In recent weeks here on our Flashback Friday look back at the history of drag racing, we’ve highlighted some of the great quarter miles of yesteryear and the remnants of those facilities that have long since had their gates shuttered and graffitied. These have included the likes of Beeline Dragway, the Lakeland International Raceway, and the Inyokern Dragstrip. This week, we visit a strip that many around the country may not be that familiar with, but that like all of these old ghost tracks, holds a special place in the hearts of the locals that snuck in the gate as children and later cut their teeth behind the wheel of these old gems.

Image credit: Tim Bongard/The Pocono Record

Pocono Record Sports writer Tim Bongard wrote a nice article on the Pocono Drag Lodge in 2000 that would be a nice read for anyone interested in this facility.

The Pocono Drag Lodge was a quarter mile, NHRA sanctioned dragstrip located in Bear Creek, Pennsylvania, near the towns of Scranton and Wilks-Barre, and run by John Perugino, his sons Jim and Joe, and son-in-law Dan Levitsky. The facility was opened in 1963 and operated for only seven years, closing its gates forever in 1970. During it’s short tenture, however, it was a major site for the NHRA, hosting racers the likes of Arnie Beswick, Sox & Martin, Red Lang, Butch Leal, and even stock car legend Richard Petty and his ’64 Barracuda.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQKp3QR5Los

Interestingly, unlike many of the old dragstrips that closed their gates to make way for a shopping mall or went out of business and alter ripped up for a Wal-Mart, the Pocono Drag Lodge has sat dormant and untouched for four decades. It was this point that led a local groups’ attempt to revive the facility in the late 1990’s in conjunction with Perugino, who still owned the land. That plan would eventually fall through, however, a large contingent of longtime racers and fans – with Perugino’s blessing – held a reunion on the old quarter mile strip, with a car show that lined the length of the track on both ends and brought out a multitude of fans, young and old.

Image credit: Tim Bongard/The Pocono Record

Today, the entire strip and shutdown area still remains completely intact and in surprisingly good shape considering the length of time it’s been subjected to the environs. One floor of the two story tower still remains, and the grandstands, return road, pit area, and staging lanes are all still there, just as they were left back in 1970.