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By Mellie Snedeker
As soon as I got my license , I was at Skyview Drags in Upstate New York , attending their test-and-tune every Friday night . It was the place that showed me what cars could really do , how fast they could really go . I thought I was on top of the world going “ fast ” in my beat-up high school car , and with the views from the dragstrip at the top of the mountain , that ’ s exactly how it felt . Skyview Drags instilled such a love of cars and drag racing in me that I ’ ve managed to turn that passion into a career , and for that , this track means the world to me . Unfortunately , Skyview closed its gates in 2018 , but rather than being sold and paved over within a matter of weeks , it sat vacant until 2023 , and was eventually put in the hands of some of the most passionate racers in the Northeast . The Skyview Drags comeback story is here .
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Originally constructed in 2004 , alongside the concrete circle track , Shangri-La II , Skyview ’ s eighth-mile drag strip housed IHRA events , being voted IHRA Sportsman Track of the Year in 2007 , as well as Super Pro , Pro , Street Money , Street Trophy , Bike and Sled classes , and Jr . Dragsters within the Summit Super Series .
In its prime , it saw faces like NHRA Pro Stock driver Camrie Caruso in her Jr . Dragster days , as well as Street Outlaws star “ Daddy Dave ” Comstock , both somewhat local to the area , and hosted multiple Night of Fire events . Who can forget the jet truck catching the tower on fire ? “ We always loved going to Skyview ,” Caruso said . “ They always made the Jr . Dragsters a priority and made sure we had special races and events throughout the season to look forward to .”
As car counts lowered , money dried up , and the facility began deteriorating , racers stepped up , providing their own prep , just to have a place to race . But as time went on , the gates to Skyview Drags closed for the last time after a final testand-tune
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night in 2018 , conducted with an arm drop start because the timing system had broken , with no signs of reopening .
“ When it first closed , we went to Empire once or twice , Beaver Springs for long weekends , and ESTA a few times ,” said Mel Teed , who raced with her husband and their three daughters in the Summit Super Series . “ Nothing like having a dragstrip in your backyard ,” she went on to say , with Skyview being just 40 minutes away from their Pennsylvania home .
Pat Schrader , fondly referred to as “ Uncle Pat ” by an entire generation of gearheads because of his commitment to the sport and the next generation of racers , was one of the first people to drive down the track in 2004 . He was also one of the last to make a pass on that Friday night in 2018 , racing there every Friday night test-and-tune , as well as bike shootouts and a few bracket races . Now , he ’ ll be one of the first back on the track in 2024 , this time as not only a racer , but also as track operations manager for the dragstrip .
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PHOTOGRAPHS BY MELLIE SNEDEKER |