By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Drag racing is back in Great Bend. Following a Great Bend Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting at the track just west of Great Bend on Thursday, real racing returned to action with a Test and Tune on Friday, and Summit Points Race No. 2 on Saturday. Sunflower Rod and Custom Association (SRCA) President and SRCA Dragstrip Operator Hank Denning presented numbers from the weekend to the Great Bend City Council during Monday’s meeting.
“I thought it was very successful for being in May, with pinnings going on and graduations going on,” Denning said. “We had a pretty good Friday night for a test and tune, which was pretty impressive. Four different states actually came, besides Kansas.”
Competitors on Saturday represented 54 cities from Minnesota, Illinois, Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Kansas. There were 545 spectators on Friday, and 480 for Saturday’s races.
“The facility, everybody really enjoyed it,” Denning said. “Hats off to my organization, with their vast knowledge and expertise of operating a dragstrip and preparing a dragstrip. We went from no concrete, to the day of the race to a fully-prepped, competition-ready dragstrip. There’s so much that goes on behind the scenes that nobody one sees.”
Denning also thanked the SRCA organization as a whole for its support, as well as the city of Great Bend and its citizens for making the return of racing possible. Racing returns to the track with a Test and Tune Grudge on Friday, May 29, and Summit Points Race No. 3 on Saturday, May 30. Rocky Mountain Race Week begins on June 5 with a variety of activities planned in town and at the dragstrip.