A little over two years ago, news hit about Sunflower Rod and Custom Association (SRCA) Dragstrip in Great Bend, Kansas closing for the season because of concerns about the recently constructed track surface. The concerns have led to the track not holding a race since April of 2023.

Just over a month ago, the popular Thunder Valley Raceway Park (TVRP) in Noble, Oklahoma would close their gates after the lease expressed tough times and monthly loses were too much to bear.

Recent news has hinted that both tracks are making strides to come back to racing soon, with construction under way at SRCA Dragstrip, and three events scheduled at TVRP.

In a state that has seen several dozen tracks since the 1950s, Palm Beach International Raceway looked to have the staying power, even going through a complete revamp in 2008 to become an all-concrete track.

Fourteen years later, April of 2022, the track saw its last action, and the land was going to be repurposed for warehouses. And although the southeast Florida area has been devoid of an operational quarter-mile track since, there’s been a good bit of news that could return PBIR to its former glory.

The sale never went through due to a variety of factors, and the track has continued to sit vacant and unused. The owner at the time of the closure, IRG Sports and Entertainment, has since fallen into liquidation of their assets, and as of a few weeks ago, the 174-acre property was listed on the open market with a “call for price” listing. Could the track possibly be saved?

Just over two months after ending their 2023 season, Battlefield Dragstrip changed that status to permanent closure for the 2024 season.

Despite thirty years of operation in Stonewall, Mississippi and recent upgrades, the track’s future looked bleak.

But recently, news broke that Battlefield Dragstrip will get its latest operator this month, as the track is scheduled to see action for the first time in nearly fifteen months on December 21st, 2024.

As the track that hosted not only the first National Hot Rod Association national event in 1955, but also been a part of Hot Rod Drag Week and Rocky Mountain Race Week, the Sunflower Rod and Custom Association (SRCA) Dragstrip has been void of any racing action for the last two years. Recently, a settlement was reached that might change the 2025 season hopes for the track in Great Bend, Kansas.

We’ve covered some race track closures in the last few years here, but occasionally we also get to cover race tracks coming back to life after sitting inactive. Recently, news came up about Sturgis Dragway in South Dakota.

After ten years, a soft opening in 2022, and being shuttered for almost two years, a drag strip in West Virginia will get a second chance. And a former IHRA / PDRA championship family will lead the charge to put action on the track once again.