Kahoka, Mo. mid-‘60s: E.J. Potter made an appearance at Tri State Dragway and wowed the large crowd with smoke filled runs on the 1/8th mile from start to finish. The 327 Chevrolet V/8 powered cycle would light up the entire track with tire smoke from the Firestone Rayon tire used for exhibitions.

As much as everyone seemed to like our racing and ‘star’ appearances, it was probably the Jet Car of Walt Arfons & Doug Rose that did Tri State Dragway in. On a Saturday night in 1963 we presented the Jet Dragster with a huge promotion to be certain we sold enough tickets. The promotion included having the Jet Car unloaded in down town Quincy, Ill. at the Television studio (WGEM) and the local weather girl seated in the cockpit during the weather broadcast.

The crowd was our largest ever, over 11,000 tickets sold! However the entire area around Kahoka (all two lane roads in those days) was ‘grid locked’ for several hours. For a farm family looking to go to town for Saturday night, this was not popular!

The result placed the new Kahoka by-pass of U.S. 136 directly across the shut down area of our drag strip. Several trips to Highway Commission meetings in Jefferson City, Mo. (the state capitol) failed to alter the highway plans and by 1968 we were done. It was a great time, a time to kindle many friendships which have lasted through the years.