New York’s Niagra International Drag Strip was a hotbed of drag racing activity from its opening in 1961 through its closure in the middle 1970s. Racers from all around the New England region, eastern Canada, and all points in between would flock to the place and it’s history has been largely celebrated on the internet by guys who used to race there and enthusiasts of drag racing history. This film from the 1967 NASCAR Summer Nationals is proof of how rockin’ the place could be and it can be argued that this was the biggest weekend in the track’s history and certainly the largest “big name” event that the place ever held.
We have talked about it before but NASCAR was in the drag racing game seriously for about a decade and they sanctioned tracks all over America. While Niagra was an NHRA track when it opened in the early 1960s, they were approached by and ultimately swapped to NASCAR sanction a few seasons later. The eastern half of the country was always kind of leery of the NHRA in a lot of ways and that is why organizations like the AHRA (started in PA), the ITA (started in the Carolinas), the ATAA (started in Chicago) and NASCAR (started in Florida) had a foothold in sanctioning tracks east of the Mississippi. Over time, that all changed but in the early/middle 1960s it was a dogfight for the sanction business of drag strips.
This 1967 Summer Nationals would feature all the stuff fans wanted to see. From Tom McCourry in the Wagon Master, to nitro burning top fuel dragsters and funny cars, to the hot stocks and super stocks that were filling the minds and magazine pages of young men across the country.
The real gems here come in the form of seeing EJ Potter launch his motorcycle, the Wagon Master run, and the crash of the Hurst Hairy Olds with Joe Schubeck at the tiller. Three amazing drag machines that don’t really get the video recognition that they deserve because it wasn’t as common as today for everyone in the stands to be filming every second of the day!
Enjoy this look back into NASCAR drag racing history.
Hi Brian,
I spend approximately 20 years on the safety safari at Lancaster drag way just outside of Buffalo New York.Some of the best racers in the world are from the western New York and the southern Ontario region. Mikey Janus is our leader.
I was at Niagara that weekend, actually most weekends. What a kool place. I could tell you Lancaster safari stories that would open your eyes! I know that your life is drag racing. I’m a big fan. Hope to meet you someday.