PHOTOS: VAN ABERNETHY |
By Van Abernethy
Pennsylvania’ s Beaver Springs Dragway hosted the 13th running of the York Nostalgia Nationals on July 9-10, 2016 with this year’ s attendance far and away the largest ever. The event, which features a wide array of cars and personalities, gets its title from the hallowed York US 30 Dragway, a legendary south central Pennsylvania dragstrip which closed in 1979, yet is fondly remembered to this present day. Famously, York US 30 was the site of what many believe was the largest one-day drag race in the nation when it held the 1965 Super Stock |
Nationals.
“ It was all Super Stock and Factory Experimental stuff, and although the race was moved around a few times in later years, the event at York is the one that everybody remembers,” says Beaver Springs Dragway owner“ Beaver Bob” McCardle. Each year, McCardle puts forth a solid and wellreceived effort toward recapturing the fabled magic by presenting the York Nostalgia Nationals at his folksy quarter-mile facility in central Pennsylvania. Beaver Springs is the perfect location to host an event of this nature, with its laid-back atmosphere being complimented by a sprawling distant mountain range. The grassy pit area seems to go on for miles, offering a picturesque
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setting reminiscent to drag racing’ s golden years.
For McCardle, his yearly hosting of the York Nostalgia Nationals strikes a deeply personal cord of passion.“ This is the kind of stuff I love,” smiles McCardle, who particularly referenced the nostalgia Super Stock entries that flock to Beaver Springs each year for the annual pilgrimage to celebrate all things York. McCardle has been very vocal over the years in his belief that drag racing’ s“ heyday” was when Detroit got involved and Super Stocks were the big thing.“ Not exactly the muscle car era; I’ m more talking about when manufacturers started putting big engines in big cars like Ford Galaxies and such,” McCardle commented.
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December 2016 |
DragIllustrated. com | Drag Illustrated | 33 |