Marion County International Raceway (LaRue)

In 1969 brothers Bill and Tom Guthery put on a motocross race that went well enough to give them the idea for a drag strip. They built it near LaRue, 40 miles east of Lima, 3,500 feet long and 60 feet wide, for a reported $500,000, with bleachers for 4,000 the first year. It was AHRA sanctioned from the start, though the March 1970 Hot Rod listed it among NHRA tracks. The first race was on November 22, 1970, where Ray Dillinger of Columbus won top eliminator at 158 mph in his blown Chrysler-powered ‘23 T. E. J. Potter, the Michigan Madman, was booked for a fuel bike exhibition on Sunday, May 16, 1971. Saturdays were for grudge racing. A 32-car invitational funny car show on May 30, 1971, paid a $20,000 purse.

The track hosted a three-day AHRA Grand National on July 9-11, 1971, drawing Don Garlits, John Wiebe, Gene Snow and Dick Harrell. Rain spoiled eliminations, and the race was rescheduled for August 27-29. Garlits had been top qualifier with a track-record 6.73. The AHRA Marathon Nationals followed on July 7-9, 1972, with Garlits entered again. Shelby Guthery became a partner with her husband Bill in 1976. Four years later the track joined the IHRA and is still sanctioned by it. Bill died in 2005, and Shelby retired two years later, handing the track to her son, Mark Primavera. The family put it up for sale in 2013.