The roar of engines soon returns to the historic Eagle Field runway, purpose-built dragsters will be racing down the tarmac at eye-watering speeds from May 19 through May 21.
The event is known as the 13th Annual Dragways Reunion and is being organized by the Dos Palos Lions Club. You can find the event at Eagle Field, 11100 W. Eagle Ave. in Firebaugh.
The event won’t just have roaring dragsters there will be many types of speedy vehicles, muscle cars, mini bikes, and even hot rods racing their way down the track.
The gates open at 8 a.m. Friday and at 7 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. General admission is $20 with kids 14 years old and under getting in free. Be sure to bring chairs and canopies just in case (the bleachers are relatively small).
About 300 cars are expected to attend the family-friendly event. Alcohol will not be sold to accommodate the children and promote good behavior at the event. There is space for camping on-site for the weekend, but no hookups. Eagle Field is dusty, so organizers advise to dress well but not too well lest you get your Sunday best dusty.
Friday racing starts at 3 p.m. and goes on until 7. Friday will be a day of flag start racing, and fun. Junior Dragsters will be tearing up the track with their lawn mower engines on Saturday. Racing goes from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Time trials will be hosted Saturday, the Quick 8 qualifying round, dragsters, and so much more.
Saturday night will also have a party held in the hangar. The Quick 8 is split into 4 divisions that the qualifier rounds sort cars into. Sunday racing goes on from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Exclusive to Saturday is the Jet dragster and 1923 Ford Wheelstander, driven by General Jerry Lee. Sunday racing goes on from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday will contain the Quick 8 competition, where 8 of the fastest cars in each division will compete throughout the day and even Flathead V8s clashing with 6 cylinders. Throughout the event, you’re able to meet the drivers, come up close to their cars, and learn how these folks tune their speed demons.
The famous Frank Azevedo, who has competed with the Outlaws from the Discovery tv channel show Street Outlaws might attend the event.
The following brief historical information can be attributed to Mr. Jim Bertao for his historical articles on the field.
Eagle Field has been in use since its construction in 1942-43 as an instructional facility. After serving its part in the Second World War the airfield would go from storage, to crop-dusters, to now a museum.
Once the City of Dos Palos was to develop the site into a municipal airport but failed to complete the project. More than 5,000 cadets would graduate from the airfield with only a few deaths, a statistic Bertao says is, “…considered an excellent record.”
Eagle Field got a chance to shine in 2008 on the big screen, it was featured as a set in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The site plays the role of an airport terminal in Nazca, Peru. Many vintage vehicles at the museum were also tapped to play roles as set dressing, an eagle-eyed viewer can make out Eagle Field’s vehicles in the scene.
