DOVER DRAG STRIP GONE /complete photos Then & Now

[m-amp-m-speed-amp-custom]

Bobby:
Thanks about the sign, hopefully next year we WILL have at least one car there. Marty realy surprised me!! You guys all are GREAT. Thanks again, Rich
PS:(I know better we raced at island NJ. in the day, just thought someone was talking bad about Dover)

[afx11]

quote dinotheweirdo:

There are many opinions,from different people. I believe it was all those things contributing. First …any track loses revenue with low car count and lack of spectators. Gotta make it worth it or shut it down.Thats with anything. At that time competing tracks were offering more payouts. Dover wouldn’t come to the plate. Drag racing in general was going through changes as well. Bracket racing was introduced. Class racing was way too expensive. For a number of years we were losing potential racers to the Viet Nam war …And a whole bunch didn’t come back. Most Tracks were continually updating…Dover was not. Never had finish line score-boards, a decent sound system, the food concession was run Home style by the Lions club.They didn’t want to spend advertising money.In the end there was more money in Peat Moss than running a Race Track. Some people (racers-businessmen) offered to take it over and were refused. Also,the owners were getting old and lacked the vision and drive of a hot-shot promoter-Entreprenuer. Then there was the gas crisis (member that?)…the world was changing and Dover wasn’t changing with it. Gone were the days of “run -what -ya -brung. Drag Racing was becoming a business, you needed sponsors. The old Drag Racing Hot Rodders with home built machines were a thing of the past .I remember when guys would flat-tow with tow bars into the track or drive their racer in ,take off the hubcaps, and pull into the staging lanes with their daily driver ! BUT the Memories are there …Thats what this website is all about….Just like the beginning of the old Lone Ranger Show….”Journey Back in time with us to those thrilling days of yesteryear, with a cloud of dust and a mighty …….HI Ho Dover!!!!!”

got carried away a little bit there…………………….

What an incredible thread ❗
I think the things that were wrong with DDS are the things that were right about it.
That sneaker, err I mean speaker, is working just fine.
And the pole remains…overlooking.
What an awesome thread Man@! Thanks Folks!!!!!

[vbobParticipant]

HEY

Merry speaker to all and to all a good nite !!
‘V’

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[masoParticipant]

quote video Bob:

HEY

Merry speaker to all and to all a good nite !!
‘V’

😀 😀 😀

quote Maso The Poet:

Just looking around…
not much to remember…
just an old pair of sneakers…
as they sat on a fender.

Everything’s gone…
that much is now clear…
but I wish we could race here…
for just one more year.

Just then a small Elf…
pops out of that shoe…
with a white fuzzy face…
and a microphone too.

Go see: http://www.doverdragstrip.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=725

[jmb442]

…wow,how time keeps moving. took this picture of Dover in july 2006. Today,it
doesn’t even look like this anymore.

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[dinoKeymaster]

THIS IS ONE OF our Most Popular topics…why it is been “Stickied”…(Stays at top of topic list-‘stuck’)…it’s long and funny but worth the read…how all of the guys have contributed is fantastic.
……………..Just got word of another report of “infiltration” to the closed track in ’77 …wating for more details …stand -by…Very interesting !

[jackmanParticipant]

So was Dover an NHRA track, I read on another site that it was not NHRA approved and not a full 1/4 too………… True or internet B.S……..

[dinoKeymaster]

All That Info Here …gotta look! …Sanctioned for One year. ALL I DID was put the word ‘Sanctioned” in search and Wa-La …It Was Here… Click :

BlackArrow STUFF FOUND & MORE

[jackmanParticipant]

I better go back and read again , I missed that part 😳 …….

[dinoKeymaster]

Hey …New report …Paulie says around 1977…he decided it would be neat to take his snowmobile up to the then closed track and make some winter runs on the old quarter. The Tower was still there But the track level was down about 10 ft. lower than the shut down area.That has since been ‘leveled’ out for possablre future developement. But get this ….He goes up in the tower and sees all the timing guages have been busted out by vandals. How could they ‘desicrate’ this hollowed ground ?! and the two chairs were still there.He thinks it would be cool to hi-jack the entrance sign , but his buddy talkes him out of it .”Ohno ,better not, It’s gona reopen” It didn’t and he lost the oportunity to have THE number one Dover Relic.

[rcgarrenParticipant]

On July 4th 1976 I was going past the track and the gate was open so I drove up in, I drove down the staging lanes and stopped on the starting line and got out. It was DEAD quiet ( scarry ), I went up to the tower the door was locked , I looked inside and every thing was there just like I remembered it, ( it was like they closed the door and said see you next week ).Looking around The only thing that changed is they had put two piles of dirt half way down the track in both lanes. Like all the times I ever went to the track it seamed, NO CAMERA .
The next time I went back was 1991 and I took the video of what was once Dover and went to the 1st reunion with the film. If you listen real close you will hear drag cars in the back round, GHOST OF DOVER????????.
I was talking with a man by the name of George Strid in about 1985 and I mentioned Dover and he said I was there building it. I said what did you do, he said I spent 3 months on a bulldozer, never asked about who else worked there or if he had any pictures.

[masoParticipant]

quote rcgarren:

On July 4th 1976 …

That’s the spirit…!!!

[dinoKeymaster]

Latest Find By Brian…1980 Ariel that shows the Track – Staging lanes -hot car pits…concession stand….but sadly the tower is knocked down. Great referance …Many Telephone poles still there.

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[alan-heady]

whats left is very easy to find on google maps

[dover1320]

Lets find George Strid !!

[Author]

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