Ohio Valley Raceway/Dragway (West Point)

History

Brothers Wayne and Jim Williams built this eighth-mile strip and opened it as Ohio Valley Raceway in the spring of 1965. One account gives the date as May 15, 1965, while Wayne remembered opening in mid-April. Jim was 20 and Wayne 26. Local fans had to drive to Hardinsburg, Sturgis or Seymour to see drag racing, and the brothers figured the Louisville area had plenty of hot rodders with nowhere legal to race. They had no money, so they talked their father, who ran a hardware store in Orell and had no use for fast cars, into a loan with a strict payback schedule. Jim died in 2003.

The site was a grass airport off Dixie Highway on Katherine Station Road, owned by a man named Huff who shopped at their dad’s store. Work started around Christmas 1964 on borrowed money. They painted the old hangar and house, paved the main strip and return road, built a two-story 16-by-16-foot wooden tower with plywood flaps for windows, and used farm fencing to hold back spectators. The homemade Christmas tree and timer caused headaches for years.

Opening night was chaos. Traffic stopped Katherine Station Road by 6:30 and backed up Dixie Highway more than two miles to Al’s Bait Shop. By the time two wheelstanding A/gassers ran a match race, the crowd had snapped every fence post and stood at the edge of the pavement. The brothers’ wives ran the concession stand while friends sold tickets and directed traffic. The next Monday a 7-foot chain-link fence went up from start to finish, along with more pit gates and staging room, and they hired two tough security men, Emmet Crane and J.T.S. Brown. A new timing system, more paving, a stronger PA and a professional announcer followed. With help from Bob and Eileen Daniels, Ohio Valley became the first NHRA-sanctioned eighth-mile track anywhere.

Wayne remembered the chili dogs, floods that brought snakes, visits from Big Daddy Don and Grump, a deer crossing during eliminations, Jim Cusic’s left turn at the finish at 100 mph, and a 15-minute search in the weeds for Bill English after his brakes failed. Frakes & Funk’s twin-engine Chrysler front-engine car ran there, and John Carter’s Willys covered the first third of the track on its rear wheels. Wayne said the track gave Carter the ‘Honest’ in his name. Valley racers impressed everyone at the first eighth-mile championship at National Trails, and many national record holders came from the track. Of the low points, Wayne said Ed Payne’s name always came to mind.

In 1970 the brothers sold to racer Jessie Ballew on a five-year contract, which he paid off on time. Wayne stayed on to help, and Ballew’s parents, his wife Jenny and brother Eugene worked there too. Juanita Baker ran the concession stand, and the crew included Travis Miller, Huey Darnell and Charlie Meyer. Ballew built a new tower, tore down the old house, and added a garage, restrooms, bleachers bought in Terre Haute, Indiana, and a longer shutdown area. He booked match racers including Don Garlits, Bill Jenkins, John Lingenfelter, Blue Max, Dick Lahaie, Bob Glidden, Don Prudomme, Raymond Godman, Tennessee Bo Weevil, Shirley Muldowney and the Frakes and Funk AA/FD. The track ran under NHRA and later IHRA. Ballew started the Door Slammer Nationals in 1975, which grew into the largest sportsman event of its time and held its 36th running in October 2010. When floods covered the track, the crew stayed around the clock with hoses and pumps, washing it off as the water dropped. Ballew raced too, and he and Frank Spencer held the SS/I record for a long time with a ‘68 Corvette. In 1985 he sold the track to Mike Kayrouz and Fred Everitt.