DIALED IN
Growing Pains
Florida’s Immokalee Regional Raceway fending off nearby
airport’s expansion efforts By Van Abernethy
S
outh Florida’s Immokalee Region-
al Raceway has always been a favorite
place to compete for so many racers who
travel great distances, even as far away
as Canada back in the days when the
IHRA would kick off its Pro-Am Tour each
February in Immokalee. Later, special events
such as the Wild Tomato Nationals, along
weekly bracket meets, have produced some
great times through the years at Immokalee
Regional Raceway.
But now, as the track turns 21 years old in April,
this beloved eighth-miler just north of Everglades
March 2020
City is facing its greatest struggle to date, and
it’s from an unlikely source of opposition: The
Federal Aviation Administration.
The reason the drag strip is suddenly feeling
the heat is solely because of an expansion plan
currently in the works from the neighboring
Immokalee Regional Airport, citing a desire to
construct a taxiway for airplanes, and they want
to construct it exactly where the drag strip is
situated.
“Basically, what we’ve got to do in order to keep
the track open is move the whole track down from
where we’re currently located and completely
rebuild it,” says Ralph Hester (above), the drag
strip founder and owner.
Although the move isn’t huge in terms of dis-
tance, maybe a half mile or so from its current
locale, that doesn’t make it any less of an un-
dertaking, not to mention extremely expensive
for Hester.
The other concern for Hester is the length of
time that the airport is willing to extend on the
new lease, should he agree to completely relocate
and rebuild the drag strip. As of this writing, the
airport has yet to give Hester a definite timeframe
regarding how long he can expect to be in the
DragIllustrated.com
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