Columbus and National Trails Raceway

When I was in Columbus to Exhibition at National Trails Raceway I sometimes put my Drag Bike on display at the local Harley Dealer. This is Columbus Harley Davidson and the bike is sit up inside, they wanted my truck sitting right where it is.

At the time it was owned by two very Young Owners, I was surprised that there was no one working there that was over 25. There special room (as they called it) had a bar, juke box, carpet, pillows on the floor and very dim lighting. On the wall was that large Black Light Poster of my Eight Second run that Harley did.

Always had a great time there.

Across the Pond

If I understand, this is a 200 MPH Club, has every one that logs on gone 200 MPH or is that just a name. I've only come close to that in the 70's so I guess I'm a member from a past dream.

I've looked at some of the postings and see, I think, that posted pictures always go to the bottom. It will take time for me to understand how your forum works. Is there a way to edit after posting? Does the picture download only show up after posting? If I post pictures most will be something I have already post on another forum. I know a lot if not most of you also read that forum, so let me know if it gets boring.

Here is a picture I found recently, taken when I was doing Exhibitions for the NHRA. It was the strip near my Home Base in the East during my touring years, National Trails Raceway in Columbus, Ohio in 1975 I believe.

National Trails Raceway Exhibition

When I was doing my Exhibition's for the NHRA, this was one of my favorite Drag Strips. My Home Base in the East was in Gahanna, outskirts of Columbus at my Father-in-laws home. Always had a great time a National Trails Raceway. Track was a little short back then but always got stop just before I rolled off into the grass. The first great final round with Big Daddy and Cha-Cha was lined up on the fire up road right behind me to run after my Exhibition run. Man those were the days. Cha-Cha was so nervous she had tears in her eyes sitting in there tow truck waiting to run.

Any body remember who won that race.

Cost

What ever they get is probably not enough. I matched race and exhibition at the National Events four year straight and you would be surprised how much of your own money you use. Don’t forget, most people still have house payments, etc. The personal appearance always requires some money of your own for something. I know at the end of the year I was lucky to break even and that’s when a gallon of nitro was $4.95. Not everybody gets asked to go to those races and any monies they get is pretty neat to me.

Entertainers

Drag Racing, yes it is a hobby for most of all entries simply because there is always only one winner in any class... Over the years it HAS been the street classes that have supported the sport on a weekly basics. But you have to admit on a regular basic on a regular night or day at the races the stands are empty. You can see it in a lot of the videos on youtube and a lot of personal videos; the camera is on the bike or car and in the back ground going down the strip the stands are almost empty. You could have 1000 entries of nothing but street bikes and the stands would still be almost empty. Ask your local track Owner/Operator how many Spectators it takes to make a profit. A spectator takes 18 inches of the seat he is sitting on, how many 18 inches do you see left in the stands. In the old days Bob Daniels of the NHRA could count the row of seats in the stands and tell you almost to the count how many spectators was in those stands because of those 18 inches. It’s not just the street bikes that have supported the races it’s also the street cars, you need those entries to keep the tracks open. The tracks make there real money when they have a big race that includes the Pro stuff, exhibition stuff, match races and especially the Fuel stuff. Why do you think over the years there has been so many different Associations that have disappeared, you don’t suppose it’s because there’s not enough 18 inches filled. NHRA, IHRA, all the big Racing Associations have depended on those 18 inches being filled enough times during the year to stay a float. Look how hard is to keep the Pro Stock bikes in the Nationals, how much is going on right now among those guys with rider changes and Sponsors. It’s a tough racket, Drag Racing has gotten so expensive it’s just plain hard to be a DRAG RACER.