Springfield International Raceway/Show-Me Dragway/Ozark Raceway Park (Rogersville)

History

When the Springfield-Ozark Dragway closed, local racers formed the Greene County Drag Racing Association in fall 1976 to find a new place to race. The Springfield city council turned down their request to close a city street for periodic races, so they found a site southeast of Rogersville on State Highway U and built a strip, owned by Tom Riddell and Doug Rees. The first race was June 19, 1977, and the AHRA-sanctioned two-day grand opening, the Ozark Open, followed June 25-26 with an eight-car funny car field. Jack Shore beat Rick Rader in a Pro Stock match race on July 17 with a best of 9.22, and the first night race ran July 23. Rain hurt the first season, washing out the two-day Coca-Cola Funny Car Festival on September 10-11, though not before Billy Graham of Manhattan, Kansas, set the ET record at 6.66 and Bill Cheppelle of Florida set the speed mark at 213 mph.

AHRA brought a national event, the Ozark Nationals, on June 30-July 2, 1978. Don Garlits qualified first at 6.268 and 217 mph, Tom McEwen led Funny Car at 6.57 and Don Nicholson led Pro Stock at 8.95, but upsets gave the wins to Clayton Harris, Billy Graham and Lee Shepherd. In 1979 Riddell bought out Rees and hired Sherri Mace as promotions director. The Ozark Nationals ran again that year, won by Garlits, McEwen and Shepherd.

The track closed in late 1979. Al Wilkerson reopened it in 1985 as Show-Me Dragway under IHRA, a name it kept through at least 1986. Vandals hit it repeatedly in 1985, and an arson fire gutted the new timing tower and a concession stand. After several owners and names, including Springfield Dragway in 1988, Ted and Jenny Jones bought it in 1990 and named it Ozark International Raceway. They sold it in 1993 to Lee and Mary Baltzell and Ken Donovan. Mitch, Marty and Neal Chance bought it in 2009 and renamed it Ozark Raceway Park, which still runs under IHRA.