Amarillo Dragway Gave the Van Voris Brothers a Chance to Promote Events – Now the Promoters Want to Help the Track Upgrade and Attract Even More Events
With a wide variety of drag strips open through the United States, everything from vintage and basic tracks to the latest and greatest super tracks with multi-million-dollar towers, grandstands and pit areas exist.
Each track can tell a story, and for Amarillo Dragway, the stories go back over 60 years. Now, two brothers are trying to do what they can to promote and secure a better future for the track.
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Originally constructed a few miles away from an old helium plant, construction started on Amarillo Dragway in Texas in 1959, and was completed in 1960.
The track has been home to some amazing national events under multiple sanctioning bodies, and for the last few years, has been backed by the International Hot Rod Association.
Amarillo Dragway will also be the fourth track we visit on the Sick 66 drag-and-drive this October.
Brothers Kevin and David Van Voris started promoting events at Amarillo Dragway about five years ago. Now, Van Voris Bros Productions wants to give back to the track that means so much to them.
“Amarillo doesn’t really have much beyond test and tunes and bracket racing right now, and the track needs some improvements,” said Kevin Van Voris. “We both own modern muscle cars; I own a Hellcat and my brother a Mustang, and because there wasn’t much being held for newer style cars, we started working on holding events around them. It’s also a great way to get cars off the streets and onto the track.”
The event that started it all for the Van Voris Bros Productions brothers; the ‘Flashlight Shootout.’ “It’s like taking No Prep Kings with the flashlight start, and combining it with Street Car Takeover,” Kevin said. “We do radial prep, and the event can attract some quick small and big tire cars, as well as a good number of street cars.”
Based on the popularity and requests, Van Voris Bros Productions also added a roll race event known as ‘All Out Roll Racing’ two years ago.
“Over the last year I had an idea, and I’m very close with the owner,” said Kevin. “His parents helped open the drag strip, and he bought it back a few years ago. It means something to him, and I asked him what he thought about fundraising and maybe get the track upgraded. We’d like to have some bigger races here, and I think the upgrades would help.”
Their proposed upgrades would cover: racer parking areas (pit parking), staging lanes, the shutdown and the return road. “Those are the four major areas in order we’d like to upgrade. The drag strip itself is in good shape, it’s just bringing the surrounding areas up a little bit more.”
“I’ve spoken to several promoters that said if the track gets fixed up, they would seriously consider having an event at Amarillo. My brother and I know this won’t be an overnight deal, but we’re motivated. We’re just doing it as a passion project; it’s our way to trying to help secure the track’s future.”
The brother discussed their plans in a video they recently uploaded below:
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Amarillo Dragway
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com