Phoenix Associated Drag Strip

The Marauders car club of Phoenix won the lease to run this new strip in late 1958. It was Luke Auxiliary Field No. 3, which the military had transferred to the city of Phoenix. Newspapers placed it twenty-two miles northwest of Phoenix, a quarter mile south of Grand Avenue on Litchfield Road. The first race was set for December 14, 1958, with trophies in 34 classes. First called the Marauders Associated Drag Strip, it was Phoenix Associated Drag Strip by early 1959, and it was repaved that January. Management was a mess. Strip manager Jim Sillett announced in May that he was quitting, reportedly over danger to spectators, but it came out that NHRA was voiding the strip’s insurance. Soon after, Sillett filed for bankruptcy and racing stopped.

In July 1959 promoter George Husky asked the Phoenix city council to let him sublease the strip, resume racing and add lights for night races. The council agreed to $150 a month plus a share of any profits. Racing resumed under the Arizona Timing Association, including a two-day event in October. Ted Cyr and Bill Hopper won the two-day Arizona State Championship on December 6, 1959, with 9.20 seconds at 171.75 mph. Go-kart drag races started on the first and third Saturday nights in August 1960. Mel Larson promoted the strip from about 1960 to 1962 and named Bill Costianes track manager late in 1960. Hot Rod’s NHRA track listings placed it in El Mirage. It raced on the second and fourth Saturday nights until spring 1961, then switched to the second and fourth Sundays. In mid-1961 Larson offered a $50 bond to anyone who beat the track record of 176.12 mph. Walt Arfons’ “Green Monster” ran 8.58 seconds on July 23, 1961, and by 1962 Steinegger and Eshenbaugh held the track record at 178.78 mph. The strip was west of Surprise, and the town’s recreation complex now covers the western side of the old airfield. Three runways are overgrown with their paving torn up, but the airfield’s layout still shows in aerial photos.