THE HISTORY OF YORK US30 DRAGWAY

It is forty years this year that operations at York US30 Dragway ended. The dragway was located at the York Airport in Thomasville, Pennsylvania,, and operated at an active airport site from 1965 until 1979 with the business prowess of Oscar Hostetter who had the foresight to recognize the significance of the sport of drag racing that was sweeping the West Coast.

The South Penn Hot Rod Council first ran drag races at the airport on a limited schedule from 1955 until 1959 when a promoter by the name of Bill Holz who was operating a drag racing operation at Garden Spot airport in Lancaster, Pennsylvania encountered legal problems with a neighbor chinchilla rancher who experienced a problem from the noise of the drag strip causing the chinchillas to bite their fur.

In 1960 Holz assumed the operation of the York site as York US30 Drag-O-Way and thus began the significance of a drag racing operation that became world renowned. “York” as it was and still is commonly called in drag racing circles presented some of drag racing’s greatest events. The most notable was the 1965 Super Stock Nationals which immediately assumed the name “The Woodstock of Drag Racing” due to the overwhelming attendance achieved. The event was and still is the largest one day drag race to be presented in this country! Others followed, but none ever attained the notoriety or attendance… Read more >