The Northeast Florida drag racing scene is expanding with the addition of a new drag strip in the Town of Callahan, just north of Jacksonville. Local businessman David Hicken has gone through a three-year process to get construction plans and permits in place to build an 1/8-mile drag strip next to his existing go-kart track. On January 16, 2024, initial approval was granted for his plans from Nassau County and St. John’s River Water Management District. By January 22, the final approved drawings were back in the hands of Hicken and team, who immediately scheduled a meeting with their contractor to go over the next steps. “We are going to be breaking ground hopefully in a week or so,” Hicken said in an interview. “It should only take about five or six months to get open.”
The expansion of Callahan Speedway will bring back the first dragstrip to the Jacksonville area in over five years. Green Cove Dragway, closed in 2017, was redeveloped into an industrial park. In 2004, Jax Raceways closed permanently after being open for 35 years. Currently, the closest raceway to Callahan Dragstrip is Gainesville Raceway, which lies 74 miles to the southwest.
The build of the entire dragstrip facility is estimated to cost about $1 million. The facility will include an 1/8-mile asphalt drag strip with 60-foot-long concrete burnout and staging area, concrete barriers plus a 500-foot-long sand trap for emergency stopping. The drag strip will be built on the south side of the current speedway, a 1/5-mile oval go-kart track with a red clay racing surface.
Courtesy of Callahan Speedway
The vision is to bring in car clubs to the facility for events and to give people a place to race with hopes to minimize illegal street racing on public roads. Mufflers will be required on all race cars to keep noise levels down.
“I think it’s really going to be cool, not only for drag racing, but it’s going to be a cool hangout, Hicken said. “People will be riding up here in all kinds of stuff. I am predicting them showing their stuff off and watching drag racing.”
Hicken made it clear that this will be a true “mom and pop operation,” and that they will have to take it one step at a time to get up and running. The plan is to start out running in the daytime and go from there. The news of the construction of this drag strip spread like wildfire and was greeted with positive feedback and excitement. With the number of racetracks that have…
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