Weathering Change
After nearly 40 years of Winterfest, Kinston Drag Strip enters 2026 with a revised schedule and the same steady leadership
By Van Abernethy adding,“ We actually get far more racing done in December here lately than we do in January.”
During the peak of Winterfest sometime around 1999-2000, Kinston remarkably packed over 400 cars in the pits, as racers traveled from many different states to race here on the second weekend of January. As time wore on, the science of horsepower also came into play, as it became increasingly difficult to race modern, high-powered machines on a cold track. With so many factors working against the event that was so loved for so long, Smith made the difficult decision to not schedule a January race for the first time in nearly 40 years.
So, as an alternative, Smith introduced the brand-new event called the Winter Ice Breaker, and the inaugural event was slated for February 8. In truly uncooperating fashion, though, it snowed earlier in the week, so it had to be postponed until
PHOTOGRAPHS BY VAN ABERNETHY AND JODI MAXEY
For racers and fans who follow the happenings of Kinston Drag Strip, the long-running staple event known as Winterfest was noticeably absent in 2026 when the new schedule was released. Kinston’ s Winterfest had been the New Year kickoff event dating back to 1987 at this legendary eastern North Carolina facility, so it definitely raised some eyebrows when the race was suddenly missing from the schedule this year.
“ The decision to remove Winterfest was purely weather related,” says Bobby Smith, who’ s owned this IHRA-sanctioned facility since 1977. It’ s amazing that this event worked out at all considering it was held squarely in the middle of winter, but incredibly, it did for many years until a nearly decade-long weather pattern seemingly developed.“ About nine or so years ago, the weather just stopped cooperating in January,” says Smith,
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