Kids Korner – Northern Michigan Dragway

DeLayna poses with Ken Payne before the races began at the Northern Michigan Dragway in Kaleva, Michigan

On August 24th I went to Northern Michigan Dragway in Kaleva, Michigan. It was so much fun!

Drag racing is very cool. It is where two very fast cars (like sports cars) race down a straight track going 100+ MPH. Whoever wins moves on to the next round in their bracket.

Ken Payne races his Ford Pinto down the track at Northern Michigan Dragway (DeLayna Dubie photo)

In drag racing, you don’t look for flags, you look at the “tree” , which is the thing in the middle of the start line that kind of looks like a stop light.

It was my first time going to a drag race. We went to see my cousin Ken Payne race his Pinto.

DeLayna poses with Jim Stoll at Northern Michigan Dragway.

Northern Michigan Dragway has open pits, so I got to really see what my cousin does to prepare for a race, and I got to meet Jim Stoll and his wife Laura.

Jim Stoll does a burn out at the Blue Oval Battle at Northern Michigan Dragway (DeLayna Dubie photo)

Jim is a long-time friend of Ken’s and helped him get back into racing so they are kind of teammates.

There is nothing quite like being behind the burnout box at Northern Michigan Dragway (DeLayna Dubie photo)

DeLayna and Ken Payne check to make sure all the bolts are tightened under Ken’s Pinto between rounds

The open pits also meant that I got to watch the races from a lot of different places. I learned that I like watching the burn-outs and seeing if a driver “red-lights” (that means they got a little too excited and left before their light turned green) from the start of the track, but its also really cool to see them at the middle and end of the track where they are going super fast.