Niagara Dragstrip, or what's left of it :(

meh…i prefer to make the drive to NYIRP…its a tad over an hour…its a nice drive, and the facility is worth it. From what i heard, Lancaster is History VERY soon, and its a good thing. That place is terrible.

WHAT!!!@!!! fuck that lancaster is awesome if anything they should redo a few things but not close it down, ive been going there since i was 3 not only for drags but induro as well

apparently you never taken a car down lancasters track then. its fun to watch as a kid, but as an adult, you can see the many problems with that entire facility. also, the 1/8 is ghey.

from what i heard, his lease is expiring and no plans for renewal.

go to NYIRP and then tell me which track is better.

We patrol back there all the time. And it was not Homeland security that booted you out, it’s DOD who work at the Air Force base.

first off…

apparently you never taken a car down lancasters track then. its fun to watch as a kid, but as an adult, you can see the many problems with that entire facility. also, the 1/8 is ghey.

That track isnt the best but, its atleast a bit safer than wrecking on the street. But, you can tell they’re slowly letting it go. The return road is like a fuckin nature trail. I remember like 3yrs. ago I was there and I ran a black '73 or so Nova (it was someone from UBRF…maybe they’re here now) he stalled or something, pull off the return path/trail/whatever and he got it started and tried to get back on the track and he was rooster-tailing mud, I think he got stuck. Another thing, its your opinion that 1/8mi. sucks, and we all know what opinions are like…I like both. If you dont feel like beating it for 1320 feet but, want to see what your car has in it, do the 1/8th.

Now for Camaro Joe…Im betting you’d know the car… ok some older fella’s were tellin me about 2 Super Stock Dodge cars that were pretty famous amoung the Niagara strip. Well, the red one is sitting behind someones barn/garage/house in Niagara county (pin points it, doesnt it…lol) its untouched since it stopped track use back in the 70s, or 80s. The guy that wons it wont sell it for nothing and its rotting away, kinda like the track.

Lastly, for those who dont know but, want more a more personal experince of what the track was like, there’s a yearly get together where the ol timers and people that used to go there have pictures, old videos, and tell old stories. I havent been but, a friend of mine says it was awsome.

Tell me where that car is! I actually haven’t heard about it, but would love to see it. PM me :slight_smile:

And in January of every year I believe they do a Sunday Niagara Reunion at a local restaurant. It’s been going on for a few years now. I always miss it due to other plans previously made :frowning: But from what I hear, it is a wealth of information and nostalgia there.

And about 15 years ago at the Niagara Falls Convention Center (now the Casino), they had a Sunday Niagara Reunion show complete with the racers and cars from back in the day. Big Daddy, Shirley Muldowney, etc. Was awesome. I think we have 35mm slides from it. Yea, this was before the age of digital cameras. I just recently threw out my shirt form that show since I wore it to death.

I dont know where it is myself. and worse yet…the guy I talked to was some friend of a friend of my EX gf’s cousins EX gf. lmao So, yeah no way Im gonna find out about it now. Besdies, the guy could have been talking out his ass, but its neat to think it would be out there somewhere.

I wouldn’t doubt its out there. There is a guy in Niagara County that has a few RARE Mustangs aka Shelby and Boss rotting on his front lawn that he won’t part with.

Then again, I found out about a 69 Camaro ex drag car that might be for sale cheap. I’m looking into it for myself :slight_smile:

my dad has been approached several times to become part-owner of the track. it is simply not profitable the way they are operating it. and the track itself is shitty, both circle and drag.

We have a lot of old schoolers posting about it on my site
http://www.rodandpiston.com/db/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4095

Basically saying that changes need to be made, but the current owners don’t have the balls to change it and piss of the regulars.
Sounds like changes need to be made or we won’t have a 1/4 mile or 1/8 track.

why was the DOD protecting the drag strip. and all that polluting and noise crap is BS. its there fault they live next to a damn airport. no one forced them. we should kick em out. lol. but that would be great to rebuild that place. it really doesnt look that hard. knock down a couple trees cut some grass new pavement.

I raced at Niagara back in 1992 with my IROC. We would drive down Tuscarora road, over the gravel to the start line. It started as a small group of us every Sunday around 3-4 oclock. Nytrus1 was there a lot, JR (think 66 nova) was there a lot, plus that Lenny dude with his sick-ass truck with a nitroused big-block. Every week it would get busier and busier. At it’s peak there were about 50-60 people there, and of course then the retards started showing up bringing cases of beer, racing there dodge aries-k cars. The one week I decided not to go (because it was getting a little too crazy), the Sheriffs raided it, from both sides, and ticketed everyone.

P.S. it looked a lot better in '92 than those recent photos show.

They’re guarding it because its practically on the airbase. It won’t ever open again as long as the base is open.

He is correct. We do parameter checks a few times a day and the drag strip is right on the parameter.

It’s kind of sad to drive down that empty overgrown strip thinking how many memories that place had.

Yea, thats who I went there with. He would bring his monster pro-street alcohol 67 Camaro there nicknamed “Rump”. Then he took his bike with nitrous and did a 120+mph run and blew out his rear tire. Luckily he didn’t dump the bike.

I ran a few times against his buddy with the 70 Nova with Nos and did decent, but that was before I got the Camaro dialed in nicely.

I heard a 60’s Cutlass dropped its suspension and flipped a few times prompting them to crack down on the track.

We used to go in on Haseley and drive towards the start. It got to be a mess towards Tuscarora and soon undriveable.

I think last time I raced there was 8-9 years ago :frowning:

I think I have video somewhere and pics… Got to dig for them.

I’ve heard that the past 5 years and it hasnt happened yet.

^^just stating what i heard recently.

Ehh, $30+ in gas each trip when towing, a long drive home, and an ‘ok’ facility. Those deadtrap guardrails need to be replaced (but Im sure they wont) with concrete walls, and it has a large portion of unpaved pit area. Most of the time, Id prefer to pay extra at the entrance to get into TMP, its infinately better and about the same distance away.

Lancaster ia really terrible. Beat-up grandstands, a poor uneven track surface, a short shutdown area and a return road through the woods. They are lucky that they are the only game in town.

Ive heard nothing but good things about how Niagara was, both when it was open and later when people just went on their own. Its too bad that it just goes to waste.

What prompted the shutdown?

Forgot to post this site. Great pictures

www.sundayniagara.com