M-N Raceway/Kansas International Dragway (Maize)

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Also known as Mid-National Drag Strip; Wichita Raceway Park; Wichita International Raceway

Kansas International Dragway, just outside Wichita in Maize, was founded in 1963 as M-N Raceway by Marceles and Helen Simon and is again run by the Simon family. It is an NHRA quarter-mile currently timed to the eighth-mile.

Opening race drew 20,000 spectators
Hosted the final race of the 1964 NHRA Midwest Central Division championships

Raced: 1963-present
State: Kansas
First race: April 21, 1963
Sanction: NHRA Division 5
Track: 1/4 mile (currently timed to 1/8 mile)
Address: 7800 W 61st St N
Maize, KS 67101
People: Harley Miles, founder (1963)
Art Nelson, founder (1963)
Bob Morrison, owner and manager (until 1970)
Elevation: 1,347 ft (411 m)
Coordinates: 37.80221, -97.43823
Contact: ksinternationaldragway.com (316) 768-7775

Big races

Import Face-Off

Annual · Import drag racing

A regional import car event listed by the track as one of its main draws.

Event page

Truett & Osborn Bike Drags

Annual · Motorcycle drag race

A long-running motorcycle drag event tied to the Wichita engine builder.

Event page

Michelada Madness

Annual · Special event

A themed special event on the track's calendar.

Event page

Halloween Havoc and Turkey Drags

Late October and early November · Season-ending bracket races

Fall bracket races; Turkey Drags winners take home a turkey, trophy and check. Spectators $20 per carload.

Event page

Bracket series and Friday Night Grudge

Spring to fall · Weekly bracket and grudge racing

NHRA bracket racing plus Friday grudge nights and test and tune.

Event page

History

Harley Miles and Art Nelson opened this strip on Ridge Road, 8.5 miles north of the Wichita Municipal Airport. Briefly called Mid-National Drag Strip, with directions placing it near Valley Center, it opened under that name on April 21, 1963, before 20,000 spectators. A race on Sunday, July 21, 1963, featured a match between Fritz Crissman and Don Biggers plus handicap classes, with $1.50 admission, and Art Arfons’s “Green Monster” jet dragster appeared on August 18. The track hosted the final race of the NHRA Midwest Central Division championships on October 4, 1964. As Wichita Raceway Park, it hosted an AHRA Grand American points race on June 1, 1968. Bob Morrison, an owner-manager while it was called Wichita Raceway Park and then Wichita International Raceway, sold it in 1970. The Wichita International Raceway name probably lasted from about 1970 to about 2008. Today it’s Kansas International Dragway, still an NHRA quarter-mile track.