Great Lakes Dragaway

History

The drag strip opened in 1955, and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2005. The drag strip became the oldest continuously operating dragstrip in the country after Inyokern Airport closed. The track also is open for more dates than any other track in the United States. In March 2011, Great Lakes Dragaway won a poll "What is the most historically significant dragstrip in the United States?" on BangShift, a popular drag racing blog.

In the early days of the track, races were started by a flagman (before dragstrip Christmas Trees) and cars sometimes raced four abreast.

In the 1970s, nitrous methane "rocket dragster" exhibition cars ran down the track in the low 4 second elapsed time range at over 350 miles per hour.

In 2014, the track opted to no longer be a member track of the National Hot Rod Association, instead, along with several other dragstrips that year, joining the International Hot Rod Association.

Schedule

The track hosts fun racing, where the general public can race their own car or motorcycle on the drag strip. The track also has monthly special events such as Real Street Drags, where the scoreboards are disabled are flag or flashlight starts, instead of using the "christmas tree" are available; an International Hot Rod Association Summit Summer Series bracket racing event; Import Wars, an event tailored towards imported (Non-US) cars, and multi-day racing shows over Memorial Day & Labor Day weekends.

The track has held snowmobile drags in winter months. Motorcycle Daredevil and World Record Motorcycle Jumper "Super" Ken Mackow got his start at this track in 1970. He went on to become a World Class Daredevil. He is listed in the Motorcycle Hall of Fame.