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By Lisa Van Meer

After years of hearing their fathers’ speak of the days past when street racing was considered clean fun, dangerous and illegal but still fun, a small group of gearheads in southeastern Ontario decided to bring back the nostalgia.

They don’t have high powered dragsters, just fast street cars and all they wanted was to have a good time and race their cars. Their local race track is Shannonville Motorsport Park just west of Kingston, ON. Test and Tune nights were great, but something was missing. They wanted to organize races where everyone was welcome, even if you were running your Granny’s old station wagon. They didn’t want the lights; they wanted old school arm drop drag racing.

They pitched their idea to the management at Shannonville Motorsport Park and in 2007 Armdrop Drag Racing was reborn. In 2010 Shannonville didn’t have space in their schedule for the upcoming year. The group was scrambling to find a place to race and contacted the management of an abandoned air field just a little south in Picton, ON. The pitch worked and in September 2010 the Armdrop group held a trial race hoping for at least 40 cars and maybe a few hundred spectators. On a chilly September afternoon more than 100 cars came out to race and close to 1,000 spectators lined the track. The Armdrop Drag Racing Group had found a new home.

Picton, ON (population 4,700) sits in the heart of Prince Edward County just a two hour drive east of Toronto. Camp Picton was the site chosen in 1939 by the British government (RAF) for a bombing and gunnery training school for World War II pilots. Situated on a hill overlooking the town, residents refer to the airport area as the “heights”. During its operation the population of Camp Picton was 1,200 at any given time. In 1969 Camp Picto closed its gates; many companies have come and gone from the old barracks and hangers. Some of the buildings have fallen to neglect, but many are still standing in original form. The site is still used by the Prince Edward Flying Club, and has been the home to many movie sets, music videos and even Canada’s Worst Driver was filmed there. The history of the site only adds to the nostalgia of the drag racing events. They couldn’t have found a more perfect place.

Armdrop Drag Racing Group is volunteer-driven organization dedicated to taking the street to the strip and promoting the sport of drag racing on the track where it belongs. As you might be able to guess from the group’s name, there is no Christmas Tree/Krondike system to start the race but instead a person who simply drops their arms to start the race.

Sponsors and donations cover the costs of renting the facility and paying for insurance as well as other operating costs. There are 20 trophies handed out at the end of the day, which are sponsored by local businesses and any money made above the operating cost is donated to local charities. Members of Belleville’s Police Force traffic division are on hand at the races to promote safe racing. They fully support the vision behind the Armdrop group and on the streets they are trying to reduce stunt driving by promoting Armdrop drags.

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