Tomorrow at Pittsburgh Raceway Park in New Alexandria, former racers and fans of the old Pittsburgh International Dragway will assemble for the Annual PID Reunion. This marks the 30th anniversary of it closing.

The idea for the PID reunion began in 1997 when Bill Truby and Tom Lang, two former racers and supporters of drag racing, thought it would be fun to remember PID.

The first reunion was held even though the racing was cancelled by rain.

"People came," Truby said. "People came to see all the pictures. It was still a good time because people got to see people they hadn't seen in 20 years."

What two-time NHRA Super Stock world champion Jim Boburka remembers most about PID had nothing to do with the racing but what you had to do to get there.

"You came up a single lane road because it was an old coal mine," Boburka said. "The scales they had used for the mine were also used to weigh the race cars. From the scales you would wind up the hill to where the track was. Originally the strip that we ran on was an airport. When it was turned into a drag strip, the airport was moved on top of the hill."

Sanctioned in the early years by NASCAR and then later the NHRA, Pittsburgh International Dragway was one of the largest tracks on the East Coast serving a major metropolitan area.

Legendary drag racers "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, Shirley "Cha-Cha" Muldowney, Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins, "Jungle Jim" Liberman and many others brought notoriety to the track. Epic Wednesday night battles of the factory hot rods along with touring series like the Coca-Cola Cavalcade of Funny Car Stars would pack the valley with teenagers and their muscle cars.

Along with the PID reunion, a full schedule of racing is planned including Pittsburgh Raceway Park's Stock/Super Stock Association event and the Mid-America Funny Car Circuit. Gates open at 11 a.m. with time trials at noon. Funny Cars first round is 7 p.m.

Lugnuts

Pittsburgh's Pa. Motor Speedway crate late model driver Larry Marks suffered a laceration in his left forearm in a crash Saturday that required 60 stitches. Marks' crew would repair the car in time for the West Mifflin driver to return to action Sunday at PPMS, where he led the feature briefly before finishing fourth. ... A doubleheader weekend at PPMS produced two clean sweeps. Tommy Schirnhofer of Dormont won both crate late model 20 lap-features and Sara Schrum of Canfield, Ohio, won both races in the Young Guns division, giving her four wins this season. ... In the sprint cars at Lernerville Speedway, Kevin Schaeffer took advantage of Ed Lynch Jr. competing at the Knoxville Nationals to build a 12-point lead going into tonight with two races remaining. Schaeffer said he was happy to win in Lynch's absence but that Lynch is tough at Lernerville. ... Lynch finished 16th at the 46th Knoxville Nationals, where 128 cars attempted to qualify for 24 spots in the A-main. ... Jennerstown Speedway holds Emergency Services night tomorrow with EMS personnel admitted free with proof of service membership and identification. ... Challenger Raceway near Indiana hosts Tri-Star Superthunder Sunday featuring three divisions of racing. The late models headline the program with a 40-lap feature that pays $3,000 to the winner. Also on the card will be the E-Mods and the Pro-Street Stocks. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. and racing begins at 7. ... Mercer Raceway Park is racing 7:30 p.m. tonight with the steel block/semi/crate late models along with five other divisions on Fan Appreciation Night.