Port Pirie

South

Australia always seemed an energetic centre for the development of drag strips. After the Brooksfield strip was closed in 1969, the burden of providing an outlet for the racing community fell to the regional strips at Whyalla (Steel City Dragway, still operating) and the new venue built at Port Pirie.

The industrial city 220km north of Adelaide nursed its share of racers, not least the energetic Will brothers. Officially run by the Port Pirie Drag Club, the Coonamia Dragway, as it was known, offered racers an eighth-mile racing opportunity at a strip that was probably best known for its log cabin-style control tower.

Initially the track had a C-grade ranking which was upped to B-grade status later in the year following a range of improvements. The track ran until August 1971 when, with the looming opening of the new Adelaide International Raceway, as Keith Williams’ latest venture, the track closed. It had, nonetheless, provided a vital link between Brooksfield and the new AIR strip.