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IMMOKALEE REGIONAL RACEWAY
newly proposed location. For Hester, the terms
of the lease are paramount.
“I’ve already rebuilt this place twice after hur-
ricanes tore it up, and if I do what they’re wanting
me to do, I want to make certain that they’re not
going to come back in a few years and want me
to move again. I’ve been battling it out with the
airport for about as long as I’ve been here. It’s
always something it seems,” shrugs Hester.
Not only is the drag strip’s racing surface con-
structed from runways that the airport wasn’t
using, Hester first envisioned the track from the
air as he enjoyed a day flying his Cessna airplane
several decades ago.
“The day before, I was having dinner with
some friends of my mine who work in law en-
forcement and they told me of the growing prob-
lem of street racing here in Immokalee, so the
very next day when I’m flying my plane I saw a
couple of ‘X’s’ painted over some runways and
so I inquired about them. When they told me
they were going to close those runways, that’s
when I had the idea of building a drag strip,”
recalls Hester.
Although there’s hardly a single drag racer
who actually resides in Immokalee, racers from
nearby Leigh Acres, Naples, Miami and many
other area towns got on board with the idea and
have supported the track tremendously. “When
Hurricane Wilma came through in 2005 and tore
up the place, about 100 racers showed up on a
Saturday and pitched in with the clean-up efforts.
The following week they came back and we put
it all back together!” smiles Hester.
So, after decades of assorted perils, com-
pounded with various pressures from his air-
port neighbors, Hester is not entirely sure he’s
willing to start all over at this juncture. “The
expense is great and at my age I just don’t know
if I want to do this again. Don’t get me wrong,
it’s been really good. I’ve enjoyed doing this so
much and I’ve met the finest people in the world,”
Hester declares.
The drag strip is a true asset to the commu-
nity, and anyone who’s ever traveled this way will
agree that besides a local casino, the drag strip is
the only entertainment you’ll find in Immokalee.
“There are people from all over the country and
Canada who’ve come here to race with us, and
the local motels and restaurants benefit from
that,” Hester expresses.
Hester feels that while the FAA isn’t impressed
with the revenue the track brings to town, the
county commissioners might be persuaded to
be more supportive of the track if enough people
called and voiced their stories of how the drag
strip is the sole reason they discovered Immo-
kalee and have repeatedly traveled here through
the years.
At this point, the drag strip in its current loca-
tion is on borrowed time and in January they told
Hester that the track could remain for another
year and a half before any major changes are
made to the property. After that, Hester is very
interested to examine the terms of the new lease
and weigh his options.
“We’ll be here for the rest of this year and we
will have our big races in November like always,
but after that it kind of lays in their hands to see
what they want to do,” Hester concludes.
The track kicked off its bracket points season
with a double header event on January 11, fea-
turing Box, No Box, Jr. Dragster, along with a
Quick 16. Immokalee Regional Raceway oper-
ates virtually year-round, holding 10-12 points
races and other special events per season, along
with test and tune that’s typically held each Fri-
day night.
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Issue 154