Improving Drag Strips at a Cost
Growing up at Moroso Motorsports Park (now Palm Beach International Raceway), they were certain features that didn’t change from my first visit in 1982 to the last year the track held the name in 2008. But then everything changed when the track was completely updated for a revamp, and reintroduced to the public in late 2008. Is the new and better updates the right call, or so we lose those valuable links to the history of the facility?
I spent this last weekend at Rocking Dragway for the National Mustang Racers Association (NMRA) and National Muscle Car Association (NMCA) All-Star Nationals. I’ve never been to the track before, and from my first footsteps on the property, I started thinking about all the history this track has seen.
The three-story tower has a media press room on the second floor, and a VIP room on the top with relics of the Winston Drag Racing days, including dry-erase boards to follow along with eliminations before the times of cell phones with the internet and information at our fingertips.
Now sure, it’s been quite a while since cigarettes have been involved with drag racing, but the history during the Winston sponsorship days is an important part of the sport.
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So, what if it was destroyed or replaced with something modern? Would it bring more people to the track with a modern look?
I agree that up-to-date areas, towers and media rooms can be more attractive. But I also think tracks with older racing characteristics can be a tool for showing how racing used to be, and you don’t necessarily have to have the latest and greatest to be a part of the racing community.
Rockingham Dragway has features not seen at most tracks, including a crossover bridge for the staging lanes, and a unique platform at the top of the left lane side grandstands, which was used during the NMCA / NMRA event for hosting a car show. Lots of spectators sat at the top edge, with the car show at their backs and the drag racing action in front of them.
What if it was all replaced? Would the dragstrip mean the same as it did before? History will live on, regardless if we actually get to see it at ground zero, or just read about it after every trace is wiped away.
But I’m personally glad I got a chance to see a track with so much history, and the cues that show us the past that we can use to shape the future of the sport.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of the author.