That sucks. Remember racing Scott Wiess there back in early 90's.

Sadly there will be more to come. See if I had hit that billion last night in lottery I could have new hobby opening old dragstrips .

I’m a Richmond native, born there in 1962. Southside Speedway, the little paved oval in Richmond, also announced a few weeks ago it was closing and property for sale. Both tracks had been open about 60 years I think. Pretty sad news.

The way folks were always raving about Richmond, I figured they would be one of the very last places to close down. Take care. Tom Worthington

My uncle was a long time racer at Richmond Dragway, and Johnny Davis (track owner) spoke at his funeral, back in 2002. Hard to imagine this track closing. Lots of bad stuff happening lately - hard to stay positive.

The sad part of Richmond closing is the small time, family feel of the place. Over time, you know the officials, the owners, the gals at the snack bar. Sometimes I couldn't get there a lot but when I did I always felt good about it. My first race there was back in 1970, I had been at the track with older friends starting in 1968. There's VMP of course but it's not the same feeling at all. I know changes happen, just have to move on.

On a positive note, Northeast Dragway has posted their schedule for 2021. http://www.northeastdragway.net/schedule/
Maybe this could be an alternative? Take care. Tom Worthington

quote:

Originally posted by Tom396:
On a positive note, Northeast Dragway has posted their schedule for 2021. http://www.northeastdragway.net/schedule/
Maybe this could be an alternative? Take care. Tom Worthington

Nobody from up there is driving to northeast with VMP also in that area.

quote:

Originally posted by Tom396:
The way folks were always raving about Richmond, I figured they would be one of the very last places to close down. Take care. Tom Worthington

I believe something was going on. They could of opened in 2020 , but chose not to which for me was confusing. Easily could of ran points series and completed there big 10k races with easily.

quote:

On a positive note, Northeast Dragway has posted their schedule for 2021. http://www.northeastdragway.net/schedule/
Maybe this could be an alternative? Take care. Tom Worthington

Tom, This could be a possibility but Northeast continues to schedule bracket races on the same dates as VMP. This seems to happen every year.

Richmond and VMP have worked together for several years and tried not to run the same type races on the same days.

I wasn't able to run much at Richmond but I went when my schedule would allow. It was always ran very well. I hate to hear this news.

Brian

quote:

Originally posted by camaro67:

quote:

On a positive note, Northeast Dragway has posted their schedule for 2021. http://www.northeastdragway.net/schedule/
Maybe this could be an alternative? Take care. Tom Worthington

Tom, This could be a possibility but Northeast continues to schedule bracket races on the same dates as VMP. This seems to happen every year.

Richmond and VMP have worked together for several years and tried not to run the same type races on the same days.

I wasn't able to run much at Richmond but I went when my schedule would allow. It was always ran very well. I hate to hear this news.

Brian

100% Vmp and Richmond worked very well with each other and made it a point not to run points series races on the same days. As well as not running big events on the same weekends.
They had a great working relationship..

2 million in one year Jeff Verdi cut his teeth at this track. Not sure but around 1970 or so I bought a trailer from a man named John Davis that had a funny car named Jumpin John. Was this the track he owned?

If yo read the post and watch the video it does not sound like it was a financial decision at all. He says he didn't realize how much time he was spending away from his family running the track. He has been there since he was 15 years old. The sad reality is most likely the property will sale to someone (or some company) who will use it for something other than a race track.

quote:

Originally posted by RacerVX54:

quote:

Originally posted by Tom396:
The way folks were always raving about Richmond, I figured they would be one of the very last places to close down. Take care. Tom Worthington

I believe something was going on. They could of opened in 2020 , but chose not to which for me was confusing. Easily could of ran points series and completed there big 10k races with easily.

The county the Dragstrip was located in has its own health department. The number one priority for the county in 2020 was covid mandates. The county police would have probably shut him down for infractions if he tried to open.
VMP and Colonial beach are in counties that do not have their own health department so probably less strict and easier to open.
Once he was closed for all that time and spent time with his children he made the best decision for him and his family.
I will definitely miss racing there!!

That’s a shame! Feel bad for y’all but I know how you feel!