Rockford Dragway/Byron Dragway

Active

NHRA quarter-mile track on River Road near Byron in northern Illinois, open since 1964. Known for big bracket races, the Meltdown vintage drags, wheelstand contests and hosting Sick Summer and HOT ROD Drag Week stops.

Built for four lanes side by side and billed as the widest, longest and flattest custom-built strip in the nation
Chuck Hepler won top fuel at the opener at 195.65 mph

Raced: 1964-present
State: Illinois
Raced on: Built as a drag strip
First race: July 12, 1964
Sanction: NHRA Division 3
Track: 1/4 mile
Surface: Asphalt and concrete
Address: 7287 N River Rd
Byron, IL 61010
People: Bob Metzler, builder and owner (1964)
Dick Paul, builder and owner (1964)
Don Love, builder and owner (1964)
Elevation: 711 ft (217 m)
Coordinates: 42.11166, -89.27760
Contact: byrondragway.com (815) 391-0000

Big races

U.S. Bracket Nationals

Early September (51st annual, Sept 5-7, 2026) · big-money bracket

Long-running Labor Day weekend bracket race and one of the track's signature events, now past its 50th edition.

Event page

Firecracker Bracket Nationals

Late June (27th annual, June 25-29, 2026) · big-money bracket

Multi-day bracket race around the Fourth of July period that draws racers from across the Midwest.

Event page

Sick Summer (host track)

Mid-June (June 14-19, 2026) · drag-and-drive

Motion Raceworks' Sick Summer drag-and-drive tour starts and finishes its week at Byron.

Event page

Meltdown Vintage Drag Race / Glory Days

July (July 17-18, 2026) · nostalgia

Vintage and nostalgia drag racing weekend featuring period-correct cars.

Event page

World Power Wheel Standing Championship

Early October (Oct 4, 2026) · exhibition

Season-ending contest where drivers try to carry the front wheels as far down the track as possible.

Event page

Hot Rod Drag Week

Raced here 2026 · drag-and-drive

A drag-and-drive: racers drive their street cars from track to track over several days and race at each stop.

Event page

Sick Summer

Raced here 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026; next listed June 13–18, 2027 · drag-and-drive

A drag-and-drive: racers drive their street cars from track to track over several days and race at each stop.

Event page

One Guy's Garage Drag Weekend

Raced here 2023, 2024, 2025 · drag-and-drive

A drag-and-drive: racers drive their street cars from track to track over several days and race at each stop.

Event page

History

Bob Metzler and Dick Paul, owners of Great Lakes Dragaway, built this strip in 1964 with Don Love of Rockford for $250,000 after three years of planning. The asphalt and concrete track was 100 feet wide and a mile long, built from the start for four lanes side by side, and was billed as the widest, longest and flattest custom-built drag strip in the nation. It’s on Rock River Terrace Road a mile south of Byron, 15 miles southwest of Rockford. Construction delays pushed back the opening, and the first race ran on Sunday, July 12, 1964. Chuck Hepler won top fuel eliminator in his “Fugitive” dragster at 195.65 mph, and Dave Powers of Dubuque, Iowa, won top gas at 161.43 mph. It still runs as an NHRA-sanctioned track.

Background

Byron is unusually wide because it first raced cars four abreast, a practice later dropped. It has timing for both quarter-mile and eighth-mile classes, joined NHRA by April 2011, and is best known now for the World Power Wheel Standing Championships.