Lubbock Teenage Park

To curb illegal street racing and give teenagers a place to blow off steam, the city of Lubbock spent $14,000 building a drag strip on 80 acres of city land. It was the first piece of a planned park that was later to have a soap box derby ramp, skating pavilion, square dance area, picnic grounds and bicycle track. The quarter-mile strip was in the north part of the park in Yellowhouse Canyon, just south of Hillcrest Country Club and west of North College Avenue (now North University Avenue). Almost 5,000 spectators came on opening day, June 17, 1956, to watch racing run by the South Plains Timing Association. Rain and the new asphalt kept speeds down. Of the 75 racers, Ray Fisher’s lakester was fastest at 112.5 MPH. Races followed on July 4, July 15 and July 29, and after that the strip held one drag race and one motorcycle race each month. At $1 a head the races averaged almost 5,000 people, and the strip paid for itself in six or seven races. Starting September 20, 1956, there was open grudge racing every Thursday afternoon for 25 cents, and drivers under 21 needed a signed letter of consent from a parent.

The 1957 season opened March 17 with the Road Dusters car club as sponsor, and Lee Christian was clocked at 121 MPH on May 19. On July 4, 1958, a Reese Air Force Base airman was hurt when his car rolled five times. After its strong start the operation slipped for lack of organization, promotion and money. In January 1959 the city commission canceled the lease with the Teen Age Park and approved plowing up the paved strip, citing many complaints from neighbors and safety concerns. The strip had been NHRA sanctioned, since the 1959 NHRA Drag Strip Guide listed it as inactive in Division 4.