Freeway Drag Strip (Dickinson)

Investors from Galveston and Houston spent $30,000 building this strip off the Gulf Freeway, about 1.5 miles northwest of Dickinson, on land donated by Joe Finger of Houston. It sat on the east side of Interstate 45 near FM 646, and the track was 1.5 miles long. Jack Sayre was general manager, and the parking area held 5,000 cars. A first race was scheduled for April 21, 1957, but the grand opening came July 13-14, 1957, with the Texas State Invitational Championship and about 400 cars expected. The Gulf Coast Timing Association and the Greater Houston Timing Association ran the NHRA-sanctioned strip on the first and third Sundays, with general admission at $1.

In 1958 promoter Lynn Huiet staged an East Coast vs. West Coast race in which three strong California cars tried and failed to beat Don Garlits, who was getting national attention for his times. On June 15, 1958, Bobby Langley set a Texas speed record of 166.05 MPH in his “Scorpion.” In June 1959 Garlits beat Chet Herbert, driving Bob Sullivan’s “Pandemonium” dragster, in a match race here and set a Drag News 1320 record of 8.48 seconds at 182.54 MPH. Funny car racer Don Gay bought the strip in 1960. One fan remembered that spectators could get right up to the burnout area, and that Gay’s wheelstanding GTO funny car and Seaton’s Shaker Chevelle were what drew him out there. On September 9, 1962, J. L. Payne, driving Vance Hunt’s A fuel dragster, beat Garlits two out of three in a match race with a best of 8.41 seconds at 187 MPH. The Arlington Daily News Texan of September 10, 1962, placed that race at South Texas Dragway in Houston.

The strip went by many names, among them South West Dragstrip, Houston Drag Raceway (around 1963), Houston International Drag Strip (around 1971), South Texas Drag Strip and Houston International Dragway (around 1981). Nothing of it is left. A Walmart Supercenter at 1701 West FM 646 Road in League City stands where the starting line was, and a small neighborhood covers the finish line area.