Was that an earthquake in Maize? No, just a popular attraction returning from hiatus

If a Richter scale shows shaking in Maize this month, it won’t necessarily mean there’s an earthquake.

It could simply be the return of the Kansas International Dragway, which, after taking a hiatus last year, is returning for its 60th season.

“When we say that they shake the ground, it’s true,” said general manager Kenny Ault. “Like, you’ll feel your stomach shaking as these cars go down the track.”

Gwen Kelley, whose family’s farmland near 61st and Ridge Road is where the racetrack sits, said the feeling is more in her heart than her stomach.

“When you hear those cars start, it feels like your heart restarts,” she said. “Kind of like you’re going into a different rhythm.”

There’s a smell of car fuel and burning smoke as the motors rev.

“You just cannot believe those things are so powerful and loud,” Kelley said. “People get excited.”

The idea for the track started in 1963 when a couple of neighbors approached Kelley’s great-grandparents about putting a track on their land.

Kelley said because that land would be divided among other family members after her great-grandparents died, the track couldn’t go across multiple tracts owned by various people.

That’s how her grandparents, Marcellus “Sally” Simon and his wife, Helen, came to have what then was known as the M-N Raceway solely on their property.

It had been a sandy area where not much grew anyway, so that made it ideal. Still, corn sometimes popped up through the track.

The family has had all kinds of crops and cattle through the years, but they weren’t racing aficionados.

“Even having it right there, we didn’t spend a lot of time down there,” Kelley said. “We were out in the field.”

She and Ault said racing was another way for the family to diversify.

“You know, agricultural’s not always been great in this state,” Ault said.

He said currently there is wheat that surrounds the track’s 90 acres.

Even though Kelley married into a racing family — her husband Keenan Kelley’s family would spend whole weekends at the track, with his grandmother fixing a big meal to take — she still isn’t a complete fan.

“For whatever reason, people love to smell that burning tire. I’m sorry, I don’t get it.”

Still, Kelley said for only the second time, her family is now taking over running the track instead of leasing it to others to run.

“We’re trying to get it back up on its feet to restore it to the level . . . it needs to be,” she said. “It’s a family-oriented kind of sport.”

Through the years

The track, which also has been known as the Wichita Dragway and the Wichita International Raceway, has changed quite a bit through the years.

Kelley said the cars have gotten a little meaner and faster, and the track itself evolved from when the first races were held in 1964.

She said her grandmother would tell her about how people would sit on 5-gallon buckets to watch the cars. There also were some sand hills people sat on.

Today, there are grandstands, and guests can bring lawn chairs. Every part of the track is either concrete or asphalt.

Though there are pit areas with grass that can cause some dust, Ault said, “It’s not a dusty experience.”

Also, tailgating and camping is available for an extra price, but there are no hookups.

The Simons’ house sits about an eighth of a mile from the track. Kelley’s son lives there now.

There are a lot of nice housing additions near the track these days, too, Ault said.

Unlike in some past years where the cars raced all night through to 6 a.m., Ault said there’s now a midnight curfew at the track when it’s open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

“We want to be a community partner, not a community headache.”

Ault used to go to the track when his father raced.

“I’ve grown up in this sport,” he said. “It’s opened some cool doors for me.”

Even though he was more interested in racing his Hot Wheels on his father’s trailer once his dad unloaded his race car, Ault eventually helped as a crew member.

“I handed him tools, and I sprayed down the radiator after every pass.”

According to the track’s website, a lot of famous racers have been to the track.

“This track is steeped in history as some of the biggest names in drag racing have come and made their mark from drivers like “Big Daddy” Don Garlits, Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins, to modern superstars, Scott Palmer, and Alex Laughlin.”

“There’s quite a bit of history that goes into that track,” Ault said. “A lot of people don’t realize how important Kansas was to the sport of drag racing.”

That goes back to 1951 when the National Hot Rod Association formed and then had its first national championship at an airport runway in Great Bend in 1955.

Ault is working with the association on an event to celebrate the 70th anniversary of that race next year since the track in Great Bend is currently closed.

“Kansas should be more famous for this than what people realize.”

The season

Ault said the track’s first season back is going to be relatively light, with 28 events.

It starts April 7 with a test-n-tune event where cars will have extended technical sessions to get ready for the season.

Through October, there also will be school events, a Battle of the Badges and summer nationals, too, on July 12 and 13.

“We have some really super cool, fast cars that are going to be out there,” Ault said.

There are opportunities for ride-alongs as well.

Ault said his wife did one that went 125, but, “Now she wants to do the big one.”

That’s 185 miles an hour.

The track’s website has a list of events.

Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children 13 to 17. Kids 12 and under are free.

There is a concession stand with food, beer and merchandise, such as plastic dragsters.

There are a lot of opportunities for kids to sit in cars and have their pictures in helmets and with the drivers.

“They like that,” Ault said of the drivers. “They want the kids to be excited about racing.”

He said it doesn’t take much.

“When you’re hooked, you’re hooked.”

Ault said people from all walks of life come to the track. They might show up with a $5,000 car they’ve put together or a $100,000 model.

People also come out with motorcycles and classic cars to drive the track on certain days, which Ault said is better than street racing.

“It’s safer and legal to do it on a racetrack,” he said. “We want people to know that we have a facility that has safety protocols in place.”

Ault particularly credits sponsors from around south-central Kansas who “have really stepped up because they want to see this place come back to life.”

He also credits Helen Simon, whom Kelley said was known as “Hell on wheels because she liked to drive fast.”

Ault said he never met Simon, who died at 100 in 2022, but he has a lot of respect for her.

“For a wife to keep what her husband did going as long as she did says something about the love that she had for that man.”

He said the Simons had a lot of love for the community, too.

“The track’s actually kind of led to relationships along the way,” Kelley said.

“It’s just more tradition than anything,” Ault said.

It’s a tradition he’s excited to continue.

“This season’s going to be a big deal for us.”