Prescott Raceway owner Jackie Lewis is a man who did more than fall in love with drag racing at a very young age . He pretty much developed an undeniable addiction to it . At just 14 years of age , he talked someone into letting him climb behind the wheel of their 1969 Plymouth GTX and make a full-throttle pass down the track he would later come to own . During his first full pull down the quarter mile , the Plymouth completely exploded the transmission and young Jackie was immediately hooked on driving fast cars . “ I still believe it ’ s every little boy ’ s dream – the noise , the smoke and the cars ,” he confesses .
Since that time , he ’ s only missed a handful of races here at this southwest Arkansas dragstrip . After practically growing up here and winning many races and multiple championships , the decision to buy the track was actually the furthest
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thing from his mind when thenowner Larry Boardman walked up to Lewis one night after a race and told him he was essentially ready to retire from dragstrip ownership , and insisted Lewis buy the track and begin operating it .
Lewis immediately began listing all the reasons why this wasn ’ t a good idea , but Boardman was quite certain that Lewis was the right man for the job . After stalling for a while , Lewis finally relented and agreed to purchase the track . Nearly 12 years later , he ’ s sure he made the right choice .
The biggest adjustment Lewis had to make was the steadfast , self-imposed decision that he should not compete in a race at the track he owns . “ Even though I had the full support of my
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Jackie Lewis
racers from the very beginning , I just don ’ t feel right about racing at my own track ,” he explains .
Every now and then he slips off to another area track and gets his fix . “ I raced a little last year at Centerville [ Arkansas ] and also at the tracks in Paris , Texas , and Ardmore , Oklahoma ... and I had a blast doing it !” he beams .
After a challenging 2020 , Lewis was anxious to open Prescott Raceway and move forward with the new season . “ The COVID mandates
were pretty strict in our state and we were forced to shut down and remain closed for several months ,” he says .
Lewis wasted no time opening in 2021 , and even hosted their first test-and-tune session in January . “ We wanted to have more TNTs in
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PHOTOGRAPHS BY VAN ABERNETHY |