Valley Drag Strip (Shawmut)

Closed

Also known as Valley Airport; Shawmut Drag Strip

The runway's side slope led some racers to build one side of their cars higher

Raced: 1960-61
State: Alabama
What's left: A good length of the old track surface is still there, in poor to good condition.
Raced on: An airport runway
Surface: Paved runway
Location: Valley Airport, eastern edge of Shawmut on a bend of the Chattahoochee River
People: Fred Robinson, airport owner who hosted the races
Valley Educational Timing Association, race sponsor
Elevation: 564 ft (172 m)
Coordinates: 32.85277, -85.16093

Drag races were held at Valley Airport, a private field in Lanett built on the eastern edge of Shawmut around 1945-48. Some remember it as Shawmut Drag Strip. The 3,200-foot paved runway ran northwest to southeast on a bend of the Chattahoochee River. Owner Fred Robinson, a colorful figure, hosted drag races there on weekends for many years. According to Glen Boyd, the runway sloped so much side to side that some regulars built one side of their cars higher so the body would sit level. The Valley Educational Timing Association sponsored the early races. At a race on June 11, 1961, Norman Habshey, 20, of Birmingham, lost control, ran off the end of the runway and plunged into the river, where he was pinned underwater for ten minutes and drowned. The airport closed to air traffic sometime between 1986 and 1998. The exact years of drag racing haven’t been found.

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