Images credit: Greg Friend

As you may have picked up on with our feature of the remains of the Beeline Dragway in Arizona on Flashback Friday a couple of weeks back, locating old abandoned drag strips is something that we find to be quite interesting. Despite having never visiting most of these race tracks, we hate to see them closed up just as much as the next racer or fan, but the fact that many of them still stand today as lasting reminders of their glory days piques our curiosity. And clearly, we aren’t the only ones, as these long-since abandoned tracks have been visited and documented countless times.

This week, we take you to what was once the vibrant Lakeland International Raceway located near Memphis, Tennessee. The track opened on Fourth of July weekend, 1960, as the Lakeland Dragway and operated until 1979, seeing action from all three major sanctioning bodies (NHRA, IHRA, AHRA) during its tenure. As such, many of the greats in the sport paid visits to the facility, including “Jungle Jim” Liberman, “Big Daddy” Don Garlits, Shirl Greer, Bob Glidden, Shirley Muldowney, Tommy Ivo, “Dyno Don” Nicholson, and many others.

The entire Lakeland facility, which grew to include a road course integrated into the drag strip, had its last remains hauled away by heavy equipment in 2009, but not before many longtime local racing fans scoured the wooded-over facility for remnants of its past.

Up until its removal to make way for a mixed use industrial complex, much of the facility still remained, although the structures, such as the timing tower, had been torn down many years ago. The entire racing surface still existed (plus a few weeds growing through the cracks), and the staging lanes and foundation for the tower were still present. One of the most interesting features that still remained was the walkover bridge just behind what was once the burnout box. In addition, the concrete retaining walls bearing the logos of many different historic manufacturers and speed shops of the era.

Local Memphian Greg Friend has run a website dedicated to the memories of the Lakeland International Raceway for over 10 years, which contains more old footage, race flyers, radio ads, and history than we ever could publish here. So head on over to Greg’s website as www.lakelandraceway.com and take in the sights and sounds of yesteryear.