Northern Michigan Dragway Bear Lake MI - WaterWinterWonderland.com

Info Updates:

5/25/2022 - Brian Ledford

NMD prepares for three days of racing this weekend Contact: Brian Ledford 231.218.2657 5/23/2022 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Kaleva- Despite an unfavorable forecast, Northern Michigan Dragway was able to get Saturday's Authentic 231 Race Series event in the books. Over 180 race entries and 320 spectators were in attendance. Friday evening's Statewide Towing/WTCM Street Nights event was moved to this coming weekend due to the wet conditions forcing postponement. A tough field of Bracket I racers found Greenville's Jared Ledford taking the win with his Camaro, as he forced a breakout loss by Benzonia's David Evans in a Monte Carlo. Corey Mikus of Bear Lake had a third-round finish, and maintained his points lead after his victory earlier this month. Bracket II was decided in close fashion, with last year's top two racers squaring off the final round. Defending champion Dale Mardlin of Kaleva took the win with a .012 second margin of victory with his Ford Falcon. His nephew, Travis Mardlin, settled for runner-up, but moved into first place in the points standings with his Chevy S-10 after a pair of stellar runner-up finishes this season. Pro Trophy action was just as fierce, with over 70 entries in competition. Manistee's Martin Moore took a decisive victory in his "Old School Racing" Chevy Nova, and grabbed the #1 spot in the points. Kristina Mardlin of Kaleva was happy with a runner-up finish and moving into 4th place. On a special note, five of the top 15 racers in Pro Trophy are from the Chicks on Slicks category. The highly-competitive class is having an outstanding effect on the female racers' success. Advanced Juniors had the closest final round of the evening. In a photo finish, Free Soil racer Jesse Persinger edged out Manistee's Ean Guenthardt by only .002 of a second at the finish-line stripe. Persinger moved into the points lead. Mini Juniors action was also exciting, with Tyler Thompson of Grawn grabbing the victory as Knox Schmidt-Stoykovich of Kaleva had a foul start. With a semi-final finish, Ann Cerka of Free Soil maintained her points lead after her opening night win. Street Trophy was dominated by Allie Decker with her Ford Thunderbird. She was the 2021 Rookie of the Year, and hasn't shown any sophomore season blues, with a near-perfect reaction time in the final. Erik King, with his Olds Cutlass, settled for runner-up in an all-Kingsley finale. This weekend starts with the much-anticipated opener for Street Nights, featuring Chicks on Slicks, Money Class, Street Trophy and High School divisions. Time trials begin at 5pm with live WTCM broadcast remote updates from 5-7pm, and radio personality Maddie Lundy assisting with NMD public address entertainment. Saturday and Sunday will feature the annual Bonfire Salute, sponsored by Grand Rapids Machine Repair. It will be the first weekend of Top Doorslammer action, with NMD's fastest cars in side-by-side action. Fans are hoping to see the 4.17 second elapsed time, 176 miles-per-hour track record broken. All this, along with the main six NMD race divisions in competition each day into the evening hours. Time trials will begin at 12pm each day, with eliminations scheduled for 3pm. The full race schedule can be found at many local business locations, online at NorthernMichganDragway.com, or by calling (231)218-2657. NMD is located 3 miles north of Kaleva at 13991 Potter Rd.

4/20/2022 - Brian Ledford

The 2022 racing season is set to begin this Saturday at Northern Michigan Dragway, with the first of three early-season Test 'n Tune events. Racers and fans are eager to get back to racing action. The season will once again be packed with exciting events from April through to the season finale on October 1st.

NMD would like to welcome many new sponsors who have come aboard for the season. Authentic 231 in Manistee has claimed title sponsor of the main bracket racing series, featuring sixteen races. Khoury Racing Engines, based in Kalkaska, is the new Bracket I class sponsor. Bracket II will also feature a new name, with Micro Auto Group coming aboard as sponsor from their Traverse City location. SK Customs in Thompsonville is returning for Pro Trophy as well as Eriksen's 131 of Boyne Falls for Street Trophy. All American Graphics of Bear Lake has taken the title sponsorship for Advanced Juniors, while ModuGo Shipping Containers of Ann Arbor returns for the Mini Junior class. Grand Rapids Machine Repair will also pick up the sponsorship once again for the crowd-pleasing Top Doorslammer class.

Street Nights, the popular 6-race series, will have a brand-new co-sponsorship in Statewide Towing and WTCM. Chicks on Slicks will again be sponsoring the self-titled all-female racing division and Performance Paint in Battle Creek will back the Kevin Dean Memorial High School division. NMD is excited to welcome Dublin General Store in Wellston as the backer of the six race Rider Class series (motorcycles and snowmobiles).

Racing action starts at 2 pm on Saturday April 23rd and 30th. The full race schedule can be found at many local business locations, online at NorthernMichganDragway.com, or by calling (231)218-2657. NMD is located 3 miles north of Kaleva at 13991 Potter Rd.

Attached Photo - Maryland racer Marc Williams (Leonardstown) competed with his dragster at the 23rd Annual Mopars Against the World event. Chauntel Lorenz of Traverse City picked up the win in this match-up, with her family's '69 Camaro.

Brian & Rebecca Ledford
NorthernMichiganDragway.com
Track Manager & Promotions
(231)218-2657 (231)429-4411

7/28/2015 - Brian Ledford

Kaleva- In their 45 years of drag racing facility operation, Northern Michigan Dragway owners Tom and Sharon Ledford have seen some great weekends. They can easily recollect jam-packed race events in each decade, along with some lean times when it seemed the business was in jeopardy. The 18th Annual Mopars Against the World event this past weekend broke all attendance records by a substantial margin. The weekend's 1,966 paid spectator/pit admissions eclipsed the previous best 1,800 in 2012. The weekend event also drew a record 336 different race vehicle entries. The Ledfords' career has also included a very successful 24-year lease operation of a race facility in the Thumb area, Ubly Dragway, where an overall attendance record was set at a 1995 event with 2,400 people overall. Friday and Saturday night's overall attendance at NMD was at 2,600 overall, making it the largest-attended event the Ledfords have ever put forth. As an added bonus to the racers and fans, a spectacular fireworks show was conducted Saturday night. The crowd's reaction to the grand finale was similar to what you would expect to the home team getting the winning score at a professional ball game. Extensive plans for parking area expansion are in the works, as much of the crowd had to park on the road and walk in through the gates due to parking capacity being filled. Racing action at NMD will resume on August 8th for points event #12, the Cory Gunther Memorial Race. Full weekend race results, points standings and upcoming events schedule can be found at www. NorthernMichiganDragway. com.

7/27/2008 - Unknown

Thank you Lapeer Dragway for your compliments! We're hoping to get the Michigan Bracket finals revived this year at Mid Michigan, do you think you guys might be able to get a team of 20 - 25 racers together? Maybe we can see if Ubly can too. Just a thought, we'll see if it is worth looking into.

Mopars Dominate Day I action
Bracket I Winner - Milo Ayres of Ithaca in a '68 Dodge Charger, Runner Up - Archie Spires of Mancelona in a '66 Plymouth Valiant
Bracket II - Eric Johnson of Onekama in a Dodge Daytona over Gary Rank of Manistee in a Mustang.
Gamblers - Bob Cornell of Kingsley in a Monza, over John Cerka of Freesoil
Trophy - Rhet Brewer of Eastlake in an Audi, over Ron Dougherty of Honor in a Cadillac
*Sat. July 26 - Day two action, we're keeping score of the head to head battles today!
www.northernmichigandragway.net

7/23/2008 - LAPEER DRAGWAY

Brian, I just checked out your aerial photo of your track ,it looks like you have a real nice track for the racers to run, you should be proud of your place. Also I like the way you run the 1/8 mi I wish every track would go to 1/8 mi. it is the safest all the way around .Nice track you have. Ed Vakula Lapeer Dragway

7/10/2007 - Steve Fraley

This is a great track to race at. Brian is doing a great job! Seems every year something new is added. I began racing at NMD(then Manistee County Dragway) in 1975! Right after my 16th birthday. This was the last dragstrip built in Michigan in, I think, 1973. We used to race 1/4 mile until someone felt the need to cut the shut down area in half. Then it went to 1/8 mile. The track shut down for awhile, until it was reopened in the late 80's by a group of racers and was run by them and eventually turned back over to the Ledfords. The track has seen many improvements over the last decade or so. After a resurfacing it was like racing on a pool table! And REAL flush toilets! Yes we have real indoor plumbing up north. The people are always friendly and the purse return for entry is the best in Michigan in my opinion. Although I've been laid up for several years I still have my race car and I do plan on returning to NMD!

5/29/2007 - John

Boy not much here, This is an awesome track, a real jewel in the north. I quit racing 20 years ago and bought a car last year, the plum crazy purple Duster (B&B Racing) These are the guys who owned the car, have been having a blast with the guys, they have helped me get it running and getting me back in the groove, thanks Mel, Phil and Jimmy. I went to the Semi finals two weeks ago and won the gambler race this year. these are a great bunch of guys, come on out a give it a shot.

12/5/2003 - Web

Located in the little finger of Mich used to pay out big purses in the seventies, racers from Detroit and Canada would make the loong trip. It was owned by Jim Ledford who later bought Central Michigan Dragway and turned it into Mid Michigan Motorplex.

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Northern Michigan Dragway - Bear Lake MI