Clinton County Air Force Base (Wilmington)

Wilmington arranged for drag racing on a 4,120-foot asphalt taxi strip at the base, two miles southeast of town on State Route 73. The Double Eagle Auto Club sponsored the races and the Twin-County Timing Association ran them under NHRA sanction, with Frank Angler as track manager. Spectators got in free, and pit pass sales covered trophies and other costs. The first race, on June 1, 1958, drew several hundred people and 73 competitors. Harold Pencil won top eliminator in A Competition Coupe, and Larry Sewell had the fastest speed, 99.46 mph in his altered coupe. The second race, on July 4, 1958, drew 5,500 people and 200 racers. Gene Weller won top eliminator in his Olds-powered B dragster, beating Dayton’s George Montgomery, the well-known racer of that name. Montgomery’s A/GS Ford, powered by a Cadillac of over 400 cubic inches, had the meet’s top speed and set the strip record at 120.37 mph. Those were the only two races, because construction began on new runways as the base was built up for the Strategic Air Command.