Montgomery International Dragway/Capital City Dragway

Drag racing here goes back to at least 1956, and one researcher dates the opening to the mid-1950s. The first race may have been on September 16, 1956. The strip sat on the western edge of Montgomery, just north of Old Selma Road and right next to Montgomery Motor Speedway, and shared at least its name with the speedway. By 1963 it was called Montgomery International Dragway or Montgomery International Speedway Drag Strip, owned by Bob Harmon and Dr. James Lee. That year they added steel guardrails, chain-link fencing along the strip and pits, and remodeled the concession stand and restrooms. It had lights for night racing by then, and races were timed over a fifth of a mile. Jerry Coley and Maurice Powell leased and ran it in 1964.

In the 1980s, at least, Charles “Buck” Todd promoted and managed the track from his wheelchair. He built a new timing tower in 1983, and Don Garlits set the strip record of 4.27 seconds on the eighth-mile on November 6 that year. John B. Hart filed incorporation papers for the strip on July 26, 1994, and ran it with Jim Haines. Hart renamed it Capital City Dragway, a name another Montgomery strip had used in the 1970s, and got it IHRA sanction. In 1994 Capital City joined the Atmore, Powerhouse and Chatom strips to start the Southern Outlaw Bracket Finals. Ray Givens also promoted the track at some point. It closed because of shifting lease arrangements with the landowner and falling racer support. The strip and oval went up for auction in 2004.