R.A.D. Drag Strip (Marceline)

Drag races were held Sunday, June 28, 1964 at the Marceline airport on the north edge of town, built between 1945 and 1953. The Linn County Rural Area Development group sponsored them and the Marceline Jaycees ran them, which is where the R.A.D. name came from. Trophies went to five stock classes, three gas classes and top eliminator. Seven hundred spectators watched 38 entries, and Chuck Aronson won top eliminator in his ‘62 Super Stock Ford. More than 800 came on July 12, when Ron Thompson of Chillicothe won in his ‘64 Plymouth ultra stocker. At the 1965 opener on Sunday, May 2, 1,500 spectators and 53 entries saw Jerry Wolcott set low time of 12.40 in his ‘64 Corvette on the track’s new Chrondek timers. Racing was AHRA-sanctioned, and no racing after 1965 has been found.