The idea of airport drag racing isn’t new, and in fact the Kingdon Drags, located on a small airfield in the Central California town of Lodi, were some of the first, as Kingdon has hosted drag racing events since the early ’50s. Don Garlits even ran his Swamp Rat dragster there in 1959. After decades of being converted back into an airport during the latter part of the 20th century, the Kingdon Drags returned in the early 2000s and have been going strong ever since.
From modern street machines to old Gassers like Lonny Brasiel’s awesome Chevy, you’ll see virtually everything and anything that’s fast at Kingdon.
Although it was a street car event, and at an airport, there was no shortage of horsepower at Kingdon. Neil Morley’s wild blown Nova has put down just over 2100 rear wheel horsepower on a chassis dyno.
It’s not quite a prepped track, but enough rubber was down that some of the faster cars were able to go wheels up!
The main point of Kingdon is to bring a street racing vibe to a legal event, which means water-only burnouts, arm drop starts, and no times. There’s also a wide airstrip surface with a good runoff on either side in case things get wild. The definition of a street car at Kingdon is … pretty loose. Turbos count as mufflers, and slicks are the tire of choice, in order to give the 1,500 to 2,000 horsepower cars some chance at traction.
Corey Cooper brought his 8-second Nova to Kingdon, only to struggle with traction on radials. As you can see, the surface is definitely more airport than racetrack.
After a foggy New Years morning (the event is held on the first), things got started off quick with some grudge racing. One thing that makes Kingdon different than other airport drags is the fact that racers can run a full 1/4-mile if they want, as there is plenty of shutdown at the end, even for 7- and 8-second cars. You’ll find as interesting and diverse a car count at Kingdon as anywhere in the country, with much of the racers split between old-school muscle like19’70s Mopars, Nova Gassers, and big-block Camaros, and newer rides like Corvettes, CTS-V’s, and Coyote-powered Mustangs.
This CTS-V was fairly representative of the “new guard” of cars that are so quick. With just bolt-on’s and a fuel switch to E85, the Caddy was solidly into the 10s.
Bill Spain’s 240Z is motivated by a 2,000 horsepower LS with a single 104mm turbo and is literally one of the quickest small-tire cars in the country. Unfortunately,…
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