Image credit: namethattrack.com

In the storied history of our great sport, the virtually endless list of long-since shuddered strips hold as storied a position in drag racing as the legendary drivers and cars that competed there and the events and happenings that occurred within their gates. Fact finders who cut their teeth or got their first taste of the sport at these hollowed grounds of speed have managed to locate many of these facilities over the decades – some standing and some covered in shopping malls.

One of these tracks if the Beeline Dragway, located in the desert of Mesa, Arizona just northeast of Phoenix. Beeline was one of the premier facilities of its time, and hosted the AHRA Winter Nationals each year in late January, attracting some of the biggest names in the sport from all across the country. The track met it’s untimely fate in the early 1980’s due to a dispute between the landowners and the track management.

What makes Beeline still of interest to this day is that for those interested in checking out abandoned historical sites, the timing tower of the track still stands out in the Arizona desert, and much of the facility is still discernible. The tower is a little worse for wear having become a part of the sandy desert for a quarter century, and much of the asphalt has long since been ripped up to keep out trespassing racers. However, much of the pit area remains paved to this day. While many of the old drag strips were completely torn down following their closure or became a part of the landscape over the time, this one is just resting there – a reminder of our past.