I fell in love at the Maxton Mile, and, when it's gone, a piece of my heart will go, too.
Ok, that's putting it much too strongly, but it was the Maxton Mile that sparked my deep infatuation with land speed racing. Besides drawing me back to Maxton repeatedly, it has lured me all the way out to the Bonnevile Salt Flats for Speed Week. (But that's another story, for another time.)
Sadly, however, the Maxton Mile is coming to an end. The East Coast Timing Association [ECTA] has been staging land speed races at the Laurinburg-Maxton Airport, in North Carolina, for over a decade. Last year, it learned that it wouldn't be allowed to use the airport and its nearly two-mile-long runways after the 2011 season. That season ends this coming weekend -- October 29th and 30th -- and, with it, a brief, largely unsung chapter in motor sports history.
Tim Hunter's '70 Plymouth GTS (converted into a replica of a legendary Nascar Superbirds) on the starting line at the Maxton Mile, 23 June 2011. [Click on the image to see a larger version.]
Land speed racing has become my favorite motor sport for several different reasons. For one thing, it's the purest form of racing you can possible imagine. It's all about going faster than the other guys and gals -- in a straight line, over a measured course. (At Maxton, the track is a mile long, as the name implies.)
It's also pure in the sense that it's not about money. Racers aren't in it to get rich or famous. There's no prize money to be won, few, if any, sponsorships to be had, and record setters won't get their picture on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Oh, it costs plenty to build one of the very fastest cars or bikes, but a backyard mechanic who's both skilled and clever can create a machine that's competitive in its class without spending a lot of cash.
I also like land speed racing because of the people -- they tend to be smart, eccentric, and friendly -- and their machines -- which range from the sublime to the ridiculous, with every stop in between. Needless to say, the people and their cars and bikes make land speed racing a lot of fun to shoot.
The ECTA has announced that it will hold its 2012 races at the Airpark, in Wilmington, Ohio. It's a fine facility and the racing ought to be terrific.
This season, however, I'm saving the last dance for Maxton.
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Find out more about the last running of the Maxton Mile by visiting the ECTA's website.