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I use to live about 5 miles from Atco in the 90s. It was an incredible place to see some awesome top fuel and pro stock match races. Force use to come there all the time. Pro Mods sorta originated in that area too. Saw Scotty Cannon there several times. Saw Benny the Bomb blow himself up in an out-house. Saw the Green Mamba jet car set the woods on fire.
My favorite memory of Atco will always be John Force doing a match race against the Jackson car. John did his monster 1000 ft burnout and could not get it in reverse. Probably welded a few clutch plates together. So he drives it all the way down track, back up the return road and stages it against Jackson. Things are glowing red hot under the car (night time)... and Austin Coil is screaming at him to shut it off. But he stages it and wins the round all 8 candles lit. Fuel match racing was so awesome back then.
I heard the track go sold to a new owner after I left the area and went downhill. It's really a shame, such an iconic track. These insurance storage companies are coming in with millions buying up race tracks. I think they see a niche opportunity for land with ground contamination issues from decades of fuels and oils... now they have gazillions of wrecks that leak fluids... why not put leaky vehicles where leaky vehicles have already been. They can always blame any issues on the prior owner/usage of the land.
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