MILAN DRAGWAY OPENING DELAYED; FUTURE UNCERTAIN

by Thomas Pope; Photos by Roger Richards, Bryan Epps    Wed, 2021-03-31 09:37

 

Milan (Mich.) Dragway announced Tuesday, March 30, that it won’t open as planned April 10. 

A release on the milandragway.com homepage stated:


Dear Loyal & Valued Customers:

With heavy hearts, we must announce that we will not be opening as scheduled for the 2021 racing season.

We appreciate all of your support over the years. We have always operated with the best interests of our racers and fans in mind. Current circumstances do not allow us to operate the track safely, and so we are not able to open the track at all. 

We will provide any pertinent updates that we may have as they are available to share.  For now, however, we will be closed until further notice.

Stay safe and good luck to all of our racers and fans in your 2021 racing endeavors.

Sincerely,

Milan Dragway

 

The announcement was shared on the track’s Facebook page, as well as the Facebook page of Deneen Baxter, the track’s vice president. 

Beyond that news, Milan Dragway’s future may be in the hands of a Michigan circuit court judge.

The dragway’s parent company, Bel Air Raching [sic] Group (as it is shown in court records), is listed as one of 16 defendants in a suit filed July 17, 2020, by L & L Gold Associates.

The basis for the suit is not stated. The next hearing is scheduled April 9, the day before the track had planned to kick off its 2021 season.

Bel Air Raching [sic] Group is shown in that same filing as an alias/alternate name for Milan Dragway. Bel Air Racing Group has owned the track since early 1989. Also listed among the 16 defendants is the International Hot Rod Association, which at one time sanctioned racing at Milan.

CKiW iRadio 76, an internet radio station that plays “high-performance hits of the 60s and 70s,” has provided much of the very limited coverage of the legal dispute involving Milan Dragway. “Owner and bottle washer” is how CKiW iRadio 76’s John Sarver described himself in an interview with competitionplus.com Monday.

“It’s a soap opera. It gets weird in a hurry,” Sarver said. “It’s not like going down I-75 and getting off at Exit 35. It’s not that simple. It’s got so many on-ramps and off-ramps. I’m amazed at all the twists and turns.”

Milan Dragway was in operation as recently as November 2020 and sanctioned by the National Hot Rod Association as a member track in the North Central Division.

A 2021 Milan Dragway schedule that was published online listed more than 100 track-usage dates, including shows with Funny Cars in June, July and September. Tuesday’s announcement leaves that slate up in their air.

One person who wishes the best for Milan Dragway is Jason Peterson, the vice-president of operations at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Mich., for the past 18 years.

“I’d hate to see another track go away,” said Peterson, whose facility is two hours from Milan. Peterson noted Osceola Dragway -- located near Elkhart, Ind., about halfway between Detroit and Chicago -- last week announced its closure after 63 years in operation.

Milan Dragway opened in 1963. It gained national prominence in 1977 when it first hosted the IHRA Northern Nationals under owners Cliff and Barbara Riley.

That race continued annually through 1989, and some of the biggest names in the sport’s history were among its winners: Don Garlits, Warren Johnson, Ronnie Sox, homestate favorite Connie Kalitta, Dale Pulde, Raymond Beadle, Richard Tharp, Billy Meyer, Mark Oswald, Kenny Bernstein and Bob Glidden.

The ’89 season started with the Rileys as Milan Dragway’s owners, but early that year, they sold the facility to Bel Air Racing Group, whose president is listed online as William Kapolka.

Under Bel Air’s ownership, the IHRA Northern Nationals returned for a run from 2003-08, with champions including Clay Millican, Mike Janis, Robert Patrick, Australian Andrew Cowin, and Gary Densham, who downed Top Fuel star Doug Kalitta in a rare Nitro Funny Car outing (in his cousin Scott’s car). Milan Dragway was honored as IHRA’s Track of the Year in 2004.

 

 

 

 
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