www.QueenCityMotorsports.com Beechmont Dragway

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BEECHMONT DRAGWAY

Page Notes: Looking for the exact year that Beechmont closed. QueenCityMotorsports.com hopes to find more detailed information about the Beechmont Dragway, including past Champions, Photos and some history of the past operator/owners of the facility.

Last Updated (3/23/09)

A scan of the Beechmont Dragway News logo from a 1960 edition.

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Aerial Photo Beechmont Dragway

Aerial image of what's left of the old Beechmont Dragway. (Inside the Red rectangle)

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Brief Track History

Track: Defunct - 1/4 Mile Drag Strip, 1958 - 1961

Track Location: Track was located at old Route 74 (Wooster Pike) and Route 125 (Beechmont Avenue), north of the Beechmont Levee, near the Lunken Airport.

Brief History: Like many Drag Strips, they came about so that various car clubs, who would normally meet on the streets to race, had a place to hold organized Drag Racing. Several area Clubs had merged to form the Southern Ohio Timing Association (S.O.T.A.) in March of 1956. SOTA was led by Carl Poppe, a Cincinnati Police Highway Patrol Officer, and the Club had plans to built a Drag Strip in the Cincinnati area. SOTA obtained a plot of land near the Lunken Airport , but the money that needed to be raised to build and pave the track originally fell well short of the total finances need. It was through a Club member, who had a connection to a local Paving Company that led to the completion of the the Drag Strip. The Beechmont Drag Strip opened in 1958.

1960

Some notes from the 1960 Beechmont Dragway Nwesletters, publisheed by the Beechmont Dragway.

Main office address: 7128 Montgomery Rd., Cincinnati, 36 Ohio.

Track Proprieter: Harry Adler

Track Manager: Frank Machen.

Timer: Don Gaskins, local NHRA Representative. The timing equipment used was Chrondek, costing about $3,000.

Inspection Director: Sid Miller

Announcer: Bruce Moreton, Mariemont, Ohio

From the June 17, 1960 Newsletter (Vol. II, Number 5): 1/8th Mile Drags Discontinued. Track management announced last week that the 1/8th mile drag races are not being resumed.

The 1960 scheduled opening day, Sunday April 10, was canceled due to flooding, and rescheduled for Sunday April 17.

Short video and photos of the defunct Beechmont Dragway located in Cincinnati, Ohio as filmed on Sunday October 19, 2008.
While any buildings, tower, bleachers, etc. are long gone, there are places were the old pavement can still be seen. There is basically a vehicle path that has probably been used off and on over the years to access the area, however everything else is overgrown with trees, bushes and the like. (K. Wendel-Video/Photos)

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