has been redeveloped; no physical remains of the old strip exist
2 - Site of drag strip has been redeveloped, but strip (or former layout) is incorporated in the redevelopment
3 - Site of drag strip has not been redeveloped, but all physical evidence has been removed and completely obliterated
4 - Site of drag strip is visible in aerial photos and/or broken sections of the track surface (asphalt/concrete) still remain
5 - Remnants of drag strip intact over greater length of track, although condition of surface ranges from poor to good
ABOUT ME
Retired Librarian/Curator/Historian
I retired in 2013 after 38 years working in the LDS Church Historical Department. I grew up in Southern California in the 1950s and 1960s. I began going to drag races as a teenager during the years when drag races were started by a guy waving a checkered flag and dragsters were started by a push vehicle (no electric starters). I have fond memories of going to drag races at Pomona, Fontana, Lions, Irwindale, OCIR and Carlsbad. I worked for more than a dozen years at drag strips in the Salt Lake Valley in Utah where I was a tech man. You can read my
MEMORIES
of those drag strips in this website. I invite you to add your memories, too. I also maintain other drag racing-related websites that I have created which may be of interest. They include
Drag Strip Deaths
(with entries for over 450 racers who have died while racing at drag strips),
Land Speed Racer Memorial
, and
Drag Boat and Water Speed Record Racer Memorial
,
ABOUT THIS WEBSITE
Although there are other resources, both published and online, that offer information about lost, abandoned, or old drag strips, none either claim or are comprehensive. There are also many inaccuracies in their information. To that end, this website has been compiled, i.e., a place to go for accurate historical information about all the nation's old drag strips. Historic drag strips, by definition for this encyclopedia, are at least forty years old, i.e., opened in 1976. Bygone drag strips, by definition, may not be very old, but no longer exist. For that reason, some drag strips that are still in operation, but not forty years old, may not be found in this compilation--yet. But given time, they will be listed. If you have information to share,
CONTACT
us. Information may include corrections, additional input, or to share
MEMORIES
about a drag strip.