IHRA: Kanawha Valley Motorsports Park's second chance

This is the first in a series of profiles on the 100 IHRA member tracks across the U.S. and beyond.

"I'm a racer," says Danny Clagg. "Always have been." But running a drag strip? That's a little new to Clagg and his wife, Denise.

They had raced mostly on oval tracks, but quit for a while because of family obligations. "And when we began to ease back into it, we went kart racing," he said.

The Claggs had been managing the dirt oval kart track located on the same property as Kanawha Valley Motorsports Park's eight-mile drag strip, located in Southside, West Virginia, north of Charleston.

And he was asked to step in when he heard that the strip's future was uncertain. "We're racers at heart, and we don't want to see any track close down," he said.

So it's been an ongoing learning experience as they try to breathe some new life into the track, which has been there since 1992. Being an IHRA member track has helped a lot, Danny says. "Being a national series, everybody has heard of the IHRA, but not everybody has heard of Kanawha Valley."

In addition, he says that the IHRA has been a big help in managing the details, such as insurance and dealing with local regulations.

"We're learning a lot about this type of racing – but you know, racing is racing, even though the terminology might be a little different," he said.

The Claggs' main focus now is bringing new fans and competitors to the track. They have been averaging 30 to 60 cars for the weekly show, "and our main goal is increasing that. Every time we drive to the track to mow the grass or do some maintenance, we make it a point to stop by some business we've never been to before, to talk to them about racing and ask if we can put a flier in the window."

Like any promoter, they're always on the lookout for more sponsors to add to the existing list, which includes Luckey Trucking, Carson Farms, Roto-Rooter, Wolfe Camping Sales, Autotech Service Center and Abruzzi Transmissions and Converters, run by two-time IHRA champ Marco Abruzzi.

By all accounts, Kanawha Valley Motorsports Park is in very good hands. Check it out by logging onto www.kanrace.com.