Mason Dixon Dragway (Boonsboro)

Active

Also known as Hagerstown Dragway; Mason Dixon Drag-O-Way

A family-run quarter-mile strip on the old National Pike near Boonsboro that has operated since 1961. It runs SBRA and NHRA Summit bracket racing, street race days and junior dragster events, and is cash only.

Dave Strickler beat Don Nicholson in a best-of-five match race in 1963
Hosted the NAAR Eighth Mile Nationals in 1971

Raced: 1961-present
State: Maryland
Raced on: Built as a drag strip
First race: September 3-4, 1961
Sanction: NHRA Division 1
Track: 1/4 mile
Surface: Asphalt
Address: 21003 National Pike
Boonsboro, MD
People: Elwood Grimm, builder and owner (1960-)
Mason-Dixon Timing Association, planned co-operator (1960)
Elevation: 537 ft (164 m)
Coordinates: 39.56360, -77.63913
Contact: masondixondragway.com (301) 791-5193

Big races

SBRA Bracket Finals

October (October 12-16, 2027) · bracket finals

The Super Bracket Racing Association's season finals, scheduled at Mason Dixon for 2027.

Event page

Turkey Race

November, around Thanksgiving (39th annual) · bracket

A long-running late-season bracket race.

Event page

Harry Huntzberry Memorial Race

annual · memorial bracket race

A memorial race honoring a local racer.

Event page

Street Race Series

spring through November · street

A numbered series of street-car race days running through the season.

Event page

Outlaw Pontiac Drag Series

annual · make-specific

Heads-up and bracket racing for Pontiac cars.

Event page

History

In June 1960 Elwood Grimm announced plans for a $75,000 drag strip on his land on Chewsville Pike (probably Highway 64) in Chewsville, to be run with the Mason-Dixon Timing Association and open by fall. Something changed his plans. In April 1961 he bought the 160-acre Charles Cosens farm about five miles south, just below U.S. 40 in Boonsboro, southeast of Hagerstown. The plan called for an asphalt strip 3,500 feet long and 40 feet wide, running parallel to the highway and 800 feet from it, open by June 1 and named Hagerstown Dragway, which is what it was called in 1961.

The usual delays pushed the opening to Labor Day weekend, September 3-4, 1961, when the ‘Nasty 1’ A/FD set the strip mark at 9.08 and 171.75 mph. It raced every Sunday. For 1962 it reopened as Mason Dixon Drag-O-Way. Dave Strickler beat Don Nicholson in a best-of-five match race on August 4, 1963. The track hosted the NAAR Eighth Mile Nationals in 1971. It has been NHRA-sanctioned for many years and still runs as an NHRA quarter-mile track.