Julesburg Drag Strip
ActiveActive Still racing today.
Also known as Platte Valley Dragways
Quarter-mile strip on the Julesburg Municipal Airport in the northeast corner of Colorado, running since 1958 and billed as the oldest track in NHRA. It runs bracket and junior points plus nostalgia weekends and a Labor Day $10K race.
- Hosted an NHRA regional race on June 25, 1961
- Raced
- 1958-present
- State
- Colorado
- Raced on
- An airport runway
- First race
- April 12, 1959 (earliest found)
- Sanction
- NHRA Division 5
- Track
- 1/4 mile
- Surface
- Airport runway
- Address
- 17454 US Hwy 138 (Julesburg Municipal Airport)
Julesburg, CO 80737 - People
- Platte Valley Custom Club, operator (1959)
- Elevation
- 3,513 ft (1,071 m)
- Coordinates
- 40.97070, -102.31639
Big races
Hot Rod Revival
Three-day nostalgia meet for 1976-and-older cars with gassers, flathead, inline, A/FX and nostalgia eliminator classes.
Labor Day $10K Bracket Challenge
Holiday weekend bracket race paying $10,000 to win, followed by a Dash for the Cash on Sunday.
Fourth of July Racer Appreciation and NHRA TV Challenge
Independence Day weekend with a $5K-purse racer appreciation race, fireworks and an NHRA Wally race.
High Plains Nostalgia Drag Racing Series
Regional nostalgia series that makes several stops at Julesburg.
E.T. points and junior dragster series
Box, no-box and foot brake points races with $60 entry to win $500, plus a full junior dragster program.
History
The Platte Valley Custom Club ran drag races on the runway of Julesburg Municipal Airport in 1959 on April 12, May 24, July 4-5 and August 22-23. In 1961 NHRA-sanctioned races ran on May 28 and June 25, the second an NHRA regional race covered in Hot Rod Magazine (January 1962, page 87). From 1963 to 1977 it was called Platte Valley Dragways.
Video
More in Colorado
- Closed No longer racing, but some of the track is still there. Bandimere Speedway (Morrison) 1958-2024
- Closed No longer racing, but some of the track is still there. Boulder Timing Association Drag Strip ca. 1957-1960s
- Nothing left No longer racing, and nothing of the track remains. Centennial Drag Strip (Littleton) 1953-54
- Closed No longer racing, but some of the track is still there. Century 21 Raceway (Aurora) 1971-73
- Status unknown Closed, but nobody has checked how much of the site survives, or the exact spot was never found. Colorado City Dragway 1974
- Nothing left No longer racing, and nothing of the track remains. Colorado Springs Drag Strip 1960-62
- Closed No longer racing, but some of the track is still there. Colorado Springs International Speedway 1976-81, 1983
- Closed No longer racing, but some of the track is still there. Continental Divide Raceway (Castle Rock) 1959-72
- Nothing left No longer racing, and nothing of the track remains. Firebugs Drag Strip (Grand Junction) 1955
- Nothing left No longer racing, and nothing of the track remains. Lowry Air Force Base 1954-55
- Active Still racing today. Midway Drag Strip/Western Colorado Dragway (Grand Junction) 1959-present
- Nothing left No longer racing, and nothing of the track remains. Mountain View Dragway/Mile High Raceway Park (Erie) ca. 1966-71