Football’s not the only sport back in town this weekend.
Ardmore Dragway will host its fifth annual Hot Rod Reunion on Friday and Saturday. The reunion is a yearly celebration of the anniversary of the drag strip, the oldest continuously operating dragway in the United States.
“Most racers across the country got their start here or have raced here,” said Rob Ragland, Ardmore Dragway event coordinator. “We’ve had several people from overseas make the trip over the years.”
While strips have been shut down and reopened across the country for years, Ardmore Dragway has been in operation continuously without closing since 1955. That’s when Ragland’s father and other street racers met with Ardmore police to negotiate a safe place to run their souped-up rides. The city allocated a plot of land (where the dragway currently stands) for the group, which called themselves the Slow Poke Car Club.
The club still exists with about 12 members. Three founding members of the club — Rob’s father, Jim, Norman Flowers and Joe Carrell — are still alive.
The Friday Night Cackle Fest will start the weekend’s festivities. The lights at the track will be turned off and vintage automobiles will rev their engines and shoot flames for spectators. In previous years, the Cackle Fest went on in parking lots around town, but an increase in participants calls for the safety and open space of the dragway.
All the cars racing or on showcase are “vintage,” meaning made before 1972.
“These cars put out 3,000 horsepower, we needed to get in a safe environment to protect the spectators,” Rob Ragland said. “At the race track this year it’s more controlled.”
Saturday will have the nostalgia drag racing and car show. Ragland expects around 300 cars in attendance. Most of the cars will drag on Saturday, with preliminaries and tuning on Friday.
Among the racers set to attend are Canadian Gordie Bonin, A.K.A. 240 Gordie, and the legendary 1976 funny car Blue Max, what Ragland called “one of the most dominant race cars of the ’70s and ’80s.”
“Some of these drivers are almost like wrestling figures,” Ragland said. “They have a cult-like following of fans that are still loyal to them all these years.”
Erik K. Horne
221-6522
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Hot Rod Reunion
■ Friday and Saturday at Ardmore Dragway, 1 mile east of I-35, Exit 40
■ Gates open at 4 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Saturday
■ Admission: $7 Friday and $10 Saturday; kids 12 or younger free
■ For more information, call (580) 504-4697 or visit ardmoredragway.com
