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Do you remember Kal Reca Drag Strip? Kel Reca was about a 1/16 th mile, or roughly, 330+ feet!! The starting
line was on an uphill grade and the shut down was over a hill and down a dirt road!!
 Kal Reca was located just off route 309 on the road up past Air Products. If you take
81N and get off at the McAdoo exit, take 309 south towards Tamaqua, then when you come down the hill into Ginthers,
make a right at the light. This was old "Walts drive-in" which is now "Skipper Dippers". The
track is on the left about a mile or so down the road. There are greenhouses on the property which are "Poreca's
Geenhouse"... The name of the track was supposedly derived from the two owners names, We believe this is where
they got the Reca part of Kal-Reca... There is a ranch house there now, built right on the starting line!
Here's what I would like to see from some of the members. The picture above and to the right is actually Dave Lehr's
"RPM Special" gasser said to be launching at Kal Reca back in the day. Let's get some old pics, slides,
tapes, or films out and see if you have any vintage footage from this era or these local tracks. We would be willing
to come to you to scan these items and take down any information to share with people on the web site.
John DiFlippio, a Garage Club member, said he can also convert super 8 and 8mm films to DVDs and is willing to
do so for us.
 My
interest in Kal Reca began back in 2000 when our monthly Garage Club meeting and winter picnic was held at Jim
Manganell’s facility in Tresckow. We had a new member named Bob Bowman join at the picnic. Bob lives in Quakake
and he said he has slides of the place from sometime back in the 70's. That day, he took Chris Ives, myself and
a friend, Lori, to see this old dragstrip. He told us that the place we visited was called Kal-Reca. You should
see the downhill slope on the shut down which was DIRT! Heck, if you don’t get stopped, there are plenty of trees
to catch you.
A friend of John DiFlippio was an actual racer back in the days that Kal Reca was in opperation. This man, simply
called Billy, sent John some pictures from his time at the track and a message. When asked about any event photos
or movies, he stated, "An event - - - At Kel-Reca?? It wasn't the Summer Nationals was it??"
He continued to say, "How many times I was there, but never owned a camera... It was a sleazy place to say
the most. They had two guys on the starting line to hold your car from drifting backwards while you waited for
the flagman.. Definitely not a N.H.R.A. approved strip."
 . 
  "When you crossed the 'finish line,' which was a hose across the strip, like at
the old gas stations to ring the bell, the asphalt ended and it was a downhill slide in the dirt. The dude in what
resembled a timing tower would yell, "Wipe the ford, send the Chevy around!" That would mean you won
and would advance."
Billy added, "It was a great way to kill a Sunday afternoon. I even think that the "Republican"
used to post the results in their fish wrapper! Amazing. I have three class winner trophies from there that I won
with my old '57 Chevy 2 door sedan that I had before my first Camaro. The guys who were the 'flag man' and 'tech
crew' were the ones who stole my first Camaro about two days after I ran it up there, along with my ex's '55 Chevy
sedan. I don't know of anybody who would have pictures, but I'm sure they are around."
Hopefully we can get some more pics and stories. Watch for updates!
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