Oswego Drag Raceway 1955 Pin

Oswego Drag Raceway opened in Illinois in 1955 as one of the first purpose-built drag strips in the country. Most drag strips were built on abandoned runways, but Oswego was built from scratch by Dan and Wally Smith. The brothers had inherited the farmland it sat on from their parents. The Oswego Dragway became a go-to hangout for the youth in the greater Chicago area, but increasingly fierce competition made it much more than a hangout for diehard racers. The Oswego Drag Raceway operated until 1979 and the remnants of the drag strip can still be seen from Route 34, west of Oswego if you know where to look as you pass by.