PHOTOGRAPHS BY VAN ABERNETHY |
Florida’ s Immokalee Regional Raceway hosted a packed house for their most recent Winter Series at the conclusion of 2025, and it very well might be the track’ s last string of December events, at least at its current location. Dragstrip founder Ralph Hester always knew the track’ s days were numbered, having been constructed on airport-owned land and given a 10-year lease back in 1999. The fact that Hester just kicked off his 27th season is remarkable, although it looks like the party might be over by mid-year. The neighboring airport is fully anticipating building new hangers where the dragstrip is located, and it’ s a project that’ s been delayed twice, which is how the dragstrip continues to operate. Barring any more delays, the track is set to close permanently at the end of May 2026.
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Hester has solid backing from his existing sponsors, and he’ s currently looking for another location in Immokalee to construct another dragstrip and keep the good times rolling.“ Everything here that you see can be moved, including the tower. I just need some land so I can move the track and reopen it,” says Hester. And if the attendance of his most recent Winter Series is any indication, the crowds will surely follow.“ We had a huge tent and we served 250 steaks one night at the first race, and 250 plates of BBQ the following week.”
Hester has always placed hospitality high on the list when it comes to his long-standing success as a track owner / manager. The entire community benefits from the influx of out-of-town racers coming to Immokalee, and the restaurant owners tell Ralph their business doubles when he’ s hosting his big events.
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As for the racing schedule this year, there’ s plenty of action planned for what is expected to be the shortest season on record. With no time to spare, Immokalee presented the“ New Years On The Strip” event to kick off the first weekend of 2026, and as expected, the pits were full. Immokalee then launched the bracket points series with a doubleheader the following week. While the points program usually goes all the way into October, they’ re going to have to settle with a dozen point races slated from January to May, unless of course, the airport’ s hanger project gets delayed once again.
In addition to the bracket racing, no-prep has also been a popular attraction in recent years, although nothing has surprised Hester more than the attendance of a truck series that Immokalee began hosting not too long ago.“ They don’ t have many trucks, but they pack the place
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March / April 2026 |
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