Drag City: Tri-City Dragstrip, Saginaw, 1965-1978

In the early 1960s, Reed Draper, a GM dealer in Saginaw, became captivated with racing and wanted his home to experience drag racing. In May 1965, Draper began construction of a track he dubbed the Tri-City Drag Strip but changed the name to Tri-City Dragway. One month later, it was ready for the public.

The track became known as one of the longest (4600 feet) in the U.S. and fastest in the entire world. The dragway grounds supplied the patrons with restrooms, concession stands (all drinks from Coca-Cola), and playgrounds for the kiddies. Originally able to accommodate 3,000, by 1967 up to 5,000 customers were able to be admitted as spectators.

As with most tracks, the Tri-City had its tragedies.
1) On July 28, 1973, John Sejbl was traveling 150 MPH when he swerved out of control, hit a guardrail, and was thrown from the vehicle after it exploded on impact. He died in the hospital three days later.
2) On September 7, 1974, Richard Place was driving a top fuel dragster at 190 MPH, flipped a number of times when the rear airfoil broke off and jammed the left wheel. At the hospital he was pronounced DOA.

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It wasn’t the tragedies that closed the track in 1978; it closed due to a conflict between racers and track managers. Racers had paid entry fees for an event that was supposed to take place that spring, but rainstorms canceled the race. The problem came when the strip manager told them they couldn’t use their already-paid entry fees at a later event. This led to a boycott by the racers that lasted weeks.

Not completing the allotted number of races for the season, the track closed on August 19th, 1978, reported as due to “interest in drag racing declining across the country” (false). Since then, the track stayed closed for 45 years.

During summer 2023, Tri-City Dragway was revived, thanks to the efforts of Eagle Scout Tony Svetic. He organized a classic car show as a scout project. His idea became super-successful, with thousands of people attending the show that displayed over 400 classic vehicles.

It brought Tri-City Dragway back into the public’s mind.....but with that event three years past, what’s next in store for it?