Based solely on the country’s name, Iceland is unlikely to be a country you’d expect to find sand drags. However, the country has an off-road racing club that dates back to the mid-1970s and they put on a few rounds of sand drags every year on the volcanic ash near Akureyri. That’s a solid 4-½ hour drive from the biggest city in the country, Reykjavik, and the turnout is absolutely interesting: Everything from sport bikes to purpose-built sand dragsters.
Like most Scandinavian countries, Iceland has its own hot rodding culture with enthusiasm for classic American machines and more. While there are no Shoebox Chevys in this racing—though there are some of those in-country—one class final pits a third-generation Camaro against a Chevy Monza. And in the truck class, an early ‘90s Dodge pickup wins a couple of rounds carrying a wooden bed rack. This is some properly grassroots stuff from a largely isolated country and it’s super cool.
