North Carolina’s longest-running drag strip joins the Alliance for the 2025 season.

NORWALK, OH: The World Drag Racing Alliance (WDRA) and Wilkesboro Dragway will join forces, effective immediately, as the historic North Carolina facility has signed a multi-year sanction agreement to become part of the Alliance.  

The Ellis family built the historic facility in 1955 as a quarter-mile dirt dragstrip with no return road.  Seventy years later, David and Stacey Staten have taken control of North Carolina’s longest-running dragstrip with full intentions of continuing the track’s legacy. Several renovations are underway on the track and the facility buildings, with an opening day scheduled for March 1^st. Racing will be held on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to include various programs, such as grudge, no prep, bracket racing, daily driver, and test and tune events. 

“Wilkesboro Dragway is very important to the North Carolina drag racing community,” said Josh Peake with the WDRA. “The track is going on seventy years now, and multiple generations of racing families have called Wilkesboro home. I appreciate David and Stacy Staten for placing their trust in the WDRA to help them with their new venture running the facility.

The WDRA’s mission of reducing operating costs for member tracks continues with a new program introduced to the sport.

NORWALK, OH: The World Drag Racing Alliance (WDRA) announces the launch of a new insurance provider option aimed at helping member racetracks navigate the expensive world of insuring their facilities. Crafting a specialty program alongside Laris Motorsports Insurance has been a goal for drag racing’s newest sanctioning body from the start.

“We are proud to welcome a familiar name to our track insurance program,” said Skooter Peaco with the WDRA. “Laris Motorsports Insurance, who has been a WDRA partner from the very beginning, will now extend its expertise into the track benefits program with the launch of their track insurance offerings.”

Racetracks will now have the opportunity to receive quotes from Laris Motorsports Insurance in addition to WDRA’s other insurance providers. Adding another option to the mix will allow tracks to carefully consider the best route for their business and add another element of stability to all the work that goes on behind the scenes. 

The WDRA expansion continues by adding State Capitol Raceway as the latest member racetrack.

NORWALK, OH: The World Drag Racing Alliance (WDRA) surges to sixty racetracks heading into its third year of operation with the addition of State Capitol Raceway. The Port Allen, Louisiana, facility has entered into a multi-year sanction agreement with the WDRA, effective immediately.

“We are very grateful to have the support of Lanny Lewis, Gary Carter, and Cody Pollage,” said Frank Kohutek with the WDRA. “Starting 2025 with another vote of confidence from another track joining our family is very rewarding. State Capitol Raceway has been operating for nearly fifty-five years and has hosted major NHRA and IHRA events in the past. The SCR team is doing their part to keep the sport growing in Louisiana, and we look forward to helping their efforts.”

The action is nearly non-stop at the southern site, with events filling State Capitol Raceway’s calendar from January to December. They provide an exciting environment for various racers and fans, including points races, Sunday Funday test-n-tunes, big money bracket races, Import Faceoff, the Southwest Junior Dragster Series, car shows, and more.

Now, the racers of State Capitol Raceway will have the opportunity to receive benefits from nearly a dozen companies that support WDRA members through discounts and benefits. The track will be eligible to reap the exclusive benefits and discounts for WDRA member tracks provided by sixteen different marketing partners.

“WDRA is definitely the choice for true sportsman grassroots racers,” explained State Capitol Raceway General Manager Gary Carter. “Their bracket program is the best out there for the tracks, and they have a lot of benefits to offer the tracks themselves.” Track manager Cody Pollage adds, “We have followed the WDRA the past couple of years, and we really like what they are doing for the racers.”

Northern Michigan Dragway becomes the latest facility to choose a sanctioning agreement with the WDRA.

NORWALK, OH: Michigan racers will have another World Drag Racing Alliance (WDRA) facility to compete during the 2025 season with the addition of Northern Michigan Dragway.

The eighth-mile racetrack in Kaleva was founded in 1970 by Michigan Motorsports Hall of Famers Tom and Jim Ledford. Now entering its 55^th season, Northern Michigan Dragway has experienced tremendous support, with over two hundred racers registering for the points chase in 2024. This growth is credited to the friendly atmosphere and family-forward management of Brian and Wayne Ledford.

Northern Michigan Dragway has made various improvements in recent years, including a complete resurfacing of the racetrack and increased paving throughout the vast pit area, staging lanes, and return roads. Becoming a sanctioned facility again has rejuvenated the excitement and camaraderie that comes with earning a coveted spot in the year-end festivities.  

This partnership with the FOD Control Corporation can assist racetracks in cutting costs on track maintenance in 2025.

NORWALK, OH: The World Drag Racing Alliance (WDRA) has procured a partnership with the FOD Control Corporation in 2025, adding to its already impressive line-up of discounts and perks that come with being part of the Alliance. The FOD Control Corporation will provide a ten-percent discount to WDRA member racetracks who purchase a FOD-Razor Motorsports Sweeper, which is an innovative drag mat that picks up FOD (foreign object debris) from the racing surface, pits, and staging lanes.

“The beauty of this system is that it doesn’t send the debris airborne,” said Jon O’Neal with WDRA.  “Most racetracks have traditionally used air power to move debris off the racing surface, but that becomes sketchy near cars in the pits or the lanes. This concept of a sweeper was built for airfield use, but the effectiveness of these drag mats on racing surfaces has amazed me. The only other way I know to lift material is a vacuum truck, and the cost savings with a device like this are extraordinary in comparison.”

The FOD-Razor Motorsport Sweeper is an ingenious pull-behind sweeper built to ensure a clean surface while enhancing performance and safety during competitive events. The durable design quickly removes rocks and aggregate, loose tire rubber, glass, fiberglass, carbon fiber debris, and other foreign substances.  It’s an easy and low-maintenance way to prevent tire and vehicle damage, operates seamlessly on various track surfaces, and is compact, lightweight, and easy to deploy. To drive home the positives, the FOD-Razor Motorsport Sweeper can be connected to any motorized vehicle, has a lifetime warranty, and is manufactured in the USA.

WDRA racers are rewarded with an exclusive discount when purchasing Champ Pans products in 2025.

NORWALK, OH: The World Drag Racing Alliance (WDRA) is pleased to announce the addition of Champ Pans to its growing list of marketing partnerships ahead of the 2025 racing season. All WDRA members will receive an exclusive $50 discount certificate with Champ Pans through the innovative WDRA Racer Benefits program.  

For over forty years, Champ Pans by JR Manufacturing has been a trusted resource for top-notch oil pans and products manufactured in-house at its facility in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The Redetzke family-owned and operated business began with humble roots in a 10×20’ workshop and quickly expanded due to the demand for their exceptional oil pans. Through hard work and dedication, Champ Pans has grown to manufacture over one thousand products while maintaining a focus on quality, high performance, and affordability. With two generations of dirt track experience at the helm, Champ Pans understands a racer’s need for the best products to improve efficiency.

We are beyond blessed to have both Summit Racing Equipment and SunCoast Performance extend their partnerships and their support of the Alliance. The Summit Sportsman Drag Racing Series and the Summit World Championship presented by Suncoast Performance in 2025 programs are set to begin again on January 1. Montgomery International Dragway will be the place only the best gather together on October 23-25, 2025. Get your WDRA registration and take your shot at putting your name in the WDRA history books. Racers can register for the program here: https://www.racewdra.com/license/

NORWALK, OH: Kingdom Media Company, the minds behind the brilliant videos documenting snapshots of the 2023 and 2024 Summit World Championship events, are offering their services to WDRA member tracks with exclusive discounts attached. Their ability to document and promote events and brands has been a key element in showing the world the excitement surrounding the WDRA Summit Sportsman Drag Racing Series culmination.

“I have seen Douglas Wade captivate rooms in track operator meetings with his work and knew immediately that this was the guy to tell our story,” said Jon O’Neal of the WDRA. “Along with other forms of sport and entertainment, he had worked on a couple of drag racing events and I knew he had a vision that paralleled ours.”

Kingdom Media Company will be offering their full service video production talents to WDRA tracks with an exclusive $2,500 discount. This offering allows WDRA member tracks to take advantage of some of the best full-service shooting and editing in the market at an attainable price tag.

Sanctioning Body Renews Unique Partnership Program That Financially Benefits WDRA Member Tracks

NORWALK, OH – The World Drag Racing Alliance set out to be “different by design” just 23 months ago and it has quickly transformed the relationship between a sanctioning body and its member tracks.  That industry change continues with the announcement that Laris Motorsports Insurance has renewed the wildly popular national track partnership commitment to the Alliance.  Thanks to the generous support of our partner Laris Motorsports Insurance, the WRDA is able to waive annual sanction fees of all 57 WDRA sanctioned facilities, lending direct financial support to the WDRA track network.    

“As we operate in an environment and economy that puts constant financial pressure on drag strip operations, the first challenge WDRA tackled was to bring our tracks tangible support in terms of overhead reduction and sponsorship programs,” said WDRA’s Skooter Peaco.  “The Laris Motorsports program is the cornerstone of our member track partnership programs.  This new way of forward thinking helped launch two additional national partnership programs with our tracks this season and WDRA was thrilled to put a combined $161,805 back in our track’s pockets,  In addition, WDRA tracks saved tens of thousands of dollars by using the products and services of a dozen companies that offer exclusive WDRA track  discounts on a variety of products they need to run the operation.”