75-80 Dragway

ezracer said:

How old are you ?? Yep, I also remember those guys. I never ran at 75/80
but ran several times at Cecil County Dragway and York U.S. 30 Dragway back in the day with a stock '68 Charger R/T with the 440 wedge.
( 480 ft/lbs. of torque )

Click to expand...

Plenty of hair yet but have been spray painting it gray for 30 plus years. The late 60's was the era for muscle cars. I miss those days, Ritchie Hwy was the hot spot in Md plus there was a perfect lonely 1/2 mile straightaway just off Rt 170 in Linthicum by Friendship. The 375 HP you had didn't hurt either.

They got a lot of work to do, drove by it last week and it is heavily overgrown, I would imagine the track surface has deteriorated.

CelticBiggie said:

Can confirm 1000% there is work happening cleaning it up and out

Click to expand...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

From Facebook today

CelticBiggie said:

From Facebook today

Click to expand...

*****That's awesome! I wonder what the condition of the concrete pad and track is though. That track has been closed long enough that the race surface had to have deteriorated a great deal. It's not cheap to resurface. That track was really nice back in the day. It would be great if it re-opened.

MaxVO2 said:

*****That's awesome! I wonder what the condition of the concrete pad and track is though. That track has been closed long enough that the race surface had to have deteriorated a great deal. It's not cheap to resurface. That track was really nice back in the day. It would be great if it re-opened.

Click to expand...

These YouTubers have been using it as of late and motorweek.

Me fear is that it’s only opening for events like this and hot public racing.


But you can see the surface is shit.

http://youtu.be/KLCgv5vV5Ls

Awesome. I drive by there often, and was sad to see the condition it was in. Motorweek even left that track after years of using it for tested. I had some good memories there.

CelticBiggie said:

These YouTubers have been using it as of late and motorweek.

Me fear is that it’s only opening for events like this and hot public racing.


But you can see the surface is shit.

http://youtu.be/KLCgv5vV5Ls

Click to expand...

Terris Hicks aka Hurricane Racing Promotions is 100% opposite of those YouTube clowns...
He promotes several No Prep races at Dominion .

Here's 2 more current pics near the "tower" and starting line

Personally, I thought it was a horribly maintained track, potholes in the pits and return road, and humps and bumps on the track, LOL...but great to see ANY track stay open, or re-open.

I actually won the Power Adder/D.O.T. tire class in a Mustang Shootout there, probably 20-21 years ago...There's was a guy, Hermann Stolzenberg (Horsepower By Hermann) who put it on every year. Still have the trophy, lol.

"You know you're getting old when..." moment... read the below and envisioned a first or second gen Mustang...

71Chevelle427 said:

I actually won the Power Adder/D.O.T. tire class in a Mustang Shootout there, probably 20-21 years ago...

Click to expand...

Then saw the "Mustang 5.0" plaque on the trophy :*(

71Chevelle427 said:

Terris Hicks aka Hurricane Racing Promotions is 100% opposite of those YouTube clowns...
He promotes several No Prep races at Dominion .

Here's 2 more current pics near the "tower" and starting line

Personally, I thought it was a horribly maintained track, potholes in the pits and return road, and humps and bumps on the track, LOL...but great to see ANY track stay open, or re-open.

I actually won the Power Adder/D.O.T. tire class in a Mustang Shootout there, probably 20-21 years ago...There's was a guy, Hermann Stolzenberg (Horsepower By Hermann) who put it on every year. Still have the trophy, lol.

Click to expand...

That sir is cool.

I am not familiar with them. But that’s a good thing as I was afraid it was more of the YouTubers and private events

We lost a strip where I grew up due to suburban encroachment, just like a couple of ranges I knew too well. Anything that forestalls their demise is OK with me!

DZ said:

"You know you're getting old when..." moment... read the below and envisioned a first or second gen Mustang...

Then saw the "Mustang 5.0" plaque on the trophy :*(

Click to expand...

Hey, I'm 58, so I know the pain of memory...

I mean, my 1st "Mustang", was a 1976 Cobra II in Black w/gold stripes...lol.
But at some point, I did have a 1971 Mustang "Sprint" fastback, and a 1972 Grande...all 3 probably in the Top 3 of my most problematic cars ever owned, lol

Have always liked, and still do like, the Fox body Mustangs. My son has one, that was a clone to mine, but now sports a turbocharged 4.8 LS engine.

This is Cecil, but you got my memories "woke"...This was 1st pass (back in 2000) on a supercharged 306 that I built in my laundry room over the winter of 1999.

Taken with a Super 8 camcorder, obviously not digital anything...

CelticBiggie said:

That sir is cool.

I am not familiar with them. But that’s a good thing as I was afraid it was more of the YouTubers and private events

Click to expand...

No, this guy is an actual RACER...he's been around a long time. I have "heard" though, that it will only be No Prep and Grudge Racing...but supposed to be opening next month.

Here's him and his car back in 2007 or so.

"Music Warning"

71Chevelle427 said:

Hey, I'm 58, so I know the pain of memory...

Click to expand...

I was born in the 80's, so 10 years ago = 90's and 20 years ago = 80's... haha. Always loved the fox body.

71Chevelle427 said:

Terris Hicks aka Hurricane Racing Promotions is 100% opposite of those YouTube clowns...
He promotes several No Prep races at Dominion .

Here's 2 more current pics near the "tower" and starting line

Personally, I thought it was a horribly maintained track, potholes in the pits and return road, and humps and bumps on the track, LOL...but great to see ANY track stay open, or re-open.

I actually won the Power Adder/D.O.T. tire class in a Mustang Shootout there, probably 20-21 years ago...There's was a guy, Hermann Stolzenberg (Horsepower By Hermann) who put it on every year. Still have the trophy, lol.

Click to expand...

Herman did the tune on my 96 cobra years and years ago. Ran 75-80 a few times. My father was there the day it opened and closed, twice. He raced many cars including a 65 or 66 mustang named Bittersweet and then a 1990s lumina (full caged car). He will be ecstatic to hear this if true.

Anyone remember Jimmy Ray and Bobby Gunther in Rockville? They did the engine in my '68 Chevelle.

t84a said:

Anyone remember Jimmy Ray and Bobby Gunther in Rockville? They did the engine in my '68 Chevelle.

Click to expand...

*****Yes. I haven't seen either of them in years but I know them. Bobby helped me many years back when I shoehorned a 396 into a 1980 Chevy Malibu as a sleeper car. The car originally came with a 350 V8 (old cop car) but to fit the big block we had to upgrade the front suspension as well as figure out steering linkage and header issues, etc.. He taught me how to properly measure the distance from the output shaft of the TH-400 transmission I put in there to the rear so we could get a proper length driveshaft in the car and not have binding or other issues. Really a smart guy.

I think Bobby had a son named Bill who now owns or is a partner at Laytonia Auto Service off Snouffer School Road near Flower Hill. They have several Chevelle's in the parking lot out back and I think they are either his or one of his mechanics as they've been there for some time. One of them is I think a 1970 LS6 454 Chevelle which was an absolute beast of a car back in it's day.

If it's the same family (Gunther), they've been involved with cars for a long time. Perhaps even as far back as when Quicksilver Engines was still running off of Gude Drive when I was still a little kid.

Sam Auxier, Jr. was also in that general area and his shop was at the corner of Gude and Rockville Pike. He was a really cool guy and had a really nice collection of vintage parts at his location before it got converted to a gas station. I got started learning to port and polish heads from heads in his junkpile and some carbide burrs he gave me. I'm really patient and like doing that kind of work and had a decent eye for making heads flow well. Sam and Bobby had raced and worked on some famous cars back in their day.

Really cool guys. Dunno if they are still alive or not as I haven't been hot rodding or really doing more than just maintenance on my cars these days. I still have a decent street/strip car but nothing crazy like the tubbed and caged Grand Nationals we used to race at 75-80, Englishtown, and other venues when I was really into it.

I think Jimmy Ray is the guy I saw setup a 12 bolt GM rear with new gears for a car, and he did it with no dial indicators or any way that I could see for setting backlash and pinion depth, etc. He just did it by "feel" which to me was just like voodoo magic as I'm the type of guy who just measures everything multiple times before buttoning it all up.

Really impressive guys.

Glad to see it coming back. My grandmother lived very close to 75-80, was good friends with the owners, and even worked there, before I was born.
My brother and I spent a lot of Weekends growing up with her, so we went there a lot. We never paid to enter, as everyone there new her. It was cheap entertainment for her to keep us occupied. Lol.

Brickman301 said:

Glad to see it coming back. My grandmother lived very close to 75-80, was good friends with the owners, and even worked there, before I was born.
My brother and I spent a lot of Weekends growing up with her, so we went there a lot. We never paid to enter, as everyone there new her. It was cheap entertainment for her to keep us occupied. Lol.

Click to expand...

What's weird is, most of the people (all over the internet) talking about the re-opening, are saying it has a "new owner", but for years it was always said, that the only way the track could ever re-open, was if it was still owned by the Wilcom's, and if Bill Wilcom ever "sold" the property, it could/would never be a track again.

So, we can only assume it is being "leased".

What's even weirder, is not that long ago, people were also ecstatic that Wilcom's Inn, a restaurant owned by the same people, re-opened...but a quick Google, says it is owned (since 2016) by Peruvian's?

I do know a LOT of people are getting excited, and wanting to race there again, but supposedly there will NOT be any type of bracket racing like people's fathers, uncles, neighbors, friends, etc., did there "back in the day"...

For those unfamiliar, "No Prep" and "Grudge Racing" (which is what the "rumor" says will be the only racing there), is normally 1/8th mile head's up racing. There are no time boards functioning, and may or may not have, a "Christmas tree" to start at...like at a sanctioned NHRA/IHRA dragstrip. This looks like it will be an "Outlaw" track, which basically means...they have their own rules, or lack thereof. It's not the As Seen On TV Street Outlaw's scripted crap.

Here's a decent example of a "No Prep/Grudge Race" scenario that's supposed to be at 75/80 soon. Track even looks similar, lol.
https://youtu.be/xJ1XNQ4H5J8

That would explain HOW they could possibly be re-opening in a month or less.
If there's no major electrical work needed to restore timing boards and overhead lighting, no permits for the concession stand, and whatnot, they literally only have to do, what they are doing...which is do a lot of clearing, and open the gates.