Heres another Wow

Mr. Black
I was a fixture at Twin City Drags. I first ran a 65 Dodge, small block. It was blue witha black top. I also sported Cragars and power was a small block. It was very consistant in the brackets. Later I ran a Black 340 Duster. I used to make "cartoon" drawings of some of the cars there. I loved that track. I was there the night that the LA Streetracer "Big Willie" brought out his Hemi Daytona to do battle with one of our locals. We won.That was the night that Willie's wife Tomica came down the track twasrds the timming tower (at full speed mind you)and ran past the tower, through the fence behind the staging area and across the street. The Hemi showed no damage. What a night.

 

Very interesting. It's sad to see all of that racing history destroyed by jackass idiots moving next to a drag strip and then complaining about the noise. And I had no idea that the Big Top flea market used to be an oval track- it's not 5 minutes from my house, I'll have to go drive over there and try to get a mental picture of what it was like in the past.

 

man reading this thread is good and bad.it makes me mad that they will restore historical homes,buildings and so on but there is never any love showed to race tracks and so on.just think sunshine will be gone in a couple years and their will be no track in the bay area.we will be old telling are kids and grand kids storys about the tracks.the fucked up part is sunshine is one of the toped ranked tracks in the south.theres some of the fastest cars in the south that run their.it really is a shame that we will have nothing soon and for what another damn over pass.

 

damn i didnt even know they were closing sunshine..... ...fucking sucks

 

If you want to talk to some one who im 99.9% sure who ran at this track.I will give you his info..
I cant remember hsi name,but he owns Ammaco transmissions on Hillsbrough by Habana.He used to run back in the day with Don Garlits.This guy also has speed records for Lakeland,and he used to be one of thier biggest sponsors.

Sorry i cant remeber his name,but he owns the Ammaco,him and his sons run it.
Go talk to him..

The twin city drags=I used to work with a guy,he told me about the drag strip.He used to Race bikes on there,His name is Don,I cant remeber his last name,but I know where he lives..

This guy knows ALOT of history on Tampa,how Hillsbrough 8,movie theater used to be a drive in..Also where the water tower in Sulpher springh is,used to have a drive in movie.I can give someone his adress,if they dare to go knock on his door..

These are the only 2 people I know of this time,to get some knowledge of that track,

 

ed radice park is on racetrack road... ever wonder the name??? this isnt from a story i read or an internet article. ive played baseball at ed radice, and being that the complex was so new i asked what was there before hand and an older gentleman said it was a field. me not believeing him looked for a while to find wtf it was... and then charles mentioned that the park ha been a track before and it too raised my interest. im not a tampa native so i dont know much history about it but after i looked up the names that were stated in the other thread i found out some interesting stuff... good find charles..

 

Very cool info/

 

I was thinking the same thing. Bill and I will be telling our kids many stories of our runs at the dragstrip, and the huge swap meets they had there. We can also tell our kids that mom and dad ran a couple of the wet-n-wild races on the oval track and mom beat dad . We can show them in car video too. And that dad ran some of the demolition derbys.
It's just sad when you think about it . Way to go progress

 

Found these:

TAMPA - Plans for a drag strip in northeastern Hillsborough County are running into obstacles from county planners and nearby homeowners who say the noisy sport is incompatible with the neighborhood.

Billy F. Herndon, who owned the Tampa Dragway from 1958 until it closed in 1976, is trying to rezone 107 acres from agricultural to recreational use. The land is along State Road 39 about seven miles north of Interstate 4 and two miles south of the Pasco county line.

Copyright Times Publishing Co. Feb 16, 1989
TAMPA - Plans for a drag strip in northeastern Hillsborough County are running into obstacles from county planners and nearby homeowners who say the noisy sport is incompatible with the neighborhood.

Billy F. Herndon, who owned the Tampa Dragway from 1958 until it closed in 1976, is trying to rezone 107 acres from agricultural to recreational use. The land is along State Road 39 about seven miles north of Interstate 4 and two miles south of the Pasco county line.

Zoning hearing officer Martin Smith heard arguments from the developers and their critics for three hours Monday night and will make a recommendation to the Hillsborough County Commission on Feb. 28, said county planner Gean Busch.

Busch said the commission is scheduled to consider the rezoning request March 21.

Twelve homes sit within 1,200 feet of Herndon's property, and the county has approved another 50 to 75 homes within 1,000 feet in an equestrian and golf-oriented residential development.

The new residential development is planned by developer Arthur Weiss on almost 2,000 acres to the north, south and west.

County planners have recommended against the drag strip on grounds that evening races would be a nuisance to homeowners. The county Utilities Department also has raised concerns that fuel spills would contaminate the aquifer under the Cone Ranch across the street that Hillsborough County purchased last year for a future well field.

But Jon Zorian, Herndon's partner, said the location is suited for a drag strip because of the proximity to an active phosphate plant, served by daily truck and train traffic, and an ultralight airfield.

And Zorian argued that Weiss, who has owned the site of the planned development for 16 years, might not develop his land for many more years. However, Weiss' attorney, Ted Taub, said the development has been in the planning and permitting stage for two years.


Copyright Times Publishing Co. Mar 8, 1989
TAMPA - A county hearing officer has recommended against a zoning request for a professional drag racing center at State Road 39 two miles south of the county line in northeast Hillsborough County. Hearing officer Martin Smith Jr. found that the drag strip, proposed by Billy Herndon, former owner of Tampa Dragway, would violate too many planning and zoning principles. Opponents said the largely rural area is developing as a residential neighborhood, which is incompatible with the noise and commotion generated by auto racing. The County Commission is scheduled to consider Herndon's zoning request March 21.

 

I just saw this thread and it brought back some great memories. I raced at the two Tampa tracks back in the early '70s. We also did alot of "street racing" - especially at "eigth mile" in north east Tampa. We hung out at Frisch's on Florida Avenue, Steak n' Shake on Dale Mabry and on Fowler. We raced at Tampa Dragway (off I-4) on Sunday afternoons and at Twin City (in Oldsmar) on Friday or Saturday nights - I forget which one. At the time I had a '61 Corvette and a '71 V8 Vega GT. As I remember, Jimmy Dunlop was the Starter at Tampa Dragway. (He had a '69 Yenko Camaro). At Tampa Drag Way there were two guys that I remember being especially fast. First, a black big block '71 Camaro that a guy had that had a gas station (Sunoco I think) on East Hillsborough had) and a green '68 - '70 Nova that a guy with a crippled leg had. Both cars were super quick. At Twin City I remember a few cars like it was yesterday; there was a guy with a two car-hauler that had a pair of gold GTOs (a '65 and a '66 or '67). The cars were called "Pyro" - and I thought they were the baddest cars around at the time. There was also a '67 and/or '68 Camaro called ET and/or ET too. They were also fast. Plus I remember Lee Montgomery (United Speed World) and several fast cars he had. Other "legends" of the day were Scotty Mclendon (Bay City Garage), Jay Whistler (Pioneer Tire), Lenny Puglio (and his Corvettes) , Kenny Hahn (and his Pro Stock Dodge Colt), Doug Mcrae, Billy Nelson and his V8 Pinto and '65 Mustang Coupe and many, many more.