Detroit Dragway Painting

Last summer, Jessie and I refinished my old childhood bed, and there was a leftover piece of wood laminate from the headboard. I wanted to do something with it, so I made this Detroit Dragway Painting out of it.

The workpiece is long and skinny, and I figured the best car to fit the space would be a rail dragster. Since we were going to be in Taylor this past weekend, I wanted to pay homage to the old Detroit Dragway, which was an NHRA sanctioned track that opened in the 1950s and shut down in the late ’90s. Many legends raced there, including Shirley Muldowney, Connie Kalitta, the Ramchargers, Dyno Don Nicholson, Don Prudhomme – basically anyone who was known in the 1960s and’70s, and any unique drag cars of magazine lore like the Little Red Wagon wheelstand truck.

I started by spray painting the whole piece in dark matte gray, and then sketching the outline in pencil. It’s tough to see because the gray is so dark. I had to get creative to make the wheels round – I used bowls from the kitchen.

Next, I re-traced in Sharpie with ship curves.

Then, I added more detail and shading with Sharpie marker, and started painting the red parts of the Detroit Dragway sign.

Painting the white parts of the sign with acrylic paint took the longest. Keeping the edges sharp was tough, and I had to re-trace over the letter outlines after the white paint had dried.

I shaded the body of the car with white chalk marker, which gave a textured look. The white in the wheels and engine parts is white charcoal pencil. I made the class designation AA/D, since it’s a blown flathead dragster.

I drilled a couple holes to hang it, and laquered it to protect the paint. I think this Detroit Dragway painting turned out pretty sweet!

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