PHOTOGRAPHS BY VAN ABERNETHY AND TARA BOWKER |
Maryland ’ s Cecil County Dragway underwent a number of significant improvements in 2023 , just as the fabled facility located in the town of Rising Sun turned 60 years old . Improvements included new aluminum bleachers and LED lighting , along with the launch of a three-phase upgrade to the sound system , which is still being implemented . Longtime track owner Jim Halsey began the initiative to improve the entire facility last year , and he ’ s continued the progress into 2024 with improvements that include lengthening the sandpit , rearranging the turnoff , and installing a new return road .
“ The main motivation for the new return road was because when we were running Pro Mod , alcohol dragsters and Funny Cars , we didn ’ t have a lot of stacking area after they made the turnoff , so at times we either had to stop racing or figure out a way to push them out of the way , but the new return road takes care of all those problems ,” says Halsey .
Afterwards , some seal coating and new striping were applied to the upper staging lanes and pit area , while the staging lanes were also rearranged to accommodate 30-40 more cars . “ Overall , the facility is much more user-friendly than it was previously ,” says Halsey , who also recently added new fencing , along with a host
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of additional track equipment .
With a robust schedule of events for 2024 , the only thing that ’ s been lacking lately is good weather . “ It ’ s been a tough season in the early going !” Halsey confirms . A local weather stat was published that caught Haley ’ s attention , as it indicated that out of 19 weekends , 18 of them had rain . “ I don ’ t know for sure if that report was accurate , but it sure feels like that ’ s the reality ,” comments Halsey . Many of the events in early 2024 were rain-shortened or altogether cancelled , but sometimes the weather would cooperate long enough for a very successful gathering .
As early as February , Cecil County had events
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on the calendar , including Burger and Burnies , which is a track rental that includes a car show , burnout contest , and a food truck onsite selling hamburgers . “ It ’ s a fun hangout-type event , and the idea is to go hang out with your buddies , make some tire smoke , and eat a burger ... it definitely takes the edge off of the midwinter boredom ,” Halsey explains .
A few test-and-tune events were scheduled early on as well , with mixed results as the weather had the final say . While the first Strange Engineering Street Car Shootout , as well as the seasonopening points bracket race , were both rained out , the attendance levels were impressive , as the
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July / August 2024 |
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