Two years ago, it was looking bleak for Spokane drag racers and fans as Spokane County Raceway was on the real estate market looking for a buyer. Locals were predicting the end of the storied track, dating back to 1974 with legendary, late Orville Moe who’d operated the drag strip, oval track, and road course until 2006.
Through a series of operators, the likes of Bucky Austin, Charlie Allen and Ron Hodgson and Spokane local Craig Smith, the County decided to sell the Airway Heights facility and the winning bidder was the Kalispel Tribe of Indians who operate the adjacent casino and entertainment complex. Now the 300-acre Spokane County Raceway is Qlispé Raceway Park and is reopened for the business of racing, with NHRA Sanction. All of us are ready for one of those packed-in nitro funny car and top fuel events of the past, the fans in Spokane are awesome!
Last weekend QRP held a Test & Tune with Blown Alcohol Thunder & the Northwest BB/Funny Car association for racers and fans. BANGShift photog Kim Fuller spent the weekend there in Spokane and sent these cool photos of the first of many events we hope to see on that fifty-year-old Northwest track. In this age of drag strips being bulldozed for condos, welcome back Qlispé Raceway Park.
Check out the gallery below, as always you can click on any photo to make it bigger and to scroll through the slide show.
