Nick's US 41 Speedway (Ishpeming)

Nick Valenti built a drag strip on the runway of the old Dexter Landing Field on U.S. 41, seven miles west of Ishpeming in Ely Township, with help from a few racing fans including Jim Sodergren. He also wanted quarter-mile and half-mile ovals next to it, but that plan fell through by fall 1972. The Evergreen Drive-In was on the next lot. Valenti repaved the runway into a half-mile strip, 60 feet wide, very basic and unsanctioned, and the first starting lights were built from an Erector set. It opened Saturday, July 29, 1972, paying trophies and cash. The pits and return road were paved later, but fast cars had to brake hard to avoid an iron gate at the end. Pat DePetro held the 10.23 track record in 1977. The track closed when landowner Cleveland Cliffs Iron took the land back to mine it, and the site is a gravel pit now.