Calgary Highway Drag Racing

Alberta first allowed drag racing on a public highway in June 1958, on a stretch of road north of Edmonton, and Highways Minister Gordon Taylor was key to making it happen. On August 10, 1958, the Calgary Timing Association raced on Highway 201 (Barlow Trail NE), closed all day from Forest Lawn north to the cloverleaf at Highway 1 (16th Ave. NE, the Trans-Canada). Five thousand spectators watched in 90-degree heat. In January 1959 the Calgary Drag Race Council formed. Races had been held on city roads and at Shepard Airport, but organizers saw a need for better coordination. Not every car club backed the timing association at events and it had more or less stopped functioning, which showed when crowd control became a problem at the 1958 championship race at Shepard Airport. In early March 1959 the Shepard Airport racing lease moved from the association to the council. Taylor later gave the council permission to race on the same stretch of highway between Forest Lawn and the cloverleaf every other Sunday during the summer of 1960.