JAMESTOWN, Ky. (LEX 18) — The Lake Cumberland Dragway strip was once an airport runway, then a raceway, but it’s been abandoned for nearly a decade. A group came together a month and a half ago to restore and return it to its racing roots.
Quinn Shireman, racer and event organizer, says, "They had a lot of racers around here, they had big events every weekend, and then it kind of just changed hands, and then that fellow passed away and the track just kind of went to the county."
Racers like Quinn Shireman and Landon Helm have been on Discovery Channel's 'Street Outlaws'.
There will be a two-day racing event on Friday and Saturday. More than 100 racers and 5,000 visitors from around the country are expected.
Helm remembers racing here when he was 16.
He recalls, "Actually, it was kind of funny. I used to come out here in high school and drag race when it was an airport, and I actually had a car catch on fire when I was 16 out here. So me and the track has a long past."
There will be five different classes of racers here speeding as fast as 100 miles per hour down the strip.
Helm says, "You know we have a class for everybody, from, you know, just a regular street car all the way up to a full-blown race car with 3000+ horsepower."
Russell County’s biggest tourism boom is during lake season. Tourism leaders say it was important to partner with this group because they want to see more economic opportunities throughout the year.
Danielle Wilson is the director of tourism for Russell County Lake Cumberland. She says, "To be able to offer the people coming from Michigan and from California and Florida and all of those places to her mom and pop shop that have been here and striving and thriving on tourism is just so meaningful to us."
The event’s organizers say drag strips across the country have declined. They believe this event will help restore this community's racing past.
"The experience you're going to get, especially with no prep is the cars are going to be crazy. Hopefully, no accidents or nothing but they're going to ride wheelies. They're going to be sideways, the loud noise, I mean, it's adrenaline,” says Shireman.
Gates open at 10 a.m. CST on Friday and 8 a.m. CST on Saturday at the Lake Cumberland Dragway in Jamestown. Tickets will be on sale at the door.
