A New Track Breaks Ground to Begin Construction in Northeast Florida, and Could see Drag Racing Action By May 2026!
After having four tracks closed in the last decade, Florida finally got a win light when information was relayed about a pair of tracks in the planning stages, or starting construction, in early 2024.
One of those tracks, Lead Foot City, was completed on the west side of the state in Brooksville in time to see racing action by December of 2024. Today, it was announced that Hicken Power Drag Strip had broken ground to start construction on a track in northeast Florida.
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Originally planned five years ago, the Callahan drag strip, which will be named Hicken Power Drag Strip, will return drag racing to the northeast part of the state for the first time since Green Cove Springs Dragway closed in 2017.
The initial announcement was made in February 2024, when Callahan Speedway operator David Hicken got the initial approval to build a drag strip adjacent to Callahan Speedway’s fifth-mile go-kart track. It has taken some time since then, but getting the money together, and the permits to build when a couple plans were needed to be redone due to wetlands being too close.
Today, ground was broken on the project, and the track details were revealed. The water box and starting line will have concrete, and then a half-mile of asphalt for the eighth-mile racing distance and shut down area, with an additional dirt shutdown area past that. Plans are to use ‘Jersey-style’ concrete barrier walls for safety.
The track aims to open the gates in May 2026, and would mark the first time that northeast Florida has a drag strip in over eight years. The most track to operate, Green Cove Springs Dragway, closed in 2017 after surrendering their lease to a car manufacturer to store vehicles. The other time Northeast Florida had a drag strip was Jax Raceways, which was closed and sold to a developer in 2004.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of An Image In Time Photography.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com