Edmonton Highway Drag Racing

The Edmonton Timing Association formed in January 1957 to coordinate the city’s ten car clubs, but interest faded when it got nothing concrete done. Its officers needed a project, mainly a place to race, and their outreach led to a six-man advisory committee. One member was Alberta Highways Minister Gordon Taylor, who warmed to the idea of a safe place to race. In April 1958 the Red Deer Chamber of Commerce, which had been discussing a drag racing site for young people, asked Taylor whether any Alberta towns had provided one. He had been thinking about it for months and backed the car clubs’ safe-driving work. Within a month he approved a section of road near the Namao Base north of Edmonton, east of Highway 28 and between it and the base’s No. 7 Supply Depot, where the Rebels and Roadents car clubs could make single-car time trials but not race each other. It was the first time a public road was officially allowed for drag racing. The first event was set for June 29, 1958, and several were held.

At an August 1958 meeting the clubs thanked the committee but listed the road’s problems. They wanted a regulation strip with enough shutdown room, and this stretch was too short. It was also too narrow to race on, had no place for spectators and was unsafe, with steep ditches on both sides. They canceled the event planned for September 14.

In July 1959 Taylor allowed racing on a mile of Highway 216 at Salisbury Corner (Anthony Hendry Drive or Highway 14X), between highways 14 and 16. It worked, though the Edmonton Gun Club complained about the disruption. In mid-August 1959, delegates from the Edmonton clubs met with Taylor and formed the Capital City Hot Rod Association to set uniform rules and push safe driving. On November 28, 1959, sixty delegates from clubs in Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Brooks, Lacombe, Red Deer and Camrose met with Taylor at a day-long conference, the first of its kind in Canada. They formed the Alberta Provincial Hot Rod Association to lead the province’s clubs, timing associations and hot rod councils, and hoped it would have more luck securing drag strips.

The Northern Alberta Drag Racing Association raced east of Edmonton on Highway 14X (today’s highways 216 and 14). The highway was closed for about four hours every two weeks, weather permitting, with the RCMP handling security and an ambulance on hand. There on August 14, 1960, Vic Kozak set an Alberta speed record of 132.35 mph in 10.65 seconds in his dragster. In June 1961 Taylor offered an old, unused stretch of highway on the east side of the approach to the old Spruce Grove overpass, which wouldn’t need to be closed for weekly races. A race was held on Highway 14X (Arthur Hendry Drive) on August 19, 1962. On October 14, 1962, a race car’s clutch exploded and sent shrapnel into nearby spectators, injuring ten people, including a 16-year-old girl who lost an eye. The public outcry that followed ended highway drag racing in Alberta.