North Carolina’s Mooresville Dragway hasn’t changed a whole lot in appearance over the last few decades, but if the new owners are able to accomplish just a few of their ambitious plans, you might have a difficult time even recognizing the place in a few short years from now.
[Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in DI #191, the 30 Under 30 Issue, in November / December of 2024.]
Eric Yost is a life-long native to the area who grew up racing at Mooresville, and wound up buying the track two years ago along with his business partner, Robert Buker. Initially, their motivation for the purchase was to simply ensure that the track remain open and continue operating as a dragstrip since there were some rumblings about the track being closed and used for another purpose entirely.
The purchase indeed went through, and thus began a general cleaning up and removal of dragstrip debris that had been piling up over the years. After the property became tidier, the new owners begin to visualize what the future might hold for this beloved, but aging facility. “Our short-term goals include concrete walls and 800 feet of new concrete for the racing surface, along with lengthening the shutdown in an effort to open up the opportunity for a wide assortment of racing that’s just not available currently,” explains Yost.
In addition to his desire to transform Mooresville into what he describes as a “really good, super-nice eighth-mile track,” Yost has an even more inspiring vision for the rest of the property. He’s already constructed a tractor pull track on site, which completely packed the place during their first event held in late September, and Yost hopes this is only the beginning of Mooresville’s expansions. He also anticipates mud bog and go-kart racing will soon be the next addition to complement the dragstrip and pulling tracks.
The most ambitious of all Yost’s expansion plans by far is his desire to construct a racing facility to host major events for jet boats and sprint boats! Yost explains that currently there’s only two such facilities in the entire country for these watercrafts, and he’s hoping Mooresville will be the third.
“Washington State and Oregon are the other two locales, and in terms of the Oregon track, the nearest hotel is two hours away and they get 10,000 spectators for their events,” Yost says. “We believe these events would be massive here in ‘Race City USA!’” It requires the footprint of a football field to construct one of these tracks, and Yost says Mooresville’s 85 acres provides ample room to build the watersports track, which he hopes becomes a reality in the near future.
As for the drag racing at hand, it’s definitely not being neglected, and the roster of events have been producing solid results. The small-tire events have worked well at Mooresville for years, and the 704 Outlaws and 704 Street classes are supported nicely by the racing community and always deliver a great show.
Yost says the WDRA sanction is working out well, and Mooresville and nearby Farmington Dragway worked hard at arranging a schedule that afforded the opportunity to local bracket racers to compete for points at both facilities. “I had never gone to a Bracket Finals before until we traveled down to South Carolina this year to compete at Union Dragway. I didn’t know what to expect, but I had so much fun!” says Yost.
Mooresville only took 20 cars and five Jr. Dragsters, and wound up winning the Bracket Finals by one point. “‘Johnny O’ from WDRA told me he’s never seen a track win the bracket finals with so few entrees,” smiled Yost.
In addition to the 10 bracket points races in 2024, Mooresville scheduled tons of other events as well, including alcohol Funny Cars, jet cars, nostalgia nitro, plus the return of the mega-popular Southeast Gassers. “That group hadn’t been here in a couple years, and I told them whatever it takes to get them back I wanted to do it,” says Yost. The event was successful and SEGA immediately gave Mooresville another date in 2025.
Also visiting Mooresville for multiple gatherings in 2024 is the legendary straight-drive group, Classic Gear Jammers, who’s been holding events at Mooresville for many years.
As the season draws to a close, 2025 promises to be a banner year for Mooresville with many updates, expansions, and continuous improvements.
This story was originally published on January 13, 2025. 
The post DIALED IN: New Ownership Envisions Multi-Sport Future for Mooresville Dragway in ‘Race City USA’ first appeared on Drag Illustrated.