bracket racers who frequent Magnolia .
The United Manual Transmission Racers visit Magnolia twice-yearly and put on a great show for the fans , packing the pits with stick-shift race cars . The UMTR group had a roster of 12 events on their 2023 calendar , including stops at Magnolia in June and July . “ Those guys tell me that they love coming here , and their Magnolia events pull cars that don ’ t attend any other venue , so that ’ s really great to hear ,” dishes Rankl .
Several years ago , the Ladies Racers were formed at Magnolia , and features all-female events held monthly . “ Those events are typically held on Saturday , and the ladies pick their own race dates , and there ’ s test-n-tune and gambler ’ s races on the same day ,” explains Rankl . The ladies drive street cars or all-out race cars , and they ’ re also diligent about collecting money from sponsors for their group , including Summit Racing , who ’ s generous to their cause .
The ladies have also continued the initiative of giving away bicycles to the kids at a special event , usually held in May . This is a practice that ’ s something of a time-honored tradition at Magnolia for quite a while , and when the Ladies Racers got involved it further expanded the practice through their efforts .
Magnolia has also capitalized on the no-prep movement through their involvement with the D-Team No Prep Series . “ This is a group that races a lot in Ohio , visiting a number of tracks , including two stops here at Magnolia ,” says Rankl .
By late October , the season is winding down at Magnolia , and the hopes of another mild winter and dry spring next year would please all involved . “ The Almanac says this winter could be a bad one , so we ’ ll see what happens ,” smiles Rankl . Regardless , though , when the weather breaks there ’ s a mainstay of racers who eagerly await each new race season here at their beloved dragway in northeast Ohio . DI
November / December 2023 DragIllustrated . com | Drag Illustrated | 87