Vargo Dragway (Perkasie)

After Convair Field closed to drag racing in 1956, Allentown-area hot rodders had nowhere local to race. According to a history of the track, Lou Gehringer heard about Jake Vargo, a contractor and racing fan who owned a large farm on Elephant Road about two miles northeast of Perkasie, and pitched him on a drag strip. Vargo liked the idea. In March 1958 the Lehigh Valley Timing Association and the Sidewinders hot rod club of Allentown bought or leased the Vargo farm in Bedminster Township and contracted to build the strip. Neighbors strongly opposed it and sought a court injunction, but construction went ahead while the court fight dragged on. The first race, on April 24, 1960, ran over an eighth-mile because the quarter-mile wasn’t finished. Within a few months it was, and by at least August 28, 1960, NHRA-sanctioned quarter-mile racing ran every Sunday. In March 1963 Bedminster Township sued, claiming the strip broke a township ordinance and the Sunday blue laws. The strip drew many big-name racers through the decade but finally gave in to ongoing political pressure to close. Jake Vargo’s death in June 1968 may also have played a part. Former racers have held several reunions at the site, which has been a private airstrip since about 1981.