Drag Illustrated Issue 152, January 2020 | Page 48

DIALED IN SRCA DRAGSTRIP down, but since they’re on land that can’t be sold they just deteriorate.” By and large, the drag strip is in fantastic shape, which is a direct result of the love and dedication of the SRCA car club. Over the years, they’ve been able to construct a new tower, purchase additional scoreboards, buy a Larry Crispe-built rotator, and they’ve erected a new NHRA tech building filled with new equipment. “We’re always trying to make the track better,” echoes Denning. If the drag strip has an immediate need, though, it would be the racing surface itself, which needs some attention. “The track needs a complete re- constructing. We’ve overlaid it, but you’ve got 75-year-old concrete underneath it that’s dete- riorating,” Denning says. As passionately as this group operates the track from year to year, they’re just as steadfast in their pursuit to secure funding to reconstruct the racing surface. Thankfully, the drag strip has the full support of the city of Great Bend, whereas that hasn’t always been the case. It took decades to sway their opinion of racers and rac- ing. “At one particular city meeting, a council- man stood up and said, ‘Racers are nothing but a bunch of thugs with cigarettes rolled up in their sleeves!’” remembers Arlan Werth, vice president of the SRCA. Things have changed drastically from those days, and since Denning sits down with city of- ficials twice-yearly and details the commerce that the track brings to Great Bend, the city is now a huge advocate and supporter of the track. “That transition from when the city was completely against us, to now being 1,000% behind us took decades,” Denning says. Presently, there are city employees who actu- ally come out to the track and volunteer on race days. “We probably bring more people to Great Bend than any other entity,” Denning says. “At the divisional race last year we had 25 states repre- sented plus Canada.” There’s been plenty of memorable moments of drag racing history recorded at SRCA Dragstrip, not the least of which was NHRA holding the first national event in history here in 1955. Don Garlits won his first AHRA National at Great Bend in 1958. Many milestones and records followed, and more recent personalities who’ve visited include Bo Butner, Erica Enders and Ashley Force-Hood, with Force-Hood coming extremely close to win- ning her first divisional title here. “She was in the finals when the starter broke off the engine,” Denning shrugs. Last year’s Lucas Oil divisional was especially robust with entries since Tri-State Raceway’s regional event was rained out and moved to Great Bend, which added Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car to the lineup. Megan Meyer broke the track record with a 5.27-sec- ond, 278mph blast, while Top Sportsman racer Benjamin Board reset the door car record with a time of 5.97 at 237mph. “Unfortunately, he got ejected because the elapsed time limit for Top Sportsman is 6.00. He tried to tune the car down to stay within the limit, but he actually picked up!” smiles Denning. The track has enjoyed a busy season in 2019, beginning with chassis certification and TNT that was slated for late March. “We usually schedule 12 bracket point races per year, figuring we might get 10 in with the weather,” Werth says. In September, the track also hosted the Pontiac Uprising event, along with car show. Great Bend also welcomed the Rocky Mountain Nostalgia Drag Racing series, featuring period-correct Super Stockers from 1960-1972. DI DI DI DI DI DI DI DI DI from DI SRCA Dragstrip typically operates March through late October. 48 | D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com Issue 152