PHOTOGRAPHS BY VAN ABERNETHY , CENTERVILLE DRAGWAY

For Wayne and Patty , this unique way of life continues to be a family affair , along with their daughter , Sunny , and her husband , Eric , and their kids , Sophie , Bella , and Court . “ They ’ re here for every race ... we couldn ’ t do it without them !” smiles Wayne .

There ’ s been massive improvements performed on the facility over the years , without losing an ounce of the track ’ s small-town charm . Originally constructed in 1977 , when the Styles purchased the track from its builder , Wendell Frame , the track had no lights or even scoreboards . “ We wanted to have a Saturday night program from the beginning , and people were all the time asking us why we didn ’ t , and we had to explain that we didn ’ t have any lights !” laughs Patty .

The Styles operated the track just as it was for the first year , then began putting up lights and making other improvements as they were able during their second year of ownership . Back in those days , Wayne and Patty were still living in the town of Fort Smith , where Wayne owned a Mac Tools business , and they would make the

1.5-hour commute to the dragstrip on weekends . A comfortable brick home just happened to be on the property that they moved into and rented in 1996 , eventually buying it . “ It ’ s so much nicer living on site and saves so much time from commuting back and forth ,” says Wayne .

While updates to the track were always being performed , a major renovation took place in 2017 , which included a complete overhaul to the racing surface , featuring brand-new concrete that

Centerville Dragway owners Wayne ( center ) and Patty Styles with RFC Chaplain Steve Haynes

extends to the 750-foot mark , with new concrete walls added as well . Afterwards , a new concession stand was built , along with new fencing installed .

In 2021 , the improvements continued with repaving and widening all the return roads , as well as adding more pit parking , giving the facility room to park about 30 more race cars , all while accommodating more modern rigs . “ Back when we first bought the track , we could easily fit about 200 race cars here , but these days everybody has a huge toterhome , and if you put 200 of those rigs in here , you hardly had room to turn around , so the additional space really helps out ,” says Patty .

A major milestone for this track was also accomplished in 2021 when Centerville Dragway became sanctioned for the first time in its then- 44-year history , as the Styles signed a deal with IHRA . “ It ’ s true , we had never once been sanctioned in the track ’ s history , but the motivation to do it is because IHRA has really good insurance for the racers , and having the opportunity to go to the team finals at the end of the year was something our racers expressed a huge interest in doing . We ’ re now in our third year with IHRA and it ’ s worked out great ,” says Wayne .

Drag IllustrateD was on hand for the recent Ironman event , of which the track typically holds one each year . Winners from this particular event include Shaud Blakely , Jalen Whitmore , Nathan Cunningham , Jack Lineberry , Bentley Surrett and Phillip Jones Alexander .

July / August 2023

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