Twin City Speedway Drag Strip/North Star Drag Strip (New Brighton)

Don Voge built Twin City Speedway, a half-mile dirt oval in New Brighton, in 1950. Mounds View police chief Carl Langer urged him to add a drag strip to cut down on street racing, and in fall 1954 Voge started grading and paving one just south of the oval, spending more than $20,000. The strip was 3,000 feet long and 60 feet wide. The opening race on July 3, 1955 was plagued by timing trouble. The strip was resurfaced for 1957 and again for 1958, since Minnesota weather meant constant paving to keep it level. A racer named Gary started there in 1958, when races were started with an arm drop, and said Don Garlits and Tommy Ivo came once or twice a year. On Friday night, June 3, 1960, Jerry Toso of Minneapolis beat 143 entries for top eliminator with a 13.69.

The strip mostly served local racers until 1962, when an Independent Drag Racing Association regional drew more than 300 racers from ten states. Bill Schifsky ran 176.66 mph, and Bruce Norman won top eliminator in his ‘Big Wheel’ dragster. After that the track booked a few out-of-state names, and Gordon Collett set a strip record of 8.60 at 168 mph on June 16, 1963. Voge ran it until he had trouble with the IRS before the mid-1960s. Newspapers blamed his health, but money problems forced the sale.

Minneapolis businessmen Frederick Watson and Lyman Molander bought the property in March 1964, added lights, and ran Tuesday and Thursday nights along with Sunday afternoons. Frank R. Winkley leased the oval and drag strip in 1967. By 1973 it was Northstar Dragstrip, also called North Star International Raceway that year, mostly running brackets, and the tall white fences came down around the time of the name change. On July 3, 1974, 4,500 people saw Garlits beat Ivo three straight, with a best of 6.11 at 227.38 mph. In 1977 the track switched to strictly stock racing on Saturdays and Sundays. It closed in 1979 for redevelopment.