Lawrence Drag Strip

Bill Prince, the auto mechanics teacher at Lawrence High School, and his wife Betty let the boys of the Crusaders Car Club hang out at their home, and the idea came up to build a drag strip north of the house. The boys started clearing the land, and Bill finished the job with a bulldozer. He managed the strip in its early years. The club built it for $10,500, hoping to earn the money back from racer and spectator fees. It was 2.5 miles west of Lawrence on Highway 40 and 3/4 mile south of the highway, an asphalt strip 55 feet wide and half a mile long. It started with quarter-mile racing but soon cut to 1,000 feet and then an eighth mile for safety.

On June 8, 1958, 200 people watched 100 cars in a trial run before the formal opening, with the timing clocks working. Despite threatening weather, 1,000 people came to Trophy Day on June 22 to watch 64 entries race for 36 trophies. On August 24, 750 people watched 88 cars, and Lawrence men Art Sommers, Rolland Hueston and Don Baxter won top eliminator with their roadster at 108.70 mph. In 1959 racing moved to Saturday nights on a lighted strip that had been lengthened and resurfaced. The first annual AHRA 1/8th Mile Drag Championships ran on August 27-28, 1960, with new bleachers and oiled dirt to cut the dust. About 2,000 people watched 150 cars. The Creitz Automotive A/FD from Tulsa won top eliminator at 6.89 and 120.49 mph, Jim Meyers of Wichita had top fuel speed at 128.47 in his A/FD, and Bob Nickelson of Wichita won middle eliminator in an aircraft-engined dragster.

The strip was completely rebuilt for 1968. Don Garlits raced there but lifted early because of the rough, short shutdown, and Art Arfons set the fence behind the starting line on fire when he lit the afterburner on his “Green Monster.” The strip closed in fall 1986 after Alvamar bought the land. The city council renamed Dragstrip Road as Wakarusa Drive in the early 1980s.