After a shutdown of several years, Lassiter Mountain Dragway is coming to life once again.

The drag strip opened last Wednesday night for a testing and tuning, for which between 1,000 and 1,500 fans showed up, much to the delight of track operator Randall Shew.

“There were people everywhere that first night,” Shew said. “Sometime during the night, I looked up and the apron area was just completely full. It was just great.”

Shew manages the racing operation for new owners Donald Phillips and Jarred Bostic. Their long-range plan for the property is to to include family-friendly attractions such as batting cages, miniature golf, an arcade and even an RV park.

The sour economy has put most of those plans on hold, with all the focus going on reopening the property’s centerpiece, the 1/8-mile drag strip.

Shew had scheduled the track’s grand opening for this Saturday. Instead, that event will be held June 19, with a large charity race sponsored by the Gardendale Rotary Club to be held that day.

Testing and tuning sessions for last Saturday and Sunday were rained out. Another session is scheduled for Wednesday evening.

After Wednesday’s session, we’ll talk to folks and see what we want to do about Saturday,” Shew said.

The first session was delayed until final work could be done on the track’s apron and return road. That session showed that there is still some work to be done, primarily in laying down rubber from test runs. That rubber residue gives traction for for subsequent racers, an aspect much more important for drag racing than distance races.

“It was slick, and we still have some dust issues,” Shew said. “We’ve put out some water [for the dust], and we put down some ‘glue’ on the track, like VHT and Lane Choice 7, that helps the tires stick. It’s not like out at Barber [Motorsports Park] — we have cars with 3,000 horsepower going from a standing start.”

Lassiter Mountain, which first opened in 1958, was closed in 2006. Phillips and Bostic bought the track in 2008.

The track is located near the intersection of Fieldstown Road and Coalburg Road. Gates open Wednesday at 5 p.m.