Drag Illustrated Issue 165, February 2021 | Page 55

DIALED IN

Carolina Classic

Track owner , Ronnie Humphrey
Coastal Plains Dragway approaches 50 years under Humphrey family ownership By Van Abernethy
PHOTOGRAPHS BY VAN ABERNETHY AND DELL PURIFOY

The racing landscape around Coastal Plains Dragway has experienced a number of transformations and shifts over the last half-century , ranging from facility upgrades to bracket racing largely transitioning to eighthmile competition from the time-honored staple of 1,320 feet .

Eventually , big-tire cars with massive horsepower were the featured attractions , as various touring clubs brought their act to the coastal region of the Tar Heel state . Next came an explosion of interest in no-prep racing that has swept the
country in recent years , energized by television shows such as Street Outlaws .
Through all the changes , though , one thing that ’ s remained the same is the steady leadership of the Humphrey family , who ’ s been at the helm of the Jacksonville , North Carolina , facility for the last 49 years .
“ Racing has ranged from our hobby to our career ,” explains Ronnie Humphrey , whose dad , Troy , entered into the first of several business partnerships of owning the track in 1972 . “ By the time I was 16 years of age , Dad owned the track solely , so I guess you could say that he and
I have been on this journey together since that time . I ’ m 60 years old now and I ’ ve been walking these grounds since I was 10 . Dad just turned 80 and he ’ s doing good .”
The facility itself has changed quite a bit from when the Humpheys first took over , most notably with an extensive remodel in 1975 , which replaced the metal Armco guardrails with concrete barriers and widened the track to 60 feet . Prior to 1975 , the track operated as a split-lane dragstrip , featuring two independent lanes with a dirt section that separated them .
The following decades ushered in exciting heads-
February 2021
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