The Unique Drag Racing Culture of Northern Michigan Dragway
Down a dirt road, among the trees, there’s a place to race.
Miles from the city lights, Northern Michigan Dragway has found its way into the hearts of those who yearn for a simpler way to worship acceleration.
The Ledford family has been running Northern Michigan for over 50 years. What was once a subsistence farm was turned into a drag strip in 1970, capitalizing on the mainstream popularity the sport was enjoying at the time.
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“Every so often we still get a stray potato pop up,” said Brian Ledford, the second-generation track manager of the property. His father Thomas and uncle Jimmy built the track, which opened to big crowds of spectators and racers.
As the boom days of drag racing quieted some, the brothers would go different ways four years later. Jimmy sought out a bigger market and turned dirt on Mid-Michigan Motorplex, while Thomas persisted at Northern.
“My dad really went into it strong again in 1980, doing a lot of advertising and bringing in good crowds for the time,” Brian said. “A few years later crowds declined again and he decided to do like Jimmy did and find a track in a more populated area.”
In 1984 Thomas Ledford discovered Ubly Dragway and he operated the track under a lease all the way through to 2007. Northern Michigan continued to run as well, with a group of local racers forming a non-profit to manage the venue (the Ledford family still owned the track) until 1993. That was when Brian took over, and he’s been there ever since.
“The last 10-to-12 years have been really phenomenal. This track went from struggling and having a hard time to bringing in nice crowds. We average 220 racers per event and some of our bigger events are up over 400.”
Leaving behind the noise of the start line, it’s strange how quickly the sound fades at Northern Michigan. The trees absorb the chaos of internal combustion and it’s not long before you can hear birds singing and insects buzzing. You might note RVs through the pits that look like they have been sitting for quite a while, each with a bracket car out front. It’s a quirky feature of the track that’s part of the culture.
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“We had a problem where people were roping off pit areas to save them and it was getting to be 80% of the pits were roped off. Being such a popular track, that created issues. We developed a reserved pit space program where they could pay a fee to have their own spot. Racers then started bringing RVs and fifth wheels and leaving them there.”
Racers also leave their cars under the trees, waiting for the next big event. The track wins as they get paid some rent, while the racers can make their personalized pit areas comfortable and convenient. Brian uses the word ‘edify’ when he talks about how Northern Michigan treats racers — it means building them up at every opportunity.
“It can be a struggle for people to get to the racetrack but when they get notoriety and they are showered with applause, like press releases and Facebook updates, that makes it a welcoming environment and a place they want to come back to.” There’s something to learn there, for all of us.
Written by Luke Nieuwhof. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine.
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