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Monrovia's Kevin Stanley used to race a 1964 Chevy Nova down the 75-80 Dragway.

He started when he was only 16, and battled in the OPS Stock division. It was a rough crash in 2003 that knocked him off the strip, and the strip's closing in 2007 shut the door.

At least, that's been what's stopping him from racing at the 75-80. Now, he's focused on making sure others can race there.

The º- and 1/8-mile drag strip has come back to life, thanks in part to Heads Up Racing Inc. taking over the management side of things. Stanley and his sister, Lisa Stanley, are the vice presidents for Head's Up Racing, with their dad, Roy Stanley, taking the president role.

"We've been thinking about it for some time," Lisa Stanley said.

On a hot and clear Sunday afternoon, Lisa Stanley oversaw the staging area of the pits as one last round of test and tunes went through before the start of bracket racing. She said their family had talked about re-opening up the strip, pretty much from the day it closed.

Kevin Stanley agreed that it was initially a pie in the sky plan, but back in October of 2008, the idea started to pick up steam.

"I really can't put my finger on any one thing," Stanley said. "My father was the biggest influence."

Bill Wilcom is still the owner and elder statesman of the dragway, and is considered a consultant to Heads Up.

The first visible sign that the strip was coming back to life was in February, when the jersey wall was rebuilt in only seven days, putting in 6,100 feet of concrete. It sent jitters through the local racing community.

From there, they repaved the 1/8th mile and rewired the electrical systems.

"We did so many electrical repairs. That was the most frustrating part," Stanley said.

In the two-year period of no activity, the scrap metal prices for aluminum spiked up. And opportunists started breaking into the strip to steal the wire for scrap. Stanley said it took them about two months to find all the gaps in the wires.

The final major touch – the Christmas Tree, was ordered brand-new from Race America.

The tower of red, yellow and green lights is now laced together with a network of wireless sensors stretched down the length of the tracks, allowing for instantaneous timing.

"We had a generator running until last week," Stanley said. "We couldn't get Frederick County to approve a permit for it."

The 75-80 was initially scheduled to open on April 4, but a rain delay pushed it back to April 5. Since then, they've held regular events every Friday and Saturday night, along with Sunday afternoons.

It's already brought out a tremendous response from the area drivers. Scotty Bodmer, 29, started racing at the 75-80 when he was 13.

"To me, it is kind of home," Bodmer said. "I'm a lot closer to the people I race with than some of my family members."

He found out about the 75-80 reopening when Wilcom gave him a call about it. Bodmer said that Wilcom is a kind of grandfather figure to him.

On Sunday, he was running his 1979 Camero in the bracket races. While heads-up races are determined only by who crosses the finish line first, bracket races factor in timed handicaps at the start of each race, which helps level the playing field.

Head's Up Racing has been big with the fans, while the bracket races have brought out more cars.

Bodmer noted that he'll normally be driving a Top Eliminator rail, but that it was a little bit out of commission for the weekend.

"I think it's great. They've been real receptive to us," Bodmer said. "The track was real smooth, the tire groove was there. They've got the racing surface down."

Already, the next generation of racers has taken to the strip. Sean Kreps, 14, will be going to Clear Spring High in Washington County next year.

But for this summer, he's part of the Junior Dragsters.

His father, Greg Kreps, used to race his Mustang at the 75-80. But now his 11-year-old daughter is racing as well, and he chuckled when he said that he barely gets to race anymore.

"It's funny how things work out," Kreps said.