IHRA Promoter Profile: Ralph Hester, Immokalee Regional Raceway

Two completely unrelated events happened a short time apart that resulted in the creation of Immokalee Regional Raceway, the South Florida drag strip that hosted the first 2017 IHRA Summit Sportsman National Championship race this season.

First, Immokalee businessman Ralph Hester overheard some police officers from nearby Cape Coral talking about the very dangerous increase in illegal street drag racing that was taking place – and about how there was no legal place to race nearby.

And second, Hester happened to be flying out of the Immokalee Regional Airport, which used to be Immokalee Army Airfield, used for B-17 and B-24 bomber training. Once aloft, "I noticed they were painting a big 'X' on each end of one of the runways," Hester said.
When he got back, he asked what was going on: Turns out the airport didn't need, and didn't want to maintain, that particular runway, and they were closing it down.

Hester thought that runway might make a pretty good eighth-mile drag strip. He was correct. Immokalee Regional Raceway opened on April 17, 1999.

It isn't as though Hester had much in the way of drag racing experience. A North Carolina native, he sponsored a NASCAR entry in the lower levels, but was never directly involved in drag racing. In Immokalee, he has a produce and trucking business, and he tried to run the drag strip in his spare time. Finally he brought his son, Thomas, to Immokalee to manage the facility, and together they've created one of the nicest, most family-friendly tracks in the country.

Unlike some track promoters, Hester is easy to find on race day, either touring the track on his golf cart or visiting with the racers. "If there's a problem, I want to hear about it," he said.

Of course, as any promoter will tell you, it isn't always easy. Hester almost had to close the strip in 2011 when the airport, which owns the property and was renting it to Hester on a month-by-month basis, threatened to more than double the rent per a directive from the FAA.

Given the fact that Hester spent his own money on the track and the facilities, it would have been a blow not only to him but to the racing community. Local officials came to his defense: Collier County Commissioner Jim Coletta, whose district included Immokalee, said at the time the racetrack "has been a tremendous asset to the Immokalee community."

Fortunately, an agreement Hester could live with was reached, and the Immokalee Regional Raceway is as strong as ever, with a schedule that includes racing on various Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

"I like what the IHRA is doing," Hester says. "I go way back with them, and it's been a good partnership."