Finally, the good guys win one! After a year filled with high profile drag strip closures, Quaker City Raceway in Salem, Ohio, went to auction and was purchased by a man who vowed to keep it open as a functioning strip. Speculation ran rampant in the days leading up to the auction as to what the fate of the historic drag racing plant would be.
Norm Fox, the owner and operator of Fox Auto Parts in Malven, Ohio, paid $460,000 for the property, which is a screaming bargain in our eyes. There are still large sections of the country where that money would buy a modest home!
Quaker City has been in operation since 1957 and has survived more than a couple of threats in recent years. Racers who know have competed at the track gave the facility mixed reviews. The amenities, including the bathrooms and tower, are nice, but apparently the racing surface itself is quite old and suffers from the effects of that age. Cracking and uneven pavement were two things we heard about from racers who competed at the facility during the IHRA bracket finals a few years back.
Fox said that he will have the track sanctioned by either the IHRA or NHRA to start the 2011 season.
We’re just ecstatic that the track will exist as a racing facility and not be reduced to an industrial park or worse yet, a dormant tract of 160 acres. After following the closures of so many strips, it is certainly nice to see one saved!
We wish Fox and his family all the luck in bringing the track back to its rightful place in the Ohio drag racing scene!
Source — SalemNews.net — Quaker City Raceway Sold for $460K at Auction
