It was tough to fit (impossible) an 1/8th mile strip into the half-mile horse track at the Fairgrounds. The ‘shut off area’ was interesting to say the least. Note: This writer remembers racing Jerry Childress in ’59 at the Scotland County Fairgrounds in Memphis, Mo., on a 500-foot course that Jerry had laid out. As soon as the race ended, my ’58 Pontiac had to be pitched sideways into turn 1.

Paul announcing

The club next moved the drag races to a hilltop field just north of White Hall on the east side of Route 106. This track was the unofficial ‘birth’ of White Hall Drag-O-Way. Club members cleared and leveled and hauled in tons of clay material that combined with the existing soil to form a ‘packed’ surface. Certainly wheels in the air became a normal site off the starting line. Note: When this writer went there to promote a big race at Kahoka one Tuesday evening, Stan Lomelino got me to inspect the starting line where his dual-motor flat head Ford Fuel Dragster had left blue tire marks on the packed White Hall clay.