The year 1980. I was 8 years old and just coming aware of my surroundings. From riding my bicycle in front of my house came a huge roar. It was distant but it sounded monstrous. A sound I never heard before. I immediately dropped my bike ran to my father and asked him what it was. He bluntly replied 'it's that damn dragstrip'. In that moment my entire life changed. See I live in green acres subdivision right next door to the strip. Dragstrip you say? It's like waking up one day and finding out you live next to Disneyland. It wasnt a matter of hours until I was hoping fences cutting through neighbors yards to enter the very end of the track. The turn around for those who know. I hid in the bushes next to the track not wanting to be seen. There I waited. Wasnt long till i saw my first set of cars. They looked nothing like I've ever seen before. They looked brand new and old at the same time. The paint covering the cars sparkled in the sun and they had so many stickers on them you couldn't keep count. I stayed in those bushes for hours watching them pass by slowly sometimes stopping.I needed to see more. When the coast was clear I quickly crossed the tracks and entered the field that was in the middle. Heading to the front of the dragstrip I was confronted by what seemed like hundreds of sticker bushes. This wasnt easy for an eight year old but I was determined to see more. It took what felt like an eternity but I made it to the end of the field to take my first steps into the main pit area. Four adults were standing close to where I appeared out of the bushes. One turned and looked at me as I walked closer but then he turned back around unfazed by what he saw. I walked right passed and suddenly felt older. What I experienced from this point was nothing short of amazing. I walked right up to and stood next to race car drivers looking over their cars some frantically doing repairs. I stood feet away from cars peering at their engines side by side mechanics. There were so many cars and so much action happening i felt delirious. Finally I entered the area of the stands and got my first glimpse of cars that were staging. Their motors completely destroyed any other sound as their tires lit up with billows of smoke. The smell burned my nose and never left. They vaulted off the line with such intensity you could feel it. The crowd was completely captivated as was I by the competition and the sheer volume of it all. This without a doubt was a pivotal moment for me. I would return to repeat this experience numerous times in my youth. Always the same route and always the time of my life. I'm so glad I got the chance to experience this dragstrip. I will forever miss it.
Thank you for sharing this beautiful memory with us. It felt, while I was reading, as if I were there with you. It's these small moments that make the internet beautiful after all.
Just like the youtube videos of Oswego (IL) Drag Raceway. These make me very sad. It was an amazing, marvelous experience every weekend. We came home sunburned, dirty and deaf. In this world today where everything has been "sanitized" the drag strips could never exist. Glad I was there when they did.
I can hear it as if I was still tooling around central Indiana in my '50 Chevy listening to all the hits on WLS, "SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAT at US 30 Dragway see (fill in the blank with whatever was running that weekend)." As teenage gearheads in the 1960's, those ads got our juices flowing. Thanks for sharing.
I was probably about six or seven the first time I went to a drag race here. It is a short ride from Sauk Village Ill. down US30 which goes through Sauk Village. It was so exciting. I remember the Little Red Wagon, A Funny car named Color me Gone. What memories.
@@kevinwhitescarver8369 As a boy on the farm in SE Iowa in the 1960's WLS and an AM station in Little Rock were the only decent rock stations we could get so I grew up hearing those ads for US 30 Raceway. Then in 1983 I was visiting friends in Indiana and they took me to South Lake Mall in Merrillville. We got out of the car and I could hear the drags so I asked and they said it was US 30 Raceway. Of course, I said, "You've got to be sh*ten me!". In 1987 I returned on my then new Kawasaki ZL1000 eliminator and rode down that closed track. Crazy.
@@JSProjectWild jet blasting wheel standing fire breathing action. From the drone video it was unrecognisable. A couple old photos looked like I remember it.
Wow I tripped on this video and immediately hit play. I can’t explain the lonely emptiness it left me. This drag strip is where my life centered around during my high school years. I was living in Chicago Heights, Ill, and raced there many Sundays first with a 50 Chevy, 283cu in, 3 on the floor, then in my second car 63 Pontiac Lemans, 326cu in, and still have every trophy won there. I was always on the go with Raceway Park, Blue Island, Saturday nights and US30 drag strip Sundays. In between times would visit Iliana Speedway. I have nothing but great memories of that time and always listening to WLS radio and “Sunday at beautiful US30 Drag Strip”. There was always so much going on that trouble never entered the mind. For me that all came to a end after graduating HS I joined the USAF to go off and fight a war. Today Im so grateful I was able to enjoy coming up thru those fast and fun times along with the memories. Thank you so much for sharing this.
1968-1982...My Oldest Brother Raced there...They called him "4 on the Floor" South Side Chicago. St Rita. Thousands of Memories. The Ride getting there down the DAM Ryan Expy was the Best for a 5 year old going over the Skyway Bridge on a Friday/Saturday afternoon. Sunday My Parents came too. The Red Wagon as well as the Snake were my favorites. Hemi Under Glass Too. Hanging at Mr. Norms in the early 70's. 7-8 years old. I 'm a nobody. LOL. But they knew my brothers. Great Times. Great Memories. Go Big Daddy.
The insane cost of NHRA tickets and parking and the constant encroachment of real estate development is killing the sport of drag racing. People complain about street racing yet no one wants a race track near “their house”. Small airports are suffering the same fate. A historic part of Americana is fading from the public memory with the passing years.
@@johnh1932street racing in the 1950s was done on outside roads of the town. Or on Rhodes way outside of town. I know this cuz my dad was racing in the early fifties in a 1940 Willys in Pomona California and he told me all about it
Thanks for posting. Those loud commercials bring back memories. My best friend across the street said, when his clock radio alarm would go off each morning for grade school, it would always wake him up with that "SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY" ! I remember a figure 8 stock car race track out near O'Hare airport by Mannheim and Lawrence maybe. Not too sure. Loved the demolition derby there.
That's always the go to complaint for someone or people who want the land for their money making purposes. I hope they never build anything there other than bringing back the track.
I started watching this short video because it was about US30 dragstrip, knowing that it was in Indiana. But my memories were going back to the same time period at the late US30 dragstrip in York, PA. Both with the same name, and the same wonderful memories for different people so far apart.
Bunker hill still lives. It’s going strong too. Car shows are always filled to the brim. Main events are packed. I go there when I can. I don’t think it’ll die any time soon fortunately.
They seem to be going away everywhere. Real estate developers and noise complaints here in Florida. Lost Hollywood many years ago. Palm Beach recently. Sure there are more, those are just 2 I raced at many years ago. They tried to close Bradenton but people and the owners fought and won, for now.
I never went there but lived nearby just inside Illinois. I remember the radio promos for the track and major race events. It always started with, "Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!"
The first drag race I went too was there. Lived in Sauk Village Ill. I also remember going too Lake Eliza during the summers in late sixties early seventies.
What's remarkable about this video is that, even after 40 years, much of "Smokin' US 30 Dragstrip" (I can still hear the late Jan Gabriel hawk races at the track on the radio) is somewhat recognizable.
God has blessed me sooo much for all the good times and the good memories of the old drag strips !!! And getting to meet and know some amazing people !!! I can still hear the ENGINES SCREAMING and the people working hard together to make this all happen !!! People helping others in the pits to make it to the next round !!! Because they loved the sport and loved their cars and loved their fans !!! I was just a kid back then!!! But I will always cherish my childhood memories !!! And sometimes one of the racers would ask me if I wanted to set in there car !!! No amount of money could ever have bought that !!! I was King of the World !!! And a lot of those people and tracks are gone now !!! But the memories of them will never fade away !!! Kids today will never understand what they have missed !!! It was GOOD TIMES and GOOD PEOPLE and GOOD TRACKS ❤
sitting in California and this pops up reminds me of gradeschool in the late 60s listening to DJ Larry Lujack on WLS and the ; SUNDAY ! SUNDAY ! SUNDAY ! AT WAILING US 30 DRAGSTRIP ... WHERE THE GREAT ONES ... RUN ! RUN ! RUN ! commercials id forgotten about NW Indiana until right now is Wells St Beach on County Line Road still a thing anybody
Oh boy, does this ever bring back memories. I had no idea the place was no longer in business. I can still hear the old WLS radio ads in my head. It's nice to see the Byron Dragway is still around.
I still remember as a kid watching the commercials on the UHF channels of the cars running up and down the track with the mountains in the background............yes mountains in Indiana. Obviously the footage was from another drag strip probably from California. I still recall a comedian ....can't remember his name now using that in his stand up in the 80's
Memories. They will forever be in my mind of the 50s and 60s and 70s of Lake and Porter County. The region. I have lived all over the country north south east and west, but my thoughts will always be in Lake and Porter county Indiana.
same here…grew up in South Haven. Merrillville Mall and the Toys -R-Us always come to mind during Christmas. Lived in Portage and Hobart for my first 21 years, then moved to SW Florida 36 years ago. Still have family up there. Even with the endless summer and limitless things to do in Florida, NW Indiana was a great place to grow up. I do miss it.
Kiddie land, WGN and Garfield Goose, the Bozo Show, the Y&W open air drive in, Goldblatts downtown, the Village Shopping Center, and making out with Debbie in the car at the marine corps reserve base parking lot on north Lake Street. I will never forget that!
I used to race there in the late 70's early 80's! I had a '65 Belvedere with a 426 Max Wedge and a 727 Trans with and 8 3/4 Posi....those were the days!
Went there as a kid in the 60s, we lived in East Gary next to Portage. We would also go shopping at Wise Way and Shopper's World. Once drove down County Line Rd. at 85mph racing a tornado home.
I used to live across the street after it was closed and take my kids there to ride our bikes. You could go almost to the end where the lane narrowed and then take a short dirt path to the back lot of Wendys for a frosty.
Used to go there as a kid, Coca Cavalcade of Stars etc. What an iconic place. We actually rode our bikes from Miler to go there once, what a time piece.
I lived in Chicago area until 1984, but never went to US30 drag strip. But I sure remember the commercials with Jan Gabriel (I think) yelling: Sunday, SUNDAY, _SUNDAY!_ at beautiful US30 Dragstrip! Sadly, he is gone now too.
That’s what I immediately thought of when I saw the title of this video. I think it was Jan Gabriel on those commercials. I never made it to those events but kind of wish I had gone to Santa Fe Speedway when it was around.
I worked for the Showtime Funny Car back in the early 70's. There were so many pro Funny Cars passing through there at the time they didn't hire any for Wednesday night races. Instead they offered $500 for 1 run and the 2 top ETs came back for $1,000 to win and $750 for runner up. A lot of racers stayed at the Holiday Inn Merrillville and worked on their cars.
Chicago guy here. US30 in IN. Oswego, IL and Union Grove, WI were the big 3 here. Back in the 60's we would hit them all at least once a season. Once you get the smell of burning rubber and nitro you are hooked. When we got home my mother would say hit the shower and throw those stinking clothes in the washing machine. Good memories.
Our Country is dying, get used to it. I looked up some houses I used to own/live in, and seen after I sold them they had been foreclosed on , and ran down, when I owned the homes I took pride in keeping them up, but the other owners didn't seem to care about things like that. We are now living in a (throw away world), we just use things and then discard them, sad, very sad.
Went there on Wednesdays and Sundays all through high school. Ben Christ (owner) could assemble some shows that were world class. I remember Carter, the starting line starter always dressed in white. Lost a few friends through the years there as well. The track was not safe by todays standards. Dr Byron Milton, Kenny Perry, Bill Grooms and more. Gone, but never forgotten.
Wow! I raced there many times. So many great memories. U.S. 41 will never be as good as the original granddaddy U.S. 30 Dragstrip! Every sunday where the great ones run!
I hate to admit it, but I miss it so much. Used to go and race every weekend. My husband at the time raced a 68 roadrunner call "Gravedigger II" and was one of very few to hit a "triple donut" out there. Met a lot of good people out there and got to see some very good cars and drivers. Glad I got to go there.
As a drag racer all my life on the west coast growing up in SoCal where we have lost so many of the drag strip I grew up racing, I am glad I took the time and made the effort to travel in the 1980's and 1990's east to race on lots of famed tracks that no longer exist like Moroso Motorsports Park, Houston, Memphis, Atlanta, Englishtown, etc., and many that still do like Rockingham, Dallas, Baton Rouge, Orlando, Gainesville, Bradenton, and a ton of others. But, I will always miss Lions, O.C.I.R, Carlsbad, Riverside, the original Irwindale, Ontario, LACR, and even The Brotherhoid Raceway on Terminal Island in Long Beach. The 70's-80's was a great time to drag race in SoCal! (The 80's-90's was a great time to travel and tour to race all those tracks I only dreamed of racing on...and there are a few I never did run on yet (Denver...the mile high mountain track gone forever now, Brainerd, and Of course the Big Go of Indy still on my bucket list along with National Trails, St. Louis, New England, Seattle and a few others in the northwest and deep south...If I live long enough now (back at it now a year, after a long layoff of a quarter of a century helping to educate and raise a family), I will race on as many sanctioned surfaces as I can before the rest dissappear into the background and memories of time. Then upon my demise please cremate my remains and mix my ashes into the very next starting line concrete pad to be replaced and re-poured so people long into the future can burnout and launch on my face. Let that glue they buy now in expensive barrels be the glue that holds the memories of this old drag racer together forever thereafter.
It saddens me to view all those empty near silent tracks like this and the last remains of a once famed and lively place that once brought noise, smoke, and smells...and joy to so many that was pushed out and rot forever. Enjoy the high auto insurance rates the street racers have brought you now to your local neighborhoods for decades after you helped close down oh so many safer speed venues...You traded silence for not much safety and a lot more danger and costs. (Speaking to those that by encroachment purchased hones near the noise making facilities of the past). As for me, looking for an empty plot of land right across from one of the last remaining tracks that will be here for my remaining years, to retire to, buy or build my last abode on, and race until I cannot race anymore...The noise and people, crowds will not bother me...because if the gates are open...that is where I will be found making noise and quarter mile passes, and living the dream.
Dang. Spent some great Sunday afternoons at "Beautiful US 30 Dragstrip - Drag Racing Capitol of Chicagoland." Top fuelers, funny cars, local guys. I suppose now there is an app for that.
Looks like it was a real 1/4 mile one all we have left here is the Ohio valley in Louisville it’s just 1/8 mile . Not far from my farm is the old Harrison county speedway on highway 11 it was running into the early 80s
Very sad video. i remember as a kid racing to the magazine store to pick up a copy of drag racing usa, hot rod, motor trend etc. The dragstrip was pure americana. i am happy that i visited raceway park in englishtown,n.j. many times before it closed. Change is inevitable but sometimes it hurts.
Great Lake drag strip is still open and I race there in the 70 then I had my son at 7 start racing jr dragter till heave out at 17 What a wonderful time for my son , wife and me to there every time the JR Dragster race I’m 76 now but that was the very best time in my life and thinking father and son had race on the same drag strip Them were the good old days and I still miss it very much,all I have left is every time slips I have saved We were running the 7:90 class and our best pass 3:33 was 7:55 at 91 MPH
I didn't know that there were two US30 Dragstrips? I always think of US30 in Thomasville, PA, but I believe it was actually called US30 "Dragway" and they were an NHRA sanctioned track? My dad raced there in the 50s and 60s, before I was born, my brother took me there throughout the 70s. The problem with US30 Dragway was that they ran Towards the road US30, and a couple cars couldn't stop and entered the roadway, striking motorists, it was bad, so they shut it down and moved to Maple Grove Raceway.
Merrillville dragstrip and Schererville Route 30 dragstrip should’ve been reopened in 2010 for the modern muscle car performances. Today’s horsepower would’ve been a treat for all of today’s teenagers and young adults in the Midwest.
This goes way back but I remember a former Hot Rod editor putting together a 2-part story in HR about the fate of a lot of these strips. 1 of 'em was shut down by a housing project that came in long after the strip was made. Thing is the land was never developed, just sat idle.
There was a quarter mile drag strip in Colchester, Connecticut, that the nitrous cars would turn 5's if my memory serves me correctly. We also had Waterford speed bowl, and another track was Thompson speedway and Stafford Springs speedway. Stafford still runs. Lime rock park, Lakeville, Connecticut. Good Ole days.
I was still in high school, but I did have the opportunity to race only one time at US30. We spent most of our time at Osceola and US131 strips. The Merrillvile surface in ‘83 was, let’s just say, “questionable” compared to the other tracks.
I attended many many times. We lived about 30 miles away. Best part was watching all the gambling. I remember my brother in law accepting a, "donation" to lose. Easy $50.
"SUNDAY ! SUNDAY ! SUNDAY ! .....at U.S. 30 Drag Strip !" (Only one speed-way has a track of clay, you ain't seen nothin till you've been to Santa Fe......Speedway)
Green valley. Sunday race day Sunday green valley raceway. Hallisville. Kenadale. Dallas international speedway Lewisville Texas. Dallas raceway in Crandall. Royal purple Houston. Denton dragway. No wonder there's so much street racing. No where to go. Can't believe yellow belly still running so much history just gone. Never to see again glad I had a life of enjoying these facilities and a few pictures to remanies
I grew up in Hammond so went there, Illiana and Blue Island. Had two friends race each other at Rt 30. One drove a short school bus that held the engine from his wrecked Super Bee. The other drove a well used 1960 VW bug. The bus won.
One strip that is still around, at least 60 years old now, if not older. I use to go there when I was a kid. ESTA Safety Park, Cicero, NY. Full 1/4 mile strip...
In my youth I pumped gas at a station in Schaumburg, Illinois and three guys in a pickup pulling a trailered dragster pulled up. They were headed to this drag strip
Starter Carter, one of the Arfons burned down the wood timing tower with his jet car…I remember the class racing…a VW bug won a trophy every week cause he was a one car “ class”, there was also a brush and rattle can painted plum colored late 50’s Rambler sedan with a flathead 6 and 3 on the tree…he won every week too… then there was Dave Hendrickson and his brother ran their dads 53 (?) ford 6 cylinder that was 3 on the tree but 3rd gear didn’t work…they won sometimes sometimes not…there was Denny Ganz with his white mustang convert ( black top) called either the Outsider or the Intruder…don’t remember, but it was fast…No Big Thing…Vespa with a big v8? One Sunday they featured Garlits vs TV Tommy Ivo…first pass Garlits hemi let go…Don wrenched on it with a speeder in the parking lot all of us looking on…pulling the heads a good old boy said” look he’s got the spark heads off”..we all thought Garlits was gonna clock him with a breaker bar,but he made the next race…pretty impressive. One day they had a motorcycle stunt rider…made his first pass doing a wheelie standing on the seat all the way down and back…crowd roared approval…made a second run..the crowd booed…the feature was funny cars…first pass a couple hemi honkers smoked down the track…the car in the left lane swerved crazily left and right near the lanes end and stopped and popped the lid, jumped out and ran to the left side grass…were all like WTF…motorcycle guy had crashed and was laying crumpled the side of the track…everyone had forgot about him… Coolest thing I ever saw was the return of the Blue Max grudge race against I think the Chi Town Hustler…Max they announced had a brand new $100 grand plus engine…there was a scantily dressed girl with the max…high heels, halter top…poured the bleach for the Max’s burn outs…all the while giving the crowd a show…she was a big girl…the two funny cars did their burn outs…Christmas tree blinks…roar, smoke and flame…three fourths down the track the Max’s new engine grenades and the car went up in flames, the driver escaping unharmed…$150 grand poof… Last year or so Gene Pudlo of Mazur and Pudlo ( Early T Bird with a 396 Chevy) passed away. Say a prayer if you have a mind to…good memories.
The year 1980. I was 8 years old and just coming aware of my surroundings. From riding my bicycle in front of my house came a huge roar. It was distant but it sounded monstrous. A sound I never heard before. I immediately dropped my bike ran to my father and asked him what it was. He bluntly replied 'it's that damn dragstrip'. In that moment my entire life changed. See I live in green acres subdivision right next door to the strip. Dragstrip you say? It's like waking up one day and finding out you live next to Disneyland. It wasnt a matter of hours until I was hoping fences cutting through neighbors yards to enter the very end of the track. The turn around for those who know. I hid in the bushes next to the track not wanting to be seen. There I waited. Wasnt long till i saw my first set of cars. They looked nothing like I've ever seen before. They looked brand new and old at the same time. The paint covering the cars sparkled in the sun and they had so many stickers on them you couldn't keep count. I stayed in those bushes for hours watching them pass by slowly sometimes stopping.I needed to see more. When the coast was clear I quickly crossed the tracks and entered the field that was in the middle. Heading to the front of the dragstrip I was confronted by what seemed like hundreds of sticker bushes. This wasnt easy for an eight year old but I was determined to see more. It took what felt like an eternity but I made it to the end of the field to take my first steps into the main pit area. Four adults were standing close to where I appeared out of the bushes. One turned and looked at me as I walked closer but then he turned back around unfazed by what he saw. I walked right passed and suddenly felt older. What I experienced from this point was nothing short of amazing. I walked right up to and stood next to race car drivers looking over their cars some frantically doing repairs. I stood feet away from cars peering at their engines side by side mechanics. There were so many cars and so much action happening i felt delirious. Finally I entered the area of the stands and got my first glimpse of cars that were staging. Their motors completely destroyed any other sound as their tires lit up with billows of smoke. The smell burned my nose and never left. They vaulted off the line with such intensity you could feel it. The crowd was completely captivated as was I by the competition and the sheer volume of it all. This without a doubt was a pivotal moment for me. I would return to repeat this experience numerous times in my youth. Always the same route and always the time of my life. I'm so glad I got the chance to experience this dragstrip. I will forever miss it.
Thank you for sharing this beautiful memory with us. It felt, while I was reading, as if I were there with you.
It's these small moments that make the internet beautiful after all.
You were in heaven.... Some day you will return..... Happy trails.
Thanks for a great story!!
The only thing I have to to say to you is STP. They were the Gods of our time and you walked the their streets. You were blessed.
Awesome man!! Thanks for that.
Just like the youtube videos of Oswego (IL) Drag Raceway. These make me very sad. It was an amazing, marvelous experience every weekend. We came home sunburned, dirty and deaf. In this world today where everything has been "sanitized" the drag strips could never exist. Glad I was there when they did.
The aroma of burnt rubber and nitro-methane.
@@mirrorblue100 you betcha, buddy!
Agreed…..yesterday,when I was young.
I did not know Oswego had a drag strip till I saw your comment. Miss Sante Fe Speedway as well as US 30 drag. Good times growing up back then.
I can hear it as if I was still tooling around central Indiana in my '50 Chevy listening to all the hits on WLS, "SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAT at US 30 Dragway see (fill in the blank with whatever was running that weekend)." As teenage gearheads in the 1960's, those ads got our juices flowing. Thanks for sharing.
I grew up in Ohio and listened to WLS radio! I too remember those ads and that gentleman's distinct voice. Good times.
Dragway 42
@@jamesstetz9884 MCIR and Norwalk is where I went to watch my father race.
We were listening to WLS in East Texas in the 60s as well.
BE THERE!
I still live about 5 minutes away... the decades-old memories will NEVER fade away. Thank you all.
As advertised on 89 WLS Chicago radio---"Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, at US 30 Raceway, where the great ones run!"
I was probably about six or seven the first time I went to a drag race here. It is a short ride from Sauk Village Ill. down US30 which goes through Sauk Village. It was so exciting. I remember the Little Red Wagon, A Funny car named Color me Gone. What memories.
@@kevinwhitescarver8369 As a boy on the farm in SE Iowa in the 1960's WLS and an AM station in Little Rock were the only decent rock stations we could get so I grew up hearing those ads for US 30 Raceway. Then in 1983 I was visiting friends in Indiana and they took me to South Lake Mall in Merrillville. We got out of the car and I could hear the drags so I asked and they said it was US 30 Raceway. Of course, I said, "You've got to be sh*ten me!". In 1987 I returned on my then new Kawasaki ZL1000 eliminator and rode down that closed track. Crazy.
It went..... "Sunday , Sunday , Sunday at smokin US 30 drag strip where the big ones Run run run"
@@powellpatterson4928 Back in the 60's the ad seamed to change a little from day to day.
@@JSProjectWild jet blasting wheel standing fire breathing action. From the drone video it was unrecognisable. A couple old photos looked like I remember it.
Wow I tripped on this video and immediately hit play. I can’t explain the lonely emptiness it left me. This drag strip is where my life centered around during my high school years. I was living in Chicago Heights, Ill, and raced there many Sundays first with a 50 Chevy, 283cu in, 3 on the floor, then in my second car 63 Pontiac Lemans, 326cu in, and still have every trophy won there. I was always on the go with Raceway Park, Blue Island, Saturday nights and US30 drag strip Sundays. In between times would visit Iliana Speedway. I have nothing but great memories of that time and always listening to WLS radio and “Sunday at beautiful US30 Drag Strip”. There was always so much going on that trouble never entered the mind. For me that all came to a end after graduating HS I joined the USAF to go off and fight a war. Today Im so grateful I was able to enjoy coming up thru those fast and fun times along with the memories. Thank you so much for sharing this.
"Where the great ones run,run,run"!!... Boy do I remember the radio ads!!
Sunday,Sunday,Sunday!!
1968-1982...My Oldest Brother Raced there...They called him "4 on the Floor" South Side Chicago. St Rita. Thousands of Memories. The Ride getting there down the DAM Ryan Expy was the Best for a 5 year old going over the Skyway Bridge on a Friday/Saturday afternoon. Sunday My Parents came too. The Red Wagon as well as the Snake were my favorites. Hemi Under Glass Too. Hanging at Mr. Norms in the early 70's. 7-8 years old. I 'm a nobody. LOL. But they knew my brothers. Great Times. Great Memories. Go Big Daddy.
Never been there, but it does not stop the lump in my throat from choking me up.
You did a nice job on this. Amazing how much can go through your head in three minutes. So many memories.
Thank you.
Going to that track with my dad when I was a kid now 60 is what got me into hot rods
The last thing I heard about US30 is that original owner of the land was harassed by the town so bad he said he would never sell the land for housing.
I hope his great-grandchildren keep it just like that
Good on him!
The insane cost of NHRA tickets and parking and the constant encroachment of real estate development is killing the sport of drag racing. People complain about street racing yet no one wants a race track near “their house”. Small airports are suffering the same fate. A historic part of Americana is fading from the public memory with the passing years.
Don't forget these places also employed young people, and cut down on street racing, besides being a hell of a lot of fun.
Come on. Street racing was more prevalent in the 1950s than 2024.
People complain about the race tracks and airports, yet they buy their houses near race tracks and airports. DUH!
@@johnh1932street racing in the 1950s was done on outside roads of the town. Or on Rhodes way outside of town. I know this cuz my dad was racing in the early fifties in a 1940 Willys in Pomona California and he told me all about it
Paradise Road...
Thanks for posting. Those loud commercials bring back memories. My best friend across the street said, when his clock radio alarm would go off each morning for grade school, it would always wake him up with that "SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY" ! I remember a figure 8 stock car race track out near O'Hare airport by Mannheim and Lawrence maybe. Not too sure.
Loved the demolition derby there.
Closed down for noise complaints, yet theres hardly anyone living close by 40 years later. What a bunch of BS
That's always the go to complaint for someone or people who want the land for their money making purposes. I hope they never build anything there other than bringing back the track.
typical build near a track then complain about it
Isn't it the same for Iliana Speedway?They were supposed to build a housing development but it looks like they never did.
Same with airports. People get the land cheap. Build the house, then complain about the noise. Enough complaints and away it goes.
I started watching this short video because it was about US30 dragstrip, knowing that it was in Indiana. But my memories were going back to the same time period at the late US30 dragstrip in York, PA. Both with the same name, and the same wonderful memories for different people so far apart.
Something that future generations will never get to experience, we lost 2 drag strips in NJ within the last 7-10 years.
Englishtown and Atco. Long live the memories!
Bunker hill still lives. It’s going strong too. Car shows are always filled to the brim. Main events are packed. I go there when I can. I don’t think it’ll die any time soon fortunately.
They seem to be going away everywhere. Real estate developers and noise complaints here in Florida. Lost Hollywood many years ago. Palm Beach recently. Sure there are more, those are just 2 I raced at many years ago. They tried to close Bradenton but people and the owners fought and won, for now.
I never went there but lived nearby just inside Illinois. I remember the radio promos for the track and major race events. It always started with,
"Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!"
The first drag race I went too was there. Lived in Sauk Village Ill. I also remember going too Lake Eliza during the summers in late sixties early seventies.
What's remarkable about this video is that, even after 40 years, much of "Smokin' US 30 Dragstrip" (I can still hear the late Jan Gabriel hawk races at the track on the radio) is somewhat recognizable.
God has blessed me sooo much for all the good times and the good memories of the old drag strips !!! And getting to meet and know some amazing people !!! I can still hear the ENGINES SCREAMING and the people working hard together to make this all happen !!! People helping others in the pits to make it to the next round !!! Because they loved the sport and loved their cars and loved their fans !!! I was just a kid back then!!! But I will always cherish my childhood memories !!! And sometimes one of the racers would ask me if I wanted to set in there car !!! No amount of money could ever have bought that !!! I was King of the World !!! And a lot of those people and tracks are gone now !!! But the memories of them will never fade away !!! Kids today will never understand what they have missed !!! It was GOOD TIMES and GOOD PEOPLE and GOOD TRACKS ❤
I visited this place a few days ago. So very cool. I hung out there when I was a teenager. Raced a Chevelle down their track. Yes, it was slow. 15s
Crying my eyes out-------Thank you so much.
sitting in California and this pops up
reminds me of gradeschool in the late 60s listening to DJ Larry Lujack on WLS and the ;
SUNDAY ! SUNDAY ! SUNDAY !
AT WAILING US 30 DRAGSTRIP ...
WHERE THE GREAT ONES ...
RUN ! RUN ! RUN !
commercials
id forgotten about NW Indiana until right now
is Wells St Beach on County Line Road still a thing
anybody
Does anyone else have tears in their eyes right now?
Well done video! Thanks for the ride down Memory Lane. 👍
Oh boy, does this ever bring back memories. I had no idea the place was no longer in business. I can still hear the old WLS radio ads in my head. It's nice to see the Byron Dragway is still around.
Great video. Soon to be gone forever. May Sunday, Sunday, Sunday live in infamy!
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday where the big ones run. Back in the day I've been to US 30 drag strip many times.
I still remember as a kid watching the commercials on the UHF channels of the cars running up and down the track with the mountains in the background............yes mountains in Indiana. Obviously the footage was from another drag strip probably from California. I still recall a comedian ....can't remember his name now using that in his stand up in the 80's
Memories. They will forever be in my mind of the 50s and 60s and 70s of Lake and Porter County. The region.
I have lived all over the country north south east and west, but my thoughts will always be in Lake and Porter county Indiana.
same here…grew up in South Haven. Merrillville Mall and the Toys -R-Us always come to mind during Christmas. Lived in Portage and Hobart for my first 21 years, then moved to SW Florida 36 years ago. Still have family up there. Even with the endless summer and limitless things to do in Florida, NW Indiana was a great place to grow up. I do miss it.
`Dah Region'
Kiddie land, WGN and Garfield Goose, the Bozo Show, the Y&W open air drive in, Goldblatts downtown, the Village Shopping Center, and making out with Debbie in the car at the marine corps reserve base parking lot on north Lake Street. I will never forget that!
I used to race there in the late 70's early 80's! I had a '65 Belvedere with a 426 Max Wedge and a 727 Trans with and 8 3/4 Posi....those were the days!
Went there as a kid in the 60s, we lived in East Gary next to Portage. We would also go shopping at Wise Way and Shopper's World. Once drove down County Line Rd. at 85mph racing a tornado home.
I would have loved to go there in its hey day. It's sad to see places like this just die away.
I can still hear it….run run run run……
I used to live across the street after it was closed and take my kids there to ride our
bikes. You could go almost to the end where the lane narrowed and then take a short dirt path to the back lot of Wendys for a frosty.
Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! at beautiful US 30 Dragstrip. Always fun in the 60's
Used to go there as a kid, Coca Cavalcade of Stars etc. What an iconic place.
We actually rode our bikes from Miler to go there once, what a time piece.
Was a kid there in the early 70s. Lived in Lansing IL. Kings Speed Shop would be the place that my friends and I would hang around. #Lmecycles
I went there once in 75, and it was great. So sad to see it just slowly disappearing.
I lived in Chicago area until 1984, but never went to US30 drag strip. But I sure remember the commercials with Jan Gabriel (I think) yelling: Sunday, SUNDAY, _SUNDAY!_ at beautiful US30 Dragstrip! Sadly, he is gone now too.
Gone, baby, gone.
That’s what I immediately thought of when I saw the title of this video. I think it was Jan Gabriel on those commercials. I never made it to those events but kind of wish I had gone to Santa Fe Speedway when it was around.
@@Michael-cx1zi I ran spectator racing and oval drags for several years at Santa Fe. I really miss that.
Miss Santa Fe big time. Joliet not keeping up!
Just like Santa Fe speedway
I raced there up to the early 70's , sure miss it
Raced there many times, sure do miss it
Love how the vintage dragstrip fades back into earth and out of existence at the end.
went there a couple of times with my friends in the mid-70s. it's sad that it had closed .it was always a good time being there.
I worked for the Showtime Funny Car back in the early 70's. There were so many pro Funny Cars passing through there at the time they didn't hire any for Wednesday night races. Instead they offered $500 for 1 run and the 2 top ETs came back for $1,000 to win and $750 for runner up. A lot of racers stayed at the Holiday Inn Merrillville and worked on their cars.
Chicago guy here. US30 in IN. Oswego, IL and Union Grove, WI were the big 3 here. Back in the 60's we would hit them all at least once a season. Once you get the smell of burning rubber and nitro you are hooked. When we got home my mother would say hit the shower and throw those stinking clothes in the washing machine. Good memories.
Our Country is dying, get used to it. I looked up some houses I used to own/live in, and seen after I sold them they had been foreclosed on , and ran down, when I owned the homes I took pride in keeping them up, but the other owners didn't seem to care about things like that. We are now living in a (throw away world), we just use things and then discard them, sad, very sad.
Went there on Wednesdays and Sundays all through high school. Ben Christ (owner) could assemble some shows that were world class. I remember Carter, the starting line starter always dressed in white. Lost a few friends through the years there as well. The track was not safe by todays standards. Dr Byron Milton, Kenny Perry, Bill Grooms and more. Gone, but never forgotten.
I won the SS/Af6 here at the 1964 Summer AHRA Nationals, driving a 1964 Plymouth 426 wedge. It looks a lot different today. It’s to bad it is gone.😢
Back in early 70’s a buddy of mine used to race there. he had a 67 ss . Good times
Wow! I raced there many times. So many great memories. U.S. 41 will never be as good as the original granddaddy U.S. 30 Dragstrip! Every sunday where the great ones run!
I have many fond memories of this dragstrip. Too bad it closed.
My older brother used to take let me tag along when I was a kid...lot of great memoirs....Where the great omes run.😅
I hate to admit it, but I miss it so much. Used to go and race every weekend. My husband at the time raced a 68 roadrunner call "Gravedigger II" and was one of very few to hit a "triple donut" out there. Met a lot of good people out there and got to see some very good cars and drivers. Glad I got to go there.
As a drag racer all my life on the west coast growing up in SoCal where we have lost so many of the drag strip I grew up racing, I am glad I took the time and made the effort to travel in the 1980's and 1990's east to race on lots of famed tracks that no longer exist like Moroso Motorsports Park, Houston, Memphis, Atlanta, Englishtown, etc., and many that still do like Rockingham, Dallas, Baton Rouge, Orlando, Gainesville, Bradenton, and a ton of others. But, I will always miss Lions, O.C.I.R, Carlsbad, Riverside, the original Irwindale, Ontario, LACR, and even The Brotherhoid Raceway on Terminal Island in Long Beach. The 70's-80's was a great time to drag race in SoCal! (The 80's-90's was a great time to travel and tour to race all those tracks I only dreamed of racing on...and there are a few I never did run on yet (Denver...the mile high mountain track gone forever now, Brainerd, and Of course the Big Go of Indy still on my bucket list along with National Trails, St. Louis, New England, Seattle and a few others in the northwest and deep south...If I live long enough now (back at it now a year, after a long layoff of a quarter of a century helping to educate and raise a family), I will race on as many sanctioned surfaces as I can before the rest dissappear into the background and memories of time.
Then upon my demise please cremate my remains and mix my ashes into the very next starting line concrete pad to be replaced and re-poured so people long into the future can burnout and launch on my face. Let that glue they buy now in expensive barrels be the glue that holds the memories of this old drag racer together forever thereafter.
It saddens me to view all those empty near silent tracks like this and the last remains of a once famed and lively place that once brought noise, smoke, and smells...and joy to so many that was pushed out and rot forever. Enjoy the high auto insurance rates the street racers have brought you now to your local neighborhoods for decades after you helped close down oh so many safer speed venues...You traded silence for not much safety and a lot more danger and costs. (Speaking to those that by encroachment purchased hones near the noise making facilities of the past).
As for me, looking for an empty plot of land right across from one of the last remaining tracks that will be here for my remaining years, to retire to, buy or build my last abode on, and race until I cannot race anymore...The noise and people, crowds will not bother me...because if the gates are open...that is where I will be found making noise and quarter mile passes, and living the dream.
Dang. Spent some great Sunday afternoons at "Beautiful US 30 Dragstrip - Drag Racing Capitol of Chicagoland." Top fuelers, funny cars, local guys. I suppose now there is an app for that.
Wow, has it really been 40 years since it closed? I can still remember the radio ads for it mentioning Big Daddy! On Sundaysundaysunday!
Loved going there. Now I go to Great Lakes Dragaway.
How is GLD I saw Big Daddy break 200 in ‘72
Looks like it was a real 1/4 mile one all we have left here is the Ohio valley in Louisville it’s just 1/8 mile . Not far from my farm is the old Harrison county speedway on highway 11 it was running into the early 80s
SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY! US 30 Dragstrip action!!
Very sad video. i remember as a kid racing to the magazine store to pick up a copy of drag racing usa, hot rod, motor
trend etc. The dragstrip was pure americana. i am happy that i visited raceway park in englishtown,n.j. many times before it closed. Change is inevitable but sometimes it hurts.
There is a Ladder laying on the Left side of the drag strip at 1:48 , call the Asphalt Paver and open this back up
Great Lake drag strip is still open and I race there in the 70 then I had my son at 7 start racing jr dragter till heave out at 17
What a wonderful time for my son , wife and me to there every time the JR Dragster race
I’m 76 now but that was the very best time in my life and thinking father and son had race on the same drag strip
Them were the good old days and I still miss it very much,all I have left is every time slips I have saved
We were running the 7:90 class and our best pass 3:33 was 7:55 at 91 MPH
I've always wanted to travel on the National Road!
ALOT of history, there! Thanks!
That old drag strip appeared to have a lot of length compared to some that are still operating today, like Brown County.
Went there many times with my girlfriend. Wayne Gapp & Jack Roush gave her a ride in their "Shot Gun" pinto in 1972.
I didn't know that there were two US30 Dragstrips? I always think of US30 in Thomasville, PA, but I believe it was actually called US30 "Dragway" and they were an NHRA sanctioned track? My dad raced there in the 50s and 60s, before I was born, my brother took me there throughout the 70s. The problem with US30 Dragway was that they ran Towards the road US30, and a couple cars couldn't stop and entered the roadway, striking motorists, it was bad, so they shut it down and moved to Maple Grove Raceway.
Merrillville dragstrip and Schererville Route 30 dragstrip should’ve been reopened in 2010 for the modern muscle car performances. Today’s horsepower would’ve been a treat for all of today’s teenagers and young adults in the Midwest.
A solitary tear rolls from my eye. A gearhead I'll be , until until I die.
U live in frogtown
Always wondered what happened to US 30 dragstrip. Used to hear their adverts every weekend when I was a kid in Chicago.
Living in Indianapolis I remember going there in the mid 70's...its a shame all they need today are street take overs and stolen cars...😢
This goes way back but I remember a former Hot Rod editor putting together a 2-part story in HR about the fate of a lot of these strips. 1 of 'em was shut down by a housing project that came in long after the strip was made. Thing is the land was never developed, just sat idle.
HR former editor Pat Ganahal.
“We’ll sell you the entire seat, but you’ll only need the edge!”
I remember going there when I was a kid with my father and uncles and seeing the funny cars dragsters and the jet cars and that was fun
There was a quarter mile drag strip in Colchester, Connecticut, that the nitrous cars would turn 5's if my memory serves me correctly.
We also had Waterford speed bowl, and another track was Thompson speedway and Stafford Springs speedway.
Stafford still runs.
Lime rock park, Lakeville, Connecticut.
Good Ole days.
I was still in high school, but I did have the opportunity to race only one time at US30. We spent most of our time at Osceola and US131 strips. The Merrillvile surface in ‘83 was, let’s just say, “questionable” compared to the other tracks.
A lot of memories were made here.
I attended many many times. We lived about 30 miles away. Best part was watching all the gambling. I remember my brother in law accepting a, "donation" to lose. Easy $50.
So sad all tracks will someday close 2 right here in my state NJ English Town and Atco tracks have closed 😢
"SUNDAY ! SUNDAY ! SUNDAY ! .....at U.S. 30 Drag Strip !" (Only one speed-way has a track of clay, you ain't seen nothin till you've been to Santa Fe......Speedway)
Two many have gone out of Business!!! So Sad & complain about street racing? What the hell is going on? Thanks for the memories.
This could be a neat park nature trail with historical markers along the way.
Green valley. Sunday race day Sunday green valley raceway. Hallisville. Kenadale. Dallas international speedway Lewisville Texas. Dallas raceway in Crandall. Royal purple Houston. Denton dragway. No wonder there's so much street racing. No where to go. Can't believe yellow belly still running so much history just gone. Never to see again glad I had a life of enjoying these facilities and a few pictures to remanies
My scoutmaster raced his Willys and his Vega there many times .
You needed one of the "Sunday, sunday, sundays" commercials that used to be on WLS to start the video
They are on you tube.
I grew up in Hammond so went there, Illiana and Blue Island. Had two friends race each other at Rt 30. One drove a short school bus that held the engine from his wrecked Super Bee. The other drove a well used 1960 VW bug. The bus won.
Ditto, from Hammond as well. Went to all 3 places in the late 60’s early 70’s. Lots of fun.
Good memories, good times!
Fremont dragstrip 1959-1988. Fremont Ca RIP.
I ran a 64 Impala wagon there ! Great times ! And memories !
Many Of Times We Went There ,Great Fun !!!
Back when Boys were allowed to Play. Rip good times.
One strip that is still around, at least 60 years old now, if not older. I use to go there when I was a kid. ESTA Safety Park, Cicero, NY. Full 1/4 mile strip...
SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY! Rang a dang dang, rang a dang dang, rang a dang dang, rang a dang dang, rang a dang dang.
I remember going there with my neighbors in the 60s 😎
In my youth I pumped gas at a station in Schaumburg, Illinois and three guys in a pickup pulling a trailered dragster pulled up. They were headed to this drag strip
I've heard of the place decades ago and been closed forever as far as I know, I'm 75 so
Starter Carter, one of the Arfons burned down the wood timing tower with his jet car…I remember the class racing…a VW bug won a trophy every week cause he was a one car “ class”, there was also a brush and rattle can painted plum colored late 50’s Rambler sedan with a flathead 6 and 3 on the tree…he won every week too… then there was Dave Hendrickson and his brother ran their dads 53 (?) ford 6 cylinder that was 3 on the tree but 3rd gear didn’t work…they won sometimes sometimes not…there was Denny Ganz with his white mustang convert ( black top) called either the Outsider or the Intruder…don’t remember, but it was fast…No Big Thing…Vespa with a big v8? One Sunday they featured Garlits vs TV Tommy Ivo…first pass Garlits hemi let go…Don wrenched on it with a speeder in the parking lot all of us looking on…pulling the heads a good old boy said” look he’s got the spark heads off”..we all thought Garlits was gonna clock him with a breaker bar,but he made the next race…pretty impressive.
One day they had a motorcycle stunt rider…made his first pass doing a wheelie standing on the seat all the way down and back…crowd roared approval…made a second run..the crowd booed…the feature was funny cars…first pass a couple hemi honkers smoked down the track…the car in the left lane swerved crazily left and right near the lanes end and stopped and popped the lid, jumped out and ran to the left side grass…were all like WTF…motorcycle guy had crashed and was laying crumpled the side of the track…everyone had forgot about him…
Coolest thing I ever saw was the return of the Blue Max grudge race against I think the Chi Town Hustler…Max they announced had a brand new $100 grand plus engine…there was a scantily dressed girl with the max…high heels, halter top…poured the bleach for the Max’s burn outs…all the while giving the crowd a show…she was a big girl…the two funny cars did their burn outs…Christmas tree blinks…roar, smoke and flame…three fourths down the track the Max’s new engine grenades and the car went up in flames, the driver escaping unharmed…$150 grand poof…
Last year or so Gene Pudlo of Mazur and Pudlo ( Early T Bird with a 396 Chevy) passed away. Say a prayer if you have a mind to…good memories.
I get and lived the old, but new ones are better.
Where was this? I used to go to Illiana and South Lake but not this. I haven't been there in 25 years.
sort of a life lesson. nothing is forever. heart-breaking sometimes