Cordova Dragway/Quad City Drags
ActiveActive Still racing today.
Quarter-mile strip near the Mississippi River north of the Quad Cities, open since the 1950s and best known as the home of the World Series of Drag Racing. Owned since late 2021 by Dan and Shelly Crownhart's 1320 Promotions.
- Long-running host of the World Series of Drag Racing, first in 1957
- Emory Cook set a track record of 163.63 mph at the 1957 World Series
- Art Arfons made three runs over 211 mph in his jet dragster on July 27, 1963
- Raced
- 1956-present
- State
- Illinois
- Raced on
- Built as a drag strip
- First race
- September 2-3, 1956
- Track
- 1/4 mile
- Surface
- Asphalt
- Address
- 19425 IL Rte 84 N
Cordova, IL 61242 - People
- ATAA, World Series organizer (1957-59)
- Sanction
- IHRA
- Elevation
- 608 ft (185 m)
- Coordinates
- 41.71707, -90.29349
Big races
World Series of Drag Racing
One of the longest-running drag races in the country, held at Cordova since the 1950s; reached its 72nd running in 2026 and draws nitro, alcohol and sportsman cars.
Funny Car Chaos Championship Finals
Season finale of the Funny Car Chaos series for outlaw-style funny cars.
Hot Rod Drag Week
A drag-and-drive: racers drive their street cars from track to track over several days and race at each stop.
Sick Summer
A drag-and-drive: racers drive their street cars from track to track over several days and race at each stop.
One Guy's Garage Drag Weekend
A drag-and-drive: racers drive their street cars from track to track over several days and race at each stop.
CISCS Shootout and Stroll
A drag-and-drive: racers drive their street cars from track to track over several days and race at each stop.
History
Builders spent $60,000 on a 4,000-foot asphalt strip just north of the Mississippi River town of Cordova. They called it Quad City Drags after the nearby metro area spanning northwest Illinois and southeast Iowa, whose main cities are Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa and Rock Island, Moline and East Moline in Illinois. It opened with a two-day meet on September 2-3, 1956, and raced every Sunday after that. Before August 1957 the track record was 152.54 mph, set by Warren Poole of Muscatine, Iowa.
Cordova hosted the ATAA’s fourth annual World Series of Drag Racing on August 21-25, 1957, which drew more than 20,000 spectators and 400 entries. Red Greth of Tucson set a world record for competition roadsters at 160.71 mph in 9.77 seconds, and world record holder Emory Cook won top eliminator with a track record of 163.63 mph. The World Series came back on August 20-24, 1958, when John Bradley of San Bernardino set a world mark of 151.26 mph in his Mercury flathead B dragster, and again on August 26-30, 1959. A record 15,000 fans attended the final day of the World Series on August 26, 1962. On July 27, 1963, almost 5,000 people watched Art Arfons make three runs over 211 mph in his jet dragster. The 12th annual World Series on August 26-29, 1965, paid a $15,000 cash purse.
Video
More in Illinois
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- Closed No longer racing, but some of the track is still there. Beardstown Drag Strip 1967-1979 or early 1980s
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- Active Still racing today. Coles County Dragway (Charleston) 1966-present
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- Active Still racing today. I-57 Drag Strip/Ellis I-57 Drag Strip (Benton) 1972-present
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- Closed No longer racing, but some of the track is still there. Lawrenceville Municipal Airport 1954-56, 1958