<div style="page-break-before:always; page-break-after:always"><div style="page-break-before:always; page-break-after:always"><div style="page-break-before:always; page-break-after:always"><div style="page-break-before:always; page-break-after:always"><strong>O</strong>ne of the earliest dragstrips in California is fading from memory. For more than two decades, Santa Maria Dragstrip, on California&rsquo;s Central Coast, was the main place to go in the region if you wanted to drag race. Locally, legal drag racing had been done at the airport in nearby Goleta since 1948. That stopped in 1952, and in the words of founder and speed shop owner Jerry Gaskill, &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t want to drive all the way down to Santa Ana to race, so we decided to get a strip started up here.&rdquo;<div style="page-break-before:always; page-break-after:always"><p><img src="https://magztertemp.s3.amazonaws.com/1393393569/1638530543/articles/61d44ece36dbf/1641303672181.jpg" width="300" /></p><p id="3">Jerry was also president of the Dragons car club and worked with them to acquire a lease on part of an abandoned wartime air base. Racing started in 1953, and the new strip was an immediate success. It attracted hot rodders and car clubs from all over the state, as well as many of the rising stars in the new sport of drag racing.</p><p><img src="https://magztertemp.s3.amazonaws.com/1393393569/1638530543/articles/61d44ece36dbf/1641303687434.jpg" width="300" /></p><p id="4">The pictures in this article came from the personal collections of Jerry Gaskill, Bud Hammer, Mark Mendenhall, and Jack Chard. Several can also be seen in my books Hot Rodding in Santa Barbara County and Ventura County Motor Sports, available from Arcadia Publishing.</p>

LOST TO TIME

English

Spanish(español)

Bengali(বাঙালি)

Gujarati(ગુજરાતી)

Hindi(हिन्दी)

Malayalam(മലയാളം)

Tamil(தமிழ்)

Telugu(తెలుగు)

Hot Rod

What Is Pro Street?

Pro Street in Pure Vision

THE GAS ERA LIVES ON

MOTOR HEAD FOR LIFE

BRINGING BACK PRO STREET!

SWEET ASPIRATIONS

Making Bad Decisions Badder

ART PROJECT

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Making Connections

Download your favorite titles and read them offline, anytime and anywhere

Gift your loved ones with a Magzter Gift Card instantly and give them the freedom to read their favorite magazines and newspapers from thousands of best-selling titles.

Gift your loved ones with a Magzter Gift Card instantly and give them the freedom to read their favorite magazines from thousands of best-selling titles.

Gift your loved ones with a Magzter Gift Card instantly and give them the freedom to read their favorite magazines from {{magCount}}+ best-selling international titles.

Name

Please fill out this form if you need any help regarding publishing your content on Magzter

Since we launched, Magzter has been committed to partnering with global organizations to provide the greatest possible newsstand technology & service to our customers. Whether you are looking to offer magazine subscriptions to your customer database or just want to learn more, Magzter is committed to helping your business grow. To find out more, please fill out the questionnaire below: