By Kyle Peveto, Arts Editor

Speeding cars with smoking, squealing tires roar through the weekend at the recently opened Abilene Drag Strip.

Three weeks after opening the raceway off I-20 at 5601 West Stamford, developers have seen a great deal of interest from local and statewide racers.

Co-owners Tommy Simons and Burl Harris built the one-eighth mile track in 128 days.

“I thought there was a need for it and we thought we would make it,” Simons said.

Jordan and Danny Echols, students from Fort Worth, have been drag racing since they were 12 years old.

“We used to drive home every couple of weekends to race (before the Abilene track was built),” said Jordan, junior integrated marketing communication major.

Jordan’s 1971 Chevrolet Chevelle can run the strip in 7.5 seconds, he said. Danny, a sophomore undeclared major, is rated first at a drag strip in Fort Worth and continues to race there.

Jordan was surprised by how well spectators took to the track.

“I was really surprised at how many cars were there and how many spectators were there,” he said. “The crowd in the stands was much better than it was in Dallas.”

The drag strip is open every weekend and general admission is $5. On Fridays anyone can bring out a car for “test and tune” and run the strip for a $12 pit pass and a $5 run card. Saturdays feature bracket style tournament racing. Time trials for bracket racing begin at 3 p.m. and eliminations start at 6 p.m.