From the Mag: Airstrip Attack

There’s no denying that the cars that race Bonneville and El Mirage are among the fastest on Earth, and I can’t deny that I love both the dry lakes and Bonneville. Both venues, however, have their drawbacks. El Mo gets windy and you get dust in places you’ve only ever seen with a mirror, while Bonneville can be blistering hot and icy cold—all in the same day—and mushy like an undercooked pudding.

That said, I go back time and again, and prefer both surfaces to asphalt.

Or so I thought.

That is, until I attended an Airstrip Attack at the Coalinga Municipal Airport, three hours north of Los Angeles on I-5. Airstrip Attacks are sanctioned by Shift-S3ctor.com, an event management company that hosts drag/roll racing, track days, car shows, corporate events, drift events and driving experiences.

Airstrip Attack was founded in 2011 by Shift-S3ctor owners Jason Huang and Ryan Fisher, who met street racing and shared a desire for a legal and safe racing venue. After a few Shift-S3ctor events at local racetracks, they realized it would take a longer stretch of asphalt to accomplish their high-speed goals—a half-mile race.

Airport runways proved an ideal venue and, soon after, Airstrip Attack was born.

Straight & Narrow

The inaugural Attack took place in February 2012 and was a private, invite-only event minus timing equipment and spectators—just heads-up, side-by-side racing. More than 80 racers and car enthusiasts showed up with everything from modified Ford GTs and R32 Skylines to high-horsepower Corvettes and Porsches.

Two years later, Shift-S3ctor partnered with Ryan Randels, owner of Colorado-based Revvolution.com, to build on its vision and put Airstrip Attack on a national stage.

Click here to read the rest of the article in the June issue of THE SHOP magazine.

By A.J. Hecht

A.J. Hecht is the managing editor of THE SHOP and host of the In Gear with THE SHOP podcast. Have an idea, a tip, or a question you’d like to see answered? Contact A.J. at ahecht@cahabamedia.com.