Went to the last race of the season & I guess they are not re-opening next year. :sad: The guy had leased it for around 25 years & the land owners wouldn't sell it to him, His lease is up & that's all she wrote. I hope not but it does not look good.
I went today with my son, Had a great time. $5.00 to watch or run. Had over 100 cars/bikes running - Pretty neat. I snapped this picture of my car as I was leaving, Thought it might be the last chance. I only live about 1/2 mile from the track & will miss the sounds of the cars on the weekends.

L8R

LK
http://xs320.xs.to/xs320/07431/dw-1.JPG (http://xs.to)

That sucks I have been to that little track it had great pay outs. The shut down was a little short when I had drum brakes on my chevelle.

Dave

Yea, You can use it up in a hurry. They wanted to buy more land for the big end but the landowner wouldn't sell it.

This is from the website. "Well.... the time has come. It's been a great 24 years at Ubly Dragway and, as with many other good things, it's
time to wrap up the memories for the archives.
We would like to wish a happy 67th Birthday to Tom Ledford. It’s time to settle down a bit and put a halt to the dozens of 4 hour drives to Ubly each summer from their home in Manistee County.
Tom and Sharon Ledford have announced they will cease racing activities at Ubly Dragway with the conclusion of their 24th season.
They would like to extend a Special Thanks to the Janowiak family for use of their wonderful facility, and the Ubly Track Crew - many of whom worked with them for over 20 years. They will cherish the relationships formed over the last quarter century. Future plans for the dragway are unknown at this time."

LK

I hate when they close tracks close to home. It keeps street racing down when its close to home and reasonable to $'s to race.

Dave

I may get grilled for this and so be it. I have never been to this track before but when I see stuff like this. I feel it as an act of selfishness on the part of the landownder. There I said it.:sad:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ubly is the closest track to me. Half hour away. I was hoping ta get my car done for next season there! ...........I think I'm gonna cry........

Gee, I wonder what the landowner has in mind. It can't be housing. Doubt if some manufacturer wants to put a plant there. Maybe someone waiting in the wings is willing to pay more to lease it, and will keep it as is.

I've been to that track a few times. Never raced there though. I work with a few people that ran out there this season.

Year after year more tracks are closing & the end results is more street racers.:yes:

I have raced at Ubly off and on for over 40 years. It started with my new 1965 396 Impala. The first time during time trials the shut off was OK. A second time trial right after the first would find me standing on the brake pedal to slow her down. It wasn't until I installed Gray Rocks brake shoes and installed a power booster that I had sufficient brake capacity for back to back runs. (Of course Chevrolet B-cars weren't noted for their drum brakes back in the middle 60s.)

It was a real homey, local track. The owner even gave my buddy and I a ride into Ubly in order to purchase a battery when our car broke down on highway M19 just short of the track.

I could see the writing on the wall a couple years ago when they went to a every other week format.

It will be missed.

Jim

That's too bad.... I'd heard rumors but wasn't sure if they were true :(

Well, on the bright side, Lapeer is still there. Not the best track, but not too far away. Lets hope they stay around for a while! :)

Yes But I think that Lapeer has gone the 1/8 mile route. If so, no use to me.
Bill

I went to Lapeer a couple months ago for test and tune. They let us run the 1/4 for that. I think you might be right about the bracket racing though.... I seem to remember last year that it was 1/8...

http://www.lapeerdragway.com/whenf.html

yep, looks like 1/8 bracket racing.

Oh no, that's too bad. I loved running at Ubly as well as Lapeer. The tech was always relaxed. When I wanted to run one of my really fast cars without the Gestapo mandated safety equipment I went there. Bummer.
Mike

I raced at Ubly for the first time last weekend. I spectated many times there in previous years byt decided to bring the car out before the chance was no more. We had a turn out of 5 cars in or group and had a absolute blast I am very sad to see it go. Though there was rumors from track operators that it might be reopened next year by the land owners since things went decent this year.

I have spent many years at Lapeer almost 25 with 10 of those spectating since I was too young to drive yet. That place hasn't changed in that time and has only gotten worse. It is nicknamed the Dirtway for a reason I know lost that won't race there anymore since it has turned into such a dump.

I miss Detroit Dragway the most, at least I got to race there the last year it was open, that track used to be real nice.

Too bad the city won't let someone reopen Motor City Dragway. Rumor has it that John Force tried but got shot down. I have no clue why a smallish city wouldn't appreciate his 35 million dollar plan that area would be soooo nice. Oh well.

There is a track near me that just had it's final season as well. 75-80 Dragway opened in 1960. My dad used to be the flag guy before they got the tree. First track I ever raced at. Sad to see it go.