2010 Hall of Fame
Tod Mack & Larry Clayton
Track Owners/Promoters
Tod Mack & Larry Clayton
were visionary owners of
MIR who took the track
from its humble
beginnings as St. Mary’s
Dragway to the trend
setting, internationally
recognized Maryland
International Raceway.
In addition to crowning
MIR with its new name,
Mack and Clayton
introduced an explosion
of innovations and
promotions that changed
the face of MIR and drag
racing. The US Pro Stock
Open in 1975 provided
Pro Stock racers a place
to race for big bucks as
the star attraction. A
few years later, the
Mountain Motor Nationals
not only gave big cubic
inch, low weight
“outlaw” Pro Stock
racers their own event,
it provided the name of
the category of Pro
Stock racing that is
still enjoyed to this
day.
Tod and Larry were at
the forefront of many
drag racing advancements
that today are taken for
granted. Mack was the
first to use a pairings
ladder based on
qualifying times for the
nitro cars when he ran
the NASCAR Drag Race
Division in the 1960s.
Tod and Larry, along
with Lex Dudas and Mike
Lewis, created the ET
Bracket Finals program
in the early 1970s,
which the group finally
turned over to NHRA
after a few years. MIR
was the winner of the
Inaugural event held at
York US 30 Dragway! All
in all, Tod Mack owned
or operated six tracks
over his career, and MIR
fans benefited from his
decades of experience.
In addition to the more
successful promotions,
Tod and Larry introduced
the world to the first
four wide fuel Funny Car
match (almost four
decades before Bruton
Smith did the same thing
in Charlotte), and the
wacky “Dragzacta,” which
allowed fans to take
part in pari-mutuel
betting on weekly
bracket races as they
would at a horse track.
Tod and Larry were
continually pushing the
envelope of promotion,
and their endeavors drew
hundreds of thousands of
mid Atlantic race fans
to Southern Maryland.
Tod was the partner most
in the spotlight, as a
competitive Top Alcohol
funny car on the NHRA
Division 1 points
circuit, as a fine
announcer in his own
right, and even as the
creator and distributor
of the popular DynaBite
traction compound.
Larry, who worked mostly
behind the scenes,
ensured that the
finances were always in
place, that all the
racers and fans were
treated fairly, and that
every move the track
made was backed up with
solid counsel and
business acumen. Tod
Mack and Larry Clayton’s
leadership made MIR one
of the top drag strips
in the world during one
of drag racing’s most
fondly remembered eras.
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