National Trail Raceway facts for kids
| National Trails | |
|---|---|
| Location | Union Township, Licking County, near Hebron, Ohio, USA |
| Time zone | UTC−5 |
| Coordinates | 39°57′29.15″N 82°32′46.82″W / 39.9580972°N 82.5463389°W |
| Owner | Big Ambitions Racing LLC |
| Operator | Big Ambitions Racing LLC |
| Address | 2650 National Road SW Hebron, OH 43025 |
| Broke ground | 1963 |
| Opened | 1964 |
| Major events | Night of Thunder Mopar Nationals |
| Drag Strip | |
| Surface | Concrete/Asphalt |
| Length | .402 km (.25 mi) |
| Race lap record | 4.47 seconds at 336 m.p.h. |
| Website | https://nationaltrailraceway.com/ |
National Trail Raceway is a special place where super-fast cars race! It's a quarter-mile dragstrip located in Ohio, USA. You can find it between the towns of Hebron and Kirkersville, right off U.S. Route 40. Many local people call it 'National Trails'. It's about a 30-minute drive east of Columbus, Ohio.
Contents
History of National Trail Raceway
Building the Track
The story of National Trail Raceway began in 1963. Clark Rader, Sr., along with his sons Ben and Clark, Jr., started building the track. They finished it in 1964. At that time, the nearby road, U.S. Route 40, was known as the National Road or National Trail. That's how the raceway got its name! When it first opened, it was one of the five biggest racing places of its kind in the whole United States.
Hosting Big Races
The NHRA is a very famous racing group. Their big event, called the Springnationals, moved around to different tracks for a few years. But in 1972, Wally Parks, who started the NHRA, decided to bring the Springnationals to National Trail Raceway. He chose it because drag racing was super popular in central Ohio.
The race was a huge success! More than 40,000 people came to watch, and 600 race cars showed up. The gates even had to close because the track was so full. Cars were still waiting on Route 40, hoping to get in!
Trailblazing Women Racers
Did you know that National Trail Raceway saw some amazing history for women in racing? In 1976, Shirley Muldowney became the first woman ever to win a national event in the Top Fuel Dragster category. This is one of the fastest types of drag racing cars! Then, in 1982, something even more special happened. Shirley Muldowney and Lucille Lee raced against each other in the first-ever all-female professional final.
Challenges and Safety Changes
For many years, the Springnationals race happened in June, often around Father's Day. Ohio's weather can be a bit tricky, which sometimes made the track conditions hard for the race cars. This often led to unexpected winners, which was exciting for fans!
National Trail Raceway was built between two roads, U.S. Route 40 and Refugee Road. This meant the area where cars slow down after the finish line was quite short. In the early 1980s, the NHRA and the track used special catch-nets to help stop cars that couldn't slow down enough. Drivers were told to aim for these nets if they had trouble stopping.
However, in 1984, a Top Fuel driver named Doug Kerhulas drove into a catch-net. While the net stopped his car from going onto Refugee Road, the sudden stop almost seriously hurt him. So, in 1986, the nets were replaced with sand pits. These pits were designed to slow cars down more gently.
There was one time, though, when a Funny Car racer named Gary Phillips went through the sand pits. His car was going so fast that it kept going across Refugee Road and ended up in a farmer's front yard! Luckily, his car didn't hit anyone or the farmer's house. After this, the track and the Ohio State Highway Patrol worked together. They closed Refugee Road during race weekends. This gave drivers more room to stop safely. They even moved the sand pit to the side of the farmer's yard, just in case!
New Ownership and Records
In 1996, the NHRA bought the track from the Rader family. This made National Trail one of the few tracks owned directly by the NHRA. After this, the national event held at the track got new names, like the Pontiac Excitement Nationals. The race was also moved from June to mid-May.
In 2006, something amazing happened. Top Fuel driver Tony Schumacher set a new NHRA national speed record! He reached an incredible speed of 336.15 miles per hour. This was likely due to the cooler weather and better track conditions in May.
After the 2006 season, National Trail Raceway stopped hosting the big NHRA national event. That race moved to another track about 100 miles north.
Current Events at the Track
Even though the big national event moved, National Trail Raceway still hosts many exciting races and shows! The NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series and the NMRA hold events there. The track also hosts popular events like the Buick Nationals, the Mopar Nationals, and the Night of Thunder. The Night of Thunder is especially cool because it features jet-powered cars and "wheelstanders" – cars that can drive on their back wheels!
In the past, NTR has also hosted the NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion and Super Chevy Shows.
Beyond Racing
National Trail Raceway isn't just for cars! On November 5, 2011, the track hosted the annual Ohio High School Athletic Association state cross country running championships. This event moved to NTR because the previous location started having slot machine games.
In 2017, a company called Shelby Development, LLC bought National Trail Raceway from the NHRA. This company also owns another race track in Kansas. The next year, Jay Livingston became the general manager and a co-owner of the track. Chris Payne is the current CEO.
National Trail Raceway is also part of the Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA). This group organizes professional 1/8-mile drag races for special "door-slammer" cars.
