OCR Text |
Show this cscfivity should be saved Drag racing is the 3rd largest attended spectator sport in the country today. to-day. Statistics like these place even more emphasis on the efforts of the Grand Valley Racing Association to retain their raco track privileges in Moab. For the :pnst two years some 20 local drag enthusiasts enthus-iasts have participated in approved races on the old airport strip south of Moab. Mo-ab. The meet has attracted Pi high as G7 vehicles from throughout the region, re-gion, and has never operated oper-ated under 40. They come from Grand Junction, Dur-ango Dur-ango and Cortez, Colo.; Farmington and Albuquerque, Albuquer-que, 'New Mexico; and from Salt Lake City and other northern Utah cities. The sport has attracted attract-ed its share of spectators, spectat-ors, too. The maximum gate was 648 onlookers; the iminimum, 400. Drag cars are a hodgepodge hodge-podge collection, ranging from average street machines, ma-chines, to weir, put-toge-thers, valued as high as $8000 and over. The races are more than a safe outlet for speed-minded speed-minded drivers. In essence :f they " are 'a' mechanics' school. The youths and men involved experiment with engines, engineering, and design of cars. They change compression ratios, camshaft lifts, and modifying modi-fying induction; they set to suit their own purposes, valve timing, carburation. etc. The entire working mechanism of the engine is re-balaneed by the amateur am-ateur mechanics. Drag mechanics vary the length of car chasis, altar steering geometry, and experiment with dif ferent wheel and! tire sizes to get the maximum maxi-mum handling characteristics, character-istics, and ultimately, all i strive for a maximum takeoff speed. Automobile manufacturers manufactur-ers are not unaware of the ingenuity that goes into drag cars. Their scouts continually roam, hoping to uncover some detail that might be adapted to mass production, and benefit ben-efit future customers. When they do, some young mechanic is on his way. Drag races do not just happen. It takes the untiring un-tiring efforts of men like Moab's Harold Jacobs and Blaine Stevens to promote them to popularity. 1 Win fit did just hapjpen in Moab was a "made to order" race track. When Canyonlands Airport was constructed, the airstrip south of the city was abandoned, ab-andoned, and interested dragsters were quick to get their wheels rolling. Apparently, however, nothing is that easy. They are about to lose their track for no other reason except legal entanglements. en-tanglements. The former airstrip is in San Juan county, and through an agreement entered en-tered into by the two commissions com-missions years ago, the land was to revert to San Juan when it was no longer long-er needeci for an airport. But there's still more involved. The land is in San Juan county," but it is federHy "owfaed. As such Grand county 'has no hold on it; San Juan county has no control of it, and the strip has passed on to the FAA, thence to the GSA, and then the BLM. Federally owned or not, the best obvious purpose for the strip is a drag strip. To tear down the protective fencing, and plow up the black-top, Is nonsense. We who pay the bill for operation of our federal fed-eral agencies, fail to see why we should! spend a few more thousand dollars dol-lars to blacktop a new race track a few miles away from the existing strip, while it basks under un-der the protective care cf the BLM and wastes its usefulness on the desert air. SUBSCRIPTION RATES In Moab and Grand County: One Year $3.50 Two Years $6.50 Three Years $9-50 Elsewhere in Utah: One Year $4.00 Two Years $7-50 Three Years $11.00 Out of State: One Year $4.50 Two Years $8.50 Thpe Years $12.50 j : ' V,, . - ' ..... l ''; Impressive ceremonies at the Moab Elks Lodge marked 'the installation of new officers for the Ladies cf Elks last Saturday night, May 13- Those installed were, from left, Mrs. Leonard Walterschied, president; Mrs. J. E. Kerby, vice president; Mrs. Victor Thill, secretary; Mrs. Gerald White, treasurer; treasur-er; Mrs. Jay Coates, historian; Mrs. Roy Maki, auditor; audi-tor; Mrs. Tommy White, parliamentarian. Not pictured, pic-tured, Mrs. Tona Lema, installing chaplain; Mrs. Dallas Tanner presented corsages to the elected officers of-ficers and the appointed officers. Mrs. John Causer, installing usher; Mrs. Ed Tomsic, state president, presided as installing officer. The evening began with a prim rib dinner and climaxed with dancing. i i |