Farmersville Drag Strip

Constable Chester Boomershine, who helped organize the Farmersville Road Kings car club, opened a drag strip on his farm to cut down on illegal street racing. He bulldozed a half-mile dirt strip on his 71-acre farm on Clayton Road, two and a half miles south of New Lebanon. The Montgomery County Timing Association ran the first race, scheduled for Sunday, September 18, 1955, and spent $800 on calcium chloride for the surface and on fire extinguishers. About 1,800 people watched 88 racers, with Bob Peeler of Brookville as flagman. Pete Nob had the fastest speed, 87.38 mph in his D/G ‘55 Chevy. On October 16, 1955, Tom Heeter, who was killed racing at a Dayton strip in 1957, was the top trophy winner, against racers from Eaton, Dayton, Brookville, Middletown and New Lebanon. Boomershine hoped to pave the strip in spring 1956, but poor health stopped him. No sign of racing there in 1956 has been found.