Found a lil history on the track while searching the internet -- Racepics.net's Heads Up Racing Association

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Date Posted: 18:55:42 07/24/03 Thu
Author: eddie
Subject: Found a lil history on the track while searching the internet

Drag racing has been around almost since cars were invented. For generations young boys have souped up their �hot rods� and challenged each other to tests of speed and courage from country roads to dry river beds.

By the 1950s, drag racing started to become more organized, largely due to the efforts of the American Hot Rod Association which was formed in 1956. Mike Grey owner of Terminal Van Lines offered to bankroll the circuit awards

Dirt fields sprouted bleachers and concession stands, and then beautiful paved tracks with safety fences and elaborate pit areas. Drag racing became big business.

The AHRA created many of the procedures and rules that now govern the sport, including a �points� system to determine the winner of a year-long series - a system that is the standard today in almost every form of auto racing. They also invented the �Christmas tree� starting lights which so many think of as the unofficial symbol of drag racing. However, by 1971 competition began to pinch the circuit, most notably by the now-domininant National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). Even so, the AHRA circuit continued to be a popular alternative - especially for those who were around to witness the organized start of the sport.

Mike Grey's real goal was to expand the popularity of drag racing, especially in the south where he was from. He committed a substantial amount of money to convert a defunct horse track into the Acadiana International Raceway Park in Eunice, Louisiana. Designed to be the gem of the series, much like the Indianapolis 500 is to open-wheel racing, he announced that the 1984 AHRA World Finals would take place there.

Unfortunately, the south was slow to recover from the economic recession of the early 1980s, and drag racing proved not to be as popular with the rural residents around the track as with northern audiences. The day after a sparsely-attended finals were held, the checks for the employees and racers started to bounce. Mike Grey covered the majority of the checks with his own personal funds, but quickly sold the AHRA name to return to the moving business. That would prove to be the final AHRA race.

After sitting vacant for many years Artur Durel took over the morgage from the bank and renamed the track Louisiana Raceway.

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