Drag Illustrated Issue 152, January 2020 | Page 48

DIALED IN
SRCA DRAGSTRIP
down, but since they’re on land that can’t be sold
they just deteriorate.”
By and large, the drag strip is in fantastic shape,
which is a direct result of the love and dedication
of the SRCA car club. Over the years, they’ve
been able to construct a new tower, purchase
additional scoreboards, buy a Larry Crispe-built
rotator, and they’ve erected a new NHRA tech
building filled with new equipment. “We’re always
trying to make the track better,” echoes Denning.
If the drag strip has an immediate need, though,
it would be the racing surface itself, which needs
some attention. “The track needs a complete re-
constructing. We’ve overlaid it, but you’ve got
75-year-old concrete underneath it that’s dete-
riorating,” Denning says.
As passionately as this group operates the
track from year to year, they’re just as steadfast
in their pursuit to secure funding to reconstruct
the racing surface. Thankfully, the drag strip
has the full support of the city of Great Bend,
whereas that hasn’t always been the case. It took
decades to sway their opinion of racers and rac-
ing. “At one particular city meeting, a council-
man stood up and said, ‘Racers are nothing but
a bunch of thugs with cigarettes rolled up in
their sleeves!’” remembers Arlan Werth, vice
president of the SRCA.
Things have changed drastically from those
days, and since Denning sits down with city of-
ficials twice-yearly and details the commerce that
the track brings to Great Bend, the city is now a
huge advocate and supporter of the track. “That
transition from when the city was completely
against us, to now being 1,000% behind us took
decades,” Denning says.
Presently, there are city employees who actu-
ally come out to the track and volunteer on race
days. “We probably bring more people to Great
Bend than any other entity,” Denning says. “At the
divisional race last year we had 25 states repre-
sented plus Canada.”
There’s been plenty of memorable moments of
drag racing history recorded at SRCA Dragstrip,
not the least of which was NHRA holding the first
national event in history here in 1955. Don Garlits
won his first AHRA National at Great Bend in
1958. Many milestones and records followed, and
more recent personalities who’ve visited include
Bo Butner, Erica Enders and Ashley Force-Hood,
with Force-Hood coming extremely close to win-
ning her first divisional title here. “She was in
the finals when the starter broke off the engine,”
Denning shrugs.
Last year’s Lucas Oil divisional was especially
robust with entries since Tri-State Raceway’s
regional event was rained out and moved to
Great Bend, which added Top Alcohol Dragster
and Top Alcohol Funny Car to the lineup. Megan
Meyer broke the track record with a 5.27-sec-
ond, 278mph blast, while Top Sportsman racer
Benjamin Board reset the door car record with
a time of 5.97 at 237mph. “Unfortunately, he got
ejected because the elapsed time limit for Top
Sportsman is 6.00. He tried to tune the car down
to stay within the limit, but he actually picked
up!” smiles Denning.
The track has enjoyed a busy season in 2019,
beginning with chassis certification and TNT
that was slated for late March. “We usually
schedule 12 bracket point races per year, figuring
we might get 10 in with the weather,” Werth says.
In September, the track also hosted the Pontiac
Uprising event, along with car show. Great Bend
also welcomed the Rocky Mountain Nostalgia
Drag Racing series, featuring period-correct
Super Stockers from 1960-1972.
DI DI DI
DI DI DI DI
DI DI from
DI
SRCA Dragstrip typically operates
March
through late October.
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I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
Issue 152