Gulf Coast Drag Strip/Biloxi Dragway

A group of Biloxi businessmen and women built this strip five miles north of Biloxi at Highway 55 and Krohn Road. It was 3,375 feet long and 40 feet wide, with 115 feet on each side to a 3-foot embankment, and the Gulf Coast Timing Association ran the races. Small races were held during construction, including a Red Cross benefit on May 11, 1957 and a Labor Day weekend race a week before the September 8 grand opening. J. D. Gagliano of New Orleans won top eliminator at the opener at 14.05 and 111.11 mph in his Chevy-powered 1934 Ford. Admission was 99 cents for adults and 55 cents for children under 12.

The Mississippi Open on December 1, 1957 drew 190 racers from eight states and 1,500 spectators, and Albert Waits of New Orleans set the track record on his motorcycle at 11.47 and 113.222 mph. At the Automobile Timing Association of America regional on February 23, 1958, officiated by the Keesler Coasters Club, Waits raised it to 115.384 mph on his fuel bike before 1,094 people. C. J. Kearney set a 122.016 mph record in his Olds-powered A/MR on August 31, 1958, and Si Burgess set an ET record of 11.104 at 129.35 mph in his Chevy dragster on July 5, 1959. On May 1, 1960, Waits set a national C dragster record of 10.39 and 140.624 mph in his injected Chevy dragster, and on November 20 he set the strip ET record at 9.48, though Q-Ball Wale’s 165.66 mph speed record still stood. Chris Karamesines ran 175.79 mph on January 8, 1961. On May 13, 1963, Charles Sitton of Houston claimed a world speed record of 196.07 mph in Paul Vanderley’s fuel dragster.

A serviceman stationed in Biloxi in 1964-65 remembered going on Saturday afternoons to a little strip about 20 miles from town and racing well into the night, with light bulbs strung along the dirt return road. He saw Garlits, the Little Red Wagon, Connie Swingle and the Hemi Under Glass there.