PHOTOGRAPHS BY VAN ABERNETHY |
Kinston Drag Strip owner Bobby Smith continues to enjoy what is among the longest tenured careers as track owner / operator in the Southeast after purchasing his hometown dragstrip in 1977 . And while his ownership of the facility stretches more than four decades , his involvement dates back even further , having first visited the track in 1960 shortly after it opened . Before long , Smith got a job working at the track and learned the entire process of dragstrip operations early on . “ This track was started by four men , and by 1977 , one had died and the other three were starting to age out , so they gave me the opportunity to buy the track , so I did . At the time I never imagined that 48 years later I ’ d still be here operating the track !” he laughs .
Smith is present pretty much every time the gates are open , and he ’ s witnessed a lot of changes to the sport he loves . Economic booms and busts have come and went , and this vintage track in eastern North Carolina has proven durable through it all .
Among the most celebrated events is Winterfest , which dates back to 1987 , and as the name suggests , it happens in the dead of winter , or at least that ’ s the goal . The event is scheduled on the
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second weekend in January , but if the weather doesn ’ t cooperate , the event is usually carried over from week to week until conditions are favorable . Over the last 37 years of Winterfest , the early January weekend has proven so unpredictable , it has brought everything from 70-degree weather to snowfall .
Test-and-tune sessions are held on Thursday nights after the weather warms up , switching to Sunday afternoon when it ’ s cooler . No less than 12 List and RYWO events are scheduled for 2024 from April through September , with a goal of completing twice-monthly events over the course of a six-month span , held exclusively on Thursday nights .
Kinston has a number of featured events still to come in 2024 , including the Mid-Summer Shootout , slated for July 20 , followed by Nitrous Wars on August 17 . The Roger Rhodes Memorial is among the most beloved bracket events on the schedule , and it ’ s scheduled for September 21 . Other late-season special events include the Small Tire Shootout on September 28 , followed by the KDS King Event on October 12 .
The Carolina Class Racers Association visited Kinston in early May , and in addition to their regular action-packed program , they brought
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Track owner Bobby Smith ( right ) with track official Danny Waters Jr .
out a newly-launched attraction called Carolina Classic Modified Production . This newly featured class is held in conjunction with CCRA events in 2024 , and it resembles the old-school Modified Production from the 1970s and 1980s . These high-winding , stick-shift vehicles run off the NHRA index for Super Stock and Modified ,
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July / August 2024 |
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