Forty fast years

BUTTE -- Tucked amid the trees just off the Old Glenn Highway is a haven for drag-racing fans -- and a sanctuary for those who favor triple digits on their speedometer.

Nestled between Pioneer Peak, Lazy Mountain and the Butte lies a 4,000-foot strip of asphalt in the wilderness that, since 1964, has been the home of Alaska drag racing.

This weekend Alaska Raceway Park is celebrating its 40th anniversary. For four decades, Alaska Raceway Park has been the only drag strip of its kind in the state, and during that time the park has evolved to become recognized in the sport on a national spectrum.

Like many trends in American culture, drag racing is a craze that traveled north. With the introduction of muscle cars in the 1950s and early 1960s, places like California were a hotbed for hot rods. Adventurous drivers behind the wheels of their GTOs or Hemmy-powered muscle cars raced down vacant highways and back roads.

Even as early as 1957, drivers in Alaska couldn't just drive 55 mph, and roads and highways in the Anchorage area became home to drag races. Drivers blocked off portions of the Seward and Parks highways for racing, and even raced down International Airport Road.

But in 1964, a local drag-racing enthusiast found a way to get the racers off the highways and onto a drag strip of their own.

Lee Nelson and his sons were involved in the sport and decided that the 49th state needed an official spot for drivers to race their drag cars. In 1963, he found a plot of land in a forest just outside Palmer.

After walking the lot, Nelson decided it would be the home of his drag-racing park, and the Bureau of Land Management leased the parcel of property to Nelson for 55 years. Nelson teamed with local contractors and, by the end of the summer of 1964, a quarter-mile strip of pavement sat in among the trees.

Originally called Polar Dragway, Alaska Raceway Park opened for business on Labor Day weekend of 1964.

The opening not only caught the attention of drivers eager to hit the quarter-mile strip, but also the attention of more than 500 fans and the state's governor. Former Gov. William A. Egan handled the scissors in the park's ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Starting in 1965, the park ran a full schedule of events. Each weekend the park would welcome a full slate of drivers and cars, and, according to Jim Moore, a driver who has raced at the park since nearly the beginning, the popularity of the park grew as fast as the cars that peeled down its tracks.

"It grew by leaps and bounds," Moore said.

Moore said it was not long until 4,000 to 5,000 spectators would show for an afternoon at the park. As each year went by, the field of drag racers at Alaska Raceway Park continued to grow. And by the end of 1967, the park had been profiled in Hot Rod, a national automotive magazine.

The park was receiving great attention locally, as a drag-racing sanctuary for drivers, and nationally as a new drag strip ahead of its time in the great white north.

Moore said before the sport was forever changed by the introduction of computer-driven engines into the technology of drag racing, the Alaska cars and Alaska drivers were comparable to those driving Outside.

"We had a lot of good racers back then," Moore said. "Back then we were right up there with the drivers down south."

Nelson owned and operated the track off and on until selling Alaska Raceway Park to its current owner, Earl Lackey, in 1998.

Lackey also began drag racing in the 1960s and later found himself involved in the sport when his children were able to participate. When Lackey purchased Alaska Raceway Park, it became not only an investment for himself, but a family activity.

"The entire family is intimately involved," Lackey said.

Lackey's son, Jim, who, as a high school student, got the family back into racing, still races and has a home next to the park. His son, John, maintains all of the electrical equipment and races motorcycles and snowmachines. Another son, Michael, still races at the track despite living in Seattle.

Lackey's daughter, Michelle, managed the park until earlier this summer, when she moved to Fairbanks. Prior to her departure, she handled all the publicity and promotion of the park.

And Lackey's wife, Karen, is a backbone of the park, he said.

"My wife is there as much as I am," Lackey said.

Karen handles all of the accounting and operates the ticket gate.

Lackey said the involvement of his entire immediate family with the park coincides with the fact that the sport is a family activity.

"It's more of a family sport than the other circle or road races," Lackey said. "For the circle or road races you have to have an automobile totally designed or modified for that sport. Here you can take a street car and run it in competition."

In the decade the Lackey family has been involved, the park has seen its greatest evolution. The drag strip became sanctioned by the IHRA, and in 2003, Alaska Raceway Park was named the sportsman track of the year.

Prior to Lackey's purchase, Alaska Raceway Park had been sanctioned by the NHRA, but Lackey opted to apply for IHRA sanction because the organization is a better fit for a small racetrack, he said.

Bob Lee, the Alaska Raceway Park track manager, said the facility has to meet certain specifications in order to be sanctioned by a national racing organization. Even after the park met those specifications, the facility underwent substantial construction and considerable improvements.

Lee said the track was repaved four years ago and the biggest addition to the facility could be its heated launch pad. According to Lee, the launch pad -- where drivers start the quarter-mile length -- has heating tubes built in below it. The tubes heat the surface to about 100 degrees, which causes the cars' tires to become sticky, giving the drivers more traction, even in a cooler climate.

Lackey said the length of the track was also extended to accommodate the faster alcohol- and nitro-fueled cars. The track had extended just over 1,320 feet, but the IHRA requires facilities to have a track extending more than 4,000 feet in order to host the alcohol- and nitro-fueled car events. The Alaska Raceway Park drag strip now extends 4,100 feet.

Also upgraded were all the park's electronic systems. Lackey said a new timing system, scoreboards and computers were recently installed. The park's buildings have been upgraded, and the Nitro Grill added -- a restaurant Lee said is "second to none."

The Alaska Raceway Park has enjoyed a steady stream of both drivers and fans throughout its 40 years, and those involved say interest continues to grow. Lackey said as many as 1,000 fans attend a normal day at the drag strip and the attendance on a two-day weekend with special events can hit 3,000.

The drag strip attracts drivers from all over the state, with racers coming from as far as Fairbanks and Soldotna on a regular basis. Lackey said nearly 500 drivers raced the drag strip last year.

This year the drag strip also attracted national drivers.

Scott Cannon, a six-time world champion, raced in a special event earlier in the summer. Lee said Alaska Raceway Park has received many accolades from the national racing audience, including Cannon. Lee said Cannon told him the Alaska Raceway track was better than many of the tracks he had raced in the Lower 48.

Officials at Alaska's only drag strip are also avidly trying to increase local interest in the sport.

In the tradition of getting drag racers off the road and onto the quarter-mile track, as they did in the 1960s, Alaska Raceway Park has launched the Saturn Street Racing Series.

In partnership with Saturn of Anchorage and the Anchorage Police Department, the park has created a series of events for drivers with street-legal cars.

"We're working to get those guys off Northern Lights [Boulevard]," Lackey said. Anchorage's Northern Lights Boulevard has become a popular spot for drivers with souped-up imports to show off their vehicle.

"If they want to place, [Alaska Raceway Park] is the place to do it," Lackey said.

The park also gives drivers of street-legal cars somewhere to have their automobiles tested and tuned.

"It's really starting to come on," Lee said. "We've formed a bond with street racers -- kids who up until now had no outlet to see what they legally can do. They were getting into a lot of trouble on the street and we have worked really hard with Saturn and the Anchorage Police Department to have a safe place for kids to take their import cars."

This summer, the park held the street series twice each month.

Alaska Raceway Park also has a program to introduce young drivers to drag racing.

Drivers in the junior dragsters program may start at age 8, racing a half-scale dragster, according to Lee. Participants may have a 5-hp Briggs and Stratton engine modified and run an eighth-mile track. Lee said the young drivers can reach speeds of up to 82 mph. Teen-agers may participate in the teen championship series. Drivers with a learner's permit and an adult riding in the car can race the full-size drag cars.

The park's usual slate of racing action includes the Summit Super Series, the point races. Drivers compete in a bracket for points throughout the season. There is also the top eliminator class in which the alcohol- and nitro-fueled cars can run anywhere from 180-250 mph, according to Lee.

Unique are the Alaska Raceway Park open-air races. This class includes snowmachines, motorcycles and ATVs. Lee said few drag strips feature snowmachine races.

Alaska Raceway Park is also adding a new feature, the rookie race school. The program is for drivers who have never raced a drag strip before, giving instruction as a way to expose rookies to the sport. Lee said the rookie race school was a great success and could be featured as many as three times next summer.

Contact Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.