Central Michigan Dragway

Bob George was a local auto racing promoter that the members of the Strokers of Saginaw knew. Bob got hold of a fellow up in Edmore, Michigan that owned the Central Michigan Airport. "He let us use his airport, and that's when we started drag racing," Al Benaway told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama early in 2021. The year was 1957, and Al told Kustomrama that the airport consisted of sand and grass. Photo from The Strokers of Saginaw Photo Collection.

Members of the Strokers of Saginaw having a meeting about the construction of a drag strip in July of 1957. Local auto racing promoter Bob George told the newspaper that if there was enough interest shown in their second race, held July 28, 1957, the airstrip track would be paved. Bob estimated that it would cost $36,000 to pave the Edmore track. Photo from The Strokers of Saginaw Collection.

Photo from The Strokers of Saginaw Photo Collection.

Photo from The Strokers of Saginaw Photo Collection.

Bob George was a local auto racing promoter that the members of the Strokers of Saginaw knew. Bob got hold of a fellow up in Edmore, Michigan that owned the Central Michigan Airport. "He let us use his airport, and that's when we started drag racing," Al Benaway told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama early in 2021. The year was 1957, and Al told Kustomrama that the airport consisted of sand and grass. "The first time I drag raced up there, I had the Model A Coupe with the flathead in it. I was drag racing in the dirt," he chuckled. Sunday, July 7, 1957, 2,117 spectators came to watch the first supervised Drag Strip race in Central Michigan make it into the history books. Al became the area’s top winner in Class C. Later on, he also raced a channeled '34 two-door sedan that he lost the grille on while racing, as the pointed 34 grille kept digging down into the sand.