River Cities Raceway Park (Ashland)

Closed

Raced: 1986-early 1990s
State: Kentucky
What's left: You can still spot it in aerial photos, or broken pieces of the track surface remain.
On the site today: Emu farm
Raced on: Built as a drag strip
Track: 1/8 mile
Surface: 200-foot concrete launch pad (1992)
Location: 2 miles up State Route 5 from U.S. 60, then west on Green Springer Road
People: Drew Hester, filed incorporation papers (1986)
Lester Blackburn, helped build and operate
Jack Metz, helped build and operate
Steve Hester, helped build and operate
Jack Riggs, helped build and operate
C. D. Stiltner, co-owner (by the late 1980s)
Sanction: IHRA, NHRA
Elevation: 663 ft (202 m)
Coordinates: 38.40582, -82.75321

Drew Hester filed incorporation papers for River Cities Raceway Park on April 4, 1986. The eighth-mile strip sat 2 miles up State Route 5 from U.S. 60, then west on Green Springer Road. Lester Blackburn, Jack Metz, Steve Hester and Jack Riggs helped build and run it, and C. D. Stiltner was a co-owner by the late 1980s. NHRA and IHRA each sanctioned it at different times. By 1992 it had a 200-foot concrete launch pad. Emus are raised on the site now.

1995 aerial view of River Cities Raceway Park

Willys in pit area in River Cities Raceway Park, 1986

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