(Words and photos by Doug Gregory) – We’re back at Thornhill Dragway, possibly THE oldest continuously-operated track in the country, for a night of nostalgia cars and regular brackets. This has to be one of our favorite places to visit. Gary Koeninger operates the track and together with his crew they get the job done in only six hours of operation per week. Yes, that’s all they are allowed to operate thanks to an injunction granted by a neighboring county back in the 1970s even though the track has been there since the mid-50s. It’s tough, but somehow they manage. This first gallery is stuff in staging, pits, and the return road. We tried to bring you some fresh looks and hope you like it. A few cars of note:

The white Dart is wheeled by a gentleman that we’re told has won more races than most of the other competitors combined. As we were snapping photos we were keeping tabs on his performance and indeed the combo of this driver and car are a tight package. The car doesn’t make much noise, but it leaves the link hiking the left-front wheel the same height every pass. He took the nostalgia class win with what appeared to be relative ease. Another to mention is the blue Nova with the multi-color stripes. This thing looked like it rolled right out of days past (except the wheels) and left the line hanging the hoops high. The retro paint scheme and flat hood are much-appreciated. Lastly we’ll mention the LS-powered blue Fox-body Mustang. Despite having a nasty exhaust note and doing killer burnouts, there was no drama to this car. It went quickly forward without seemingly an suspension movement. It just wrinkled the slicks and shot forward. Sequenced photos of the launch confirmed this thing just shoots for the finish line with no wasted motion which baffles us, but we like it.

Enjoy.