Return to glory

State Capitol Raceway is the third-oldest quarter-mile dragstrip in the country and has been in business for more than 35 years. For almost two decades, it was home to the NHRA’s Cajun Nationals, a crucial stop each year for those seeking the title of national hot rod champion. But the track fell on hard times. 1990 saw the last Cajun Nationals race as the NHRA moved to newer venues. When the owner finally sold the track, even the division-level races moved on to greener pastures.

In April 2006, real estate investor Lanny Lewis bought State Capitol Raceway with the intention of restoring much of its former glory. Lewis has 25 muscle cars and a street-legal monster truck he has to use a ladder to climb into. He rehired track manager Gary Carter, and in 2006 the track was named the most improved in the nation by the NHRA.

They laid down pavement for parking and driver staging areas, improved the drainage, built covered picnic areas and paved walkways. They developed a sand-racing strip and a mud track, as well as replaced the old-fashioned galvanized steel barriers along the dragstrip with concrete retaining walls, making it less dangerous to drivers. “Those things, if hit at the wrong angle, act like a razorblade,” manager Gary Carter says. “It can rip open a vehicle.”

In February, the Super Chevy Show returns to State Capitol for the first time in 25 years. Lewis hopes to lure the NHRA back or entice the rival International Hot Rod Association in 2009.

On Friday nights from mid-February to early December, the gates open at 5 p.m. to anyone with a fast car. “Just about anybody can drive into the track … and go out there and have some fun,” Carter says.

Racers pay $20, spectators pay $10.

Every first and third Saturday are reserved for more serious drivers. “It’s a much more competitive environment with cars designed specifically for drag racing,” Carter says.

Cash prizes can reach $1,500.

“There are some big things in the making,” Lewis says. statecapitolraceway.com