Ah, bill - close, but not right on. Maxton was, as I remember the story, a WWII glider pilot training base. The runway we used for racing had that kink/dogleg near the start to let geometry and stuff like that help launch the plane and the glider behind it.
To allow the plane's roll to being with a lesser load - the glider was behind but off at an angle to the plane - so the pull wasn't as difficult as it would be if the glider was straight behind the plane at the beginning. Put the plane at the beginning of the straight runway and the glider off to the starboard side behind -- and GO!