Or more accurately, thanks to a generous donation from T. Dean Johnson, Jr, former operator of Western New York’s Niagara Airport Drag Strip, from 1964-1974, we’ve added a valuable drag racing collection to our archive. Among the many valuable items are hundreds of photos ranging in size from 3×5 to 8×10, marketing materials, promotional items for featured drivers/cars and entertainers, correspondence with the NHRA and NASCAR, contracts, cashed checks, and assorted memorabilia.
Our archives team is in the process of inventorying and housing the collection to make it available to researchers. We’re really enjoying our work! None of us are what you would call “experts” on drag racing – more casual fans. But, we love the photos of Top Fuel, Funny Cars, altered cars, rocket cars, and drag-racing motorcycles. We are also having fun flipping through the drag racing magazines and the many solicitations from featured drivers and novelty acts hoping to be featured at Niagara.
Since we’ve been sharing our discoveries with each other, we thought we’d share some with you. We look forward to digging deeper into the Niagara collection, learning more about this historic Western New York track, and welcoming Drag Racing fans and researchers to the Center in the future!
PS – If you happen to recognize any of the cars/drivers in the photos, please let us know!