I was passing by and decided to stop and take a camera shot of the old US 30 dragway today. Looks like someone recently decided to get nastalgic in the right lane burn out box. I might go ask the land owner if I can get a pic of the olds in the box.
Sean

 

That would be a hoot! I went there as a kid and a young adult. Raced my Chevelle and a Buick there. Those were the days! Now 66 is 7 minutes from my house. Their rules are a bit more strict in tech than at 30. LOL! Wow, does that pic bring back some good memories. I never broke there.

 

I was out there about 5-6 years ago when there was a brief glimmer of hope to reopen it. Was really cool looking, could still see the AHRA logo.

 

This photo may be better...Sean

 

Are these the marks in the burnout box your referring to?

11707862_1084190418277804_4202661005129032267_n_zpsdqtm5oeb.jpg

 

Hard to tell if those are yours or someone else's.. But nice job!

 

The marks from the truck belong to a close friend. As soon as I find some driving time I'm going to take a trip over there.

 

Looking further those look like yours.

 

Sorry, your friends..

 

Spent many a Sunday there in my youth, as a spectator.

 

I grew up about 1.5 miles from there as the crow flies. You could hear the Funny cars launch and the P.A. guy even at that distance. The burned fuel would sometimes drift over the yard on a good day. I would ride my bike by there and peek through the fence, since I was too young to get in. They closed up just as I got my license. Good memories all in all.

Tim

 

I grew up within listening distance of the US 30 dragstrip and I'm still only a couple of miles away. The place was so friggin' loud on Sundays that you could hear the noise all over Gary / Hobart. Being a couple of miles away, we never had a quiet Sunday. Last time my brother ran the goat there it had to be about 1970 or so. I think I must have been 8 or 10 at the time. The nitro-fueled cars were so friggin' loud that I asked my Dad to take me home. Nobody wore ear protection back then.

Those pics were taken from Clay Street, right? It looks like somebody pulled aside the logs/ poles that were placed crosswise to keep people from trespassing. It's a popular bit of NWI hooliganism to sneak out there to do burnouts. People keep pulling the logs aside, the landowner keeps pushing them back. The last time I snuck out there it was with my 454 Suburban.

Reopening? There wasn't even a chance of that happening. The Southlake area has built up so much since the strip closed that it's now surrounded by subdivisions full of noise-whiners. The City of Hobart has annexed the area in order to collect tax revenue off of the shopping centers on US 30, and there's just no way they'd ever let the place open again because of their iron-fisted approach to noise. It's a sad story.

 

That's correct! I took the photos from clay street, in which the burnout box is a stones throw from the road. Opposite perspective, another situation that folded because of noise pollution was Santa Fe Speedway ( dirt track) in Willowsprings, Illinois. Big expensive Subdivisions moved in which put exhaust on the cars, then eventually put them up on the trailer after attendance dropped because of the sudden change in decibles spectators began to stay home. My Dad and I used to go all the time and I remember when they changed, it was the last time we went there. What a Shame!
Sean

 

Here is another reminder -

 

man i went behind the stores there in downtown meriville indiana also. I was talking to people who owned the property there and they all said that the track was closed due to construction and noise pollution. the area had become to civilized and valuable what a shame i would have loved to run there but i was a little dude when it was open and well before driving age.

 

That is exactly what happened. When the dragstrip began operations it was out in the country, no man's land between Merrillville and Valparaiso. Hobart and Merrillville closed in on it and the newbies were not good neighbors. After all, it was all them hotrodders and other undesirables making noise and doing who knows what with them cars!

 

How can you complain about the noise?? You built next to a drag strip for pete's sake.... no one to blame but yourself, what did you expect? It was there long before the subdivisions started creeping in.... just like whats going on at Illiana Speedway.... neighbors bitching about noise. DON'T MOVE THERE! Problem solved....

 

I always liked when people moved close to airports... Same argument. I remember back in the 70's when they wanted to close down Englishtown because of the noise.

 

Route 66 raceway is so loud I can hear the Top Fuelers from about 75 feet away! That's because I'm at the starting line when they are in town! Sometimes people just bitch to bitch. I believe 30 was closed due to encroaching housing. "Those danged Hot Rodders and their death machines!" Ought to be a law against it!

 

I was in the Illiana Track today for a car show/swap meet, the regional streeters held a 39th annual gathering. To bad the skies clouded up and rained around 9:30am. God bless those die hard car show guys for driving all of those classics in to show them off. Some drove around the track which was pretty cool! I left mine at home so I could walk the swap meet looking for a deal in which I found a nice auto darkening Clark welding helmet in great shape for saw buck! Big Score.
Sean

 

The promoter for us. 30 jan gabriel was one of my friends father. He was the creator of the sunday sunday sunday !!!! call . Im too young to have been there but i have heard some great stories about it.

 

I never claimed to be a racer, just pointing out the facts about people that complain about the noise.... knowing damn well it's a race track that they moved near. I was a spectator at US30 but my car did run there the first 5 years of it's life...

 

There are 2 sides to racing, racers and spectator/enthusiasts. Neither can exist without the other. A lot of us raced in our younger years and some still do. Neely, I and others applaud the effort you've put in the Racing Forum.
I agree with you Indy, there have been many small tracks close in the last 40 years, its a shame.

 

Okay i took care if it and deleted my post. Sorry if i offended anyone for me being depressed i meant no disrespect to anyone.

 

No offense, no worries.
Sean

 

The Drag strip and roundy round in Jacksonville Fla both closed after people moved into the area and didn't like the noise.
If you don't like the neighborhood Buy on the other side of town, That's my opinion, Oh well to late now.

 

That won't happen if the track brings a lot of money. Byron dragway in byron illinois brings so much money to the towns its not economically smart to shut them down. Byron packs the house with te meltdown drags and wheel standers. I mean absolutely packs the place. I went to the nmca nmra race in joliet and byron puts that place to shame. Now the top fulers that's a diffrent story at 66 but that's only once a year.