As the
Carolinas'
premier drag
racing facility,
Rockingham
Dragway offers
racers, fans and
sponsors a
season-long
smorgasbord of
competition
events ranging
from
entertainment
spectacles like
the GM
Performance
Super Chevy Show
and the ADRL
Dragstock to
specialty events
like the
National Bikers
Roundup, which
delivered what
the Department
of Commerce
estimated as a
$40 million
economic
windfall when it
was last staged
at the track in
2004
Although “The
Rock” has
operated
continuously for
almost 40 years,
it experienced a
rebirth in 1992
when it was
purchased by
Steve Earwood,
who transformed
it from a
facility that
produced only
two major races
each year to one
that today
operates weekly
from February
through
November.
Under Earwood’s
direction, the
track's
rich performance
history, which
includes an
ongoing 37-year
streak as the
host of at least
one major
national drag
racing
championship,
has been
augmented not
only be an
expanded racing
schedule but by
a comprehensive
track
improvement and
expansion
program.
On Earwood’s
watch, the track
was resurfaced
for the first
time in history
(and, when that
moved didn’t
produce the
anticipated
result, it was
repaved two
times
thereafter), new
grandstands were
added, new
permanent
restroom
facilities were
constructed, a
new ticket
office came on
line, Musco
lighting was
added to enhance
nighttime
competition, new
timing and
scoring
equipment was
added and
additional land
was purchased to
expand the pit
area.
A spectator
crossover bridge
linking the pro
and sportsman
pit areas was
erected, the pit
area was repaved
and concrete
guardwalls were
installed from
starting line
beyond the
finish line on
both sides of
the track.
Rockingham also
is recognized
for its
marketing of
non-racing
activities like
concerts (Metallica
and Kid Rock
have played
there twice),
contests and
corporate
outings.
The diverse and
expanded
calendar is a
reflection of
the Carolinas'
stature as one
of the nation's
fastest growing
regions.
Because of its
central location
– within two
hours drive of
Charlotte,
Greensboro-Winston-Salem,
Raleigh-Durham,
and Fayetteville
– "The Rock" is
easily accessed
by both
participants and
spectators.
In addition to
its two primary
events,
Rockingham is
host to the IHRA
Pro-Am Series,
the IHRA Bracket
Finals and to
two key events
in the
All-Harley Drag
Racing
Association
series for
motorcycles.
It produces a
Friday night
street legal
series that
provides a safe,
supervised
outlet for teens
and others with
a inherent “need
for speed,
stages a summer
Midnite Drags
series also
created to
address the
illegal street
racing issue,
hosts the
Ironhorse
National
Smokeout Custom
Bike Show and,
with Maryland
International
Raceway,
produces the
Mickey Thompson
Performance
Tires MiRock
Superbike
Series, one of
the most
successful
independent
motorcycle
racing ventures
in the country.
Furthermore,
Rockingham
Dragway is host
to several
prominent
stand-alones
including the
Holcomb
Motorsports 10.5
Civil Wars
races, one in
the spring and
another in the
fall; all-Ford,
all-Chrysler and
all-VW specialty
events; and an
increasingly
large number of
import events
that cater to a
new generation
of drag racing
enthusiasts.
Under Earwood’s
direction,
Rockingham has
delivered more
than just
high-powered
motorsports
excitement and a
national
identity. It
has made
substantial and
sustainable
contributions to
the local
economy.
The Super Chevy
Show and
Dragstock, the
cornerstone
events in the
track’s 90-race
season, pour an
estimated $30
million into the
economy. During
both events,
hotels as far
away as
Wadesboro to the
west, Sanford to
the north and
Laurinburg to
the east are
full of racers,
sponsors,
officials and
race fans.
“Most race fans
will travel more
than 150 miles
to attend one of
our major
events,” Earwood
said, “and many
will spend extra
time in the area
enjoying other
attractions like
golf or
antiquing.”
In addition to
the live
audience, the
area further
benefits from
positive
national
coverage on
television, in
newspapers and
in major
periodicals.
“We are
constantly
looking for new
ways in which we
can use the
track and its
related
facilities,”
Earwood said.
“Obviously,
when we stage
more events –
whether they’re
drag races,
concerts or
whatever – the
local economy
benefits, too,”
Earwood said.
“That’s why we
are constantly
looking for
inventive new
ways to use our
resources
whether it’s
through
aggressively
promoting
midweek testing
or making the
track available
for non-racing
corporate
functions.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE ROCK
STILL ROLLING AS
IT ENTERS ITS
FIFTH DECADE OF
OPERATION
North Carolina
Track Hosts Two
National Races,
Host of Other
Events
Rockingham
Dragway is in
its fifth decade
of operation as
a upper echelon
American drag
racing facility,
one that for all
but three years
since 1969 has
hosted at least
one major event
under the
sanction of
either the now
defunct American
Hot Rod
Association
(1969-1970), the
International
Hot Rod
Association
(1971-1988 and
1999-present) or
the National Hot
Rod Association
(1992-1998).
Built in 1969 by
developers Bill
Land and L.G.
Dewitt as a
companion to the
NASCAR oval
track that
occupied real
estate across
U.S. Highway 1,
Rockingham
Dragway today is
one of only
three major U.S.
dragstrips
hosting more
than a single
event in one of
the two major
straight-line
series.
Rockingham plays
host to the ADRL
Dragstock, part
of the American
Drag Racing
League national
series..
Thirty years
before the
construction of
the current wave
of “supertracks,”
Rockingham
Dragway set the
standard by
which most
facilities still
are measured.
Not only was it
one of the first
purpose-built
dragstrips in
the country, it
also was one of
the first to
feature paved
pits, permanent
restroom
facilities,
permanent
concrete
grandstands and
VIP amenities
including
corporate suites
with an
unobstructed
view down the
racetrack.
Under the
direction of
Steve Earwood,
who assumed
ownership in
1992, Rockingham
has undergone a
complete
facelift over
the past 19
years that has
enabled it to
keep pace in a
changing
marketplace.
A two-time IHRA
National Track
Promoter of the
Year (2001,
2008) and former
NHRA Southeast
Division Man of
the Year during
the time that
his track played
host to the
NHRA’s Winston
Invitational,
Earwood
supervised an
expansion of the
pro and
sportsman pits,
an upgrade of
the scales and
timing
operations,
erection of new
read-out
scoreboards and
installation of
a high tech
Musco lighting
system to
enhance the
track’s night
racing program.
He arranged for
the first
re-paving of the
quarter mile
surface since
the track’s
construction
and, unhappy
with the result,
had the work
done two more
times to get it
right. Among
the track
construction
projects
completed on his
watch were a new
ticket office,
new concessions
buildings,
crossover bridge
linking the pro
and sportsman
pit areas and
concrete
guardwalls that
run the length
of the quarter
mile and beyond.
Earwood,
Chairman of the
Board of the
North Carolina
Motorsports
Association and
a charter member
of the
Governor’s North
Carolina
Motorsports
Advisory
Council, has
created several
successful
franchises of
his own
including the
Mickey Thompson
Tires MIRock
Superbike
Series, composed
of eight races,
four at The Rock
and four at
Maryland
International
Raceway.
The biggest
difference
between
Rockingham
Dragway, then
and now, though,
is the weekly
activity that
provides an
alternative to
illegal street
racing.
On most
Saturdays the
track is open to
grassroots
racers, offering
supervised time
runs and grudge
racing as part
of Earwood’s
Outlaw Street
Drags program.
The track also
hosts a major
bracket racing
program on
Memorial Day
Weekend and each
Fourth of July
stages Freedom
Fest as a
tribute to
American
servicemen and
women.
Although drag
racing is the
track’s
principal
revenue source,
Earwood isn’t
averse to an
offbeat
promotion or
two. Among
other events,
his Sandhills
area track has
hosted the
Lollapalooza
series, a
Metallica
concert, the
National Bikers
Roundup and the
official North
Carolina
barbecue cookoff
competition. |