Scribner Air Base/Scribner Raceway/Nebraska Motorplex

Scribner Air Base was built in 1942 as an Army Air Force training field, and the state of Nebraska took over the surplus field in 1946. On May 9, 1954, the Missouri Valley Timing Association (MVTA) held its first drag race there on a 6,900-foot runway. A second race followed on May 31, then monthly races through the season, drawing cars from Iowa and Nebraska. Lee Snyder ran 14.02 seconds in his alcohol-burning roadster. New timing equipment went in for the June 20 race, and the base hosted an NHRA regional championship on July 11, 1954. On October 17 the MVTA held what it billed as a seven-state championship, and Snyder posted the season’s top speed of 128 MPH in his dragster.

In March 1980 Ralph Howard and some friends bought an old runway at Scribner, hoping to bring drag racing back. A group from Omaha revived the MVTA to help run the races, and by the end of April 1980 Scribner Raceway was racing three times a month. Sometime between 1987 and 1989 it was renamed Nebraska Motorplex, and it was IHRA sanctioned during those years.