Helena Drag Strip/Competition Dragway

In 1958 the Birmingham Timing Association ran NHRA-sanctioned races at Helena Drag Strip on the first and third Sundays of each month. Many sources claim it was the oldest drag strip in Alabama, which would mean it was running by early 1956 or before, but those newspaper claims haven’t been verified. Elmore Field held drag races in 1955 and may be the older venue. The Strokers Car Club is said to have run the races through 1959 before handing the job to another club. The Competition Dragway name came later, and the strip may have been called Helena Raceway from 1961 to 1963. Hot Rod ran an illustrated article on it in January 1959.

Tech inspection was a bit lax. Racer Dale Wilson recalled that at his very first race, at 19, he was allowed to run a C/A Hillman Minx with a football helmet and badly short on brakes. On April 9, 1961, Ken Scott of Selma ran 183.69 mph in his twin-engine Chrysler fuel dragster, beating Don Garlits’ old strip record by almost 9 mph. Lewis Carden set a track record for gas dragsters at 169.63 mph. On Thursday, June 11, 1964, Dr. John H. Newman was killed when his go-kart burst into flames about 100 feet off the starting line and threw him more than 70 feet.

Billie and Earl Shoults and Annie and John Simmons filed incorporation papers for the Helena Dragstrip on November 23, 1966. The Swedish magazine Start & Strip included it in a 1968 list of 325 U.S. drag strips. The racing distance was 1,000 feet. James Tippins may have built the strip. It reportedly closed after only a few years, was sold and became a subdivision. Homes cover the site today, and the old shutdown area was near where Shamrock Drive meets Old Kendrick Road.