What now gone tracks would you have liked to visit

[zerofor]

Being from central Ohio originally I really only knew of New Smyrna,Hialeah, Golden Gate,USA 1 and Sunshine before I relocated to southwest Florida seven years ago.Unfortunately more than half of those closed their doors before I moved down here.So my question is what tracks (in any state) would you have liked to have visited that are gone now that you never got to before they disappeared?

[Boneman]

I always heard that Flemington NJ was an especially wild show. Since we have the time machine fired up, the Daytona Beach and Road course would have been cool too. Even further back, I would have loved to have seen the midgets on the very high banked wooden velodromes. Can you image that? Dazzling speeds in the age of the model T.

[Frasson118]

Damn Rex beat me to it.... I used to read about Flemington every week as a kid, but never got there.

[ancrdave]

Sunbrock Speedway in Orlando (My dad and I went there once but the races were canceled as the drivers had padlocked Mr. Sunbrock in his office trying to get their pay from the week before)...
Raceway Park in Blue Island, IL
Riverside Park, Agawam, MA
Ascot Park, Gardena, CA
Jacksonville Speedway (the big 1/2 mile promoted by Julian Klein)
Heidelberg, PA Speedway
Langhorne, PA Speedway

and probably a few more I can't remember right now...

[John Berti]

In Florida

Golden Gate Speedway
Hialeah Raceway
Tampa Fairgrounds Speedway
Phillips Field
Thundercross Speedway

In the Northeast

Plainville Stadium, Plainville, Conn.
West Haven Speedway, West Haven, Conn.
Norwood Arena, Norwood, Mass.
Danbury Racearena, Danbury, Conn.
Rythmn Inn Speedway, Millers Falls, Mass
The Pines Speedway, Groveland, Mass.
Lakeville Speedway, Lakeville, Mass.
West Peabody Speedway, West Peabody, Mass.
New York State Fairgrounds, Syracuse, NY
Catamount Speedway, Milton, VT
Devil's Bowl Speedway, West Haven, VT
Empire Speedway, Malta, NY
Arundel Speedway, Arundel, Maine
Islip Speedway, Islip, NY
Freeport Speedway, Freeport, NY
Reading Fairgrounds Speedway, Reading, PA

[Frasson118]

Another legendary place was Ascot Speedway in Gardena California..... wingless Sprints on a gumbo like surface, with 50 or 60 cars every week. Guys like Dean Thompson, Jimmy Oskie, Ron Shuman, Bubby James... every week.
If you're not familiar with the names, check the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame.... it's likely that all of them are in it.

[zerofor]

I've heard some interesting replies so far

And I'm a little surprised that so far nobody has listed a track from what I would consider to be the Midwest states.For me personally I would liked to have gone to Mt.Clemens Michigan, Heidelberg Pa.,New Bremen Speedway in Ohio and on a bigger scale Langhorne Pa.In my almost sixty years on this earth I hope to at one point make it to some places in Indiana like Winchester, Baer Field,Angola and Salem.I just never have got there.I would also like to see the Super modifieds run at Oswego New York and maybe the only blacktop track in West Virginia Ona Speedway.Many of the tracks that have been posted so far I have heard of some I've not.Keep them coming guys I've seen some interesting responses so far.

[Don Nerone]

I never made it to Hollywood speedway or Dixie speedway in florida.
made most of the ones in the south east and up the east coast.
Flemington was a hoot. That was wild.
We did a race there and about landed in jail. They told our crew that they could not wear shorts in the pits and the official that was telling us that had a pair on. Randy Fox jumped out of gear.
What a night..

don62

[ancrdave]

Here's another... The old Nashville Fairgrounds track... Everyone raced there... The Allisons, Red Farmer, Bob Burcham, Coo Coo Marlin, Marty Robbins, Friday Hassler and so many more... Check out these cool cars in this photo... each one a work of art... drivers who raced there took pride in how their cars looked!

[Jimmy McKinley]

Growing up in the 1970s in east and central Florida, I managed to get to quite a few tracks at least once:

Vero Beach, Treasure Coast (Ft. Pierce), Eau Gallie/Melbourne (saw Bobby Brack win the last race there), and Miami-Hollywood. Unfortunately, it seems like there was too many tracks too close together and trying to run on the same nights, really splitting fields of cars and the fans.

Would like to have seen old Orlando, and both the Lakeland 5/8th-mile D-shaped track and the 1/4-mile; I had moved out-of-state before we started running there in the mid-1990s.

Managed to get to Heidelberg one time in 1973, its final year, but, I don't remember much; I was only three years old.

Flemington in its dirt days, Reading, the Nazareth half-mile, Syracuse for Super Dirt Week....used to read about these places every week, every year in National Speed Sport News.

[OldSchool+]

Grew up in the stands at Orlando Speedway.

Would have liked to have visited there for many more years.

I miss Golden Gate and Hialeah as well.

Still, am thankful, very thankful, that we have the tracks and the racing that we currently enjoy.

[AB195]

what's gon e now-

oh, so many, there are books on this. go to a library and see.

jungle park raceway in indiana, and the old fort wayne speedway,indiana .
las vegas nevada, the old craig road raceway, for sure. canton ,ohio and dayton ohio, this thread can go on forever.

[AB195]

what's gone now-

oh, so many, there are books on this. go to a library and see.

jungle park raceway in indiana, and the old fort wayne speedway,indiana .
las vegas nevada, the old craig road raceway, for sure. canton ,ohio and dayton ohio, this thread can go on forever.

[SeminoleWind]

Finally got to take in a race at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway last month and it was worth it!
Located about 5 minutes from Nashville's "Gulch", which is loaded with excellent restaurants, music bars and hotels.
Guessing 4000 in the stands and they start around 5 p.m. to beat the curfew, since the track is located in a residential area.
Despite the very large crowd, the facility itself is aging if not crumbling. However, locals tell me after many attempts by local government and residents to shut the track down, they are actually now getting a 2017 taxpayer funded revitalization to the track and the entire fairgrounds.
Majority of the divisions race on the 1/4 mile track, where "dumping' or "door slamming" is the preferred (or only) way to pass. Quite a few yellow flag delays and some pretty nasty hits, as there are multiple options to hit the blunt ends of quite a few walls.
After 7 or 8 divisions conclude the 1/4 mile racing, a long intermission to line up the concrete barriers in preparation for the 5/8's mile track. After getting your eyes trained to the 60 mile an hour speeds on the 1/4, the Super Lates are lightning fast on the 5/8, guessing 130 mph easy. No doubt the fastest short track racing I have ever seen.
Show concludes around 10:30 and plenty of time left to enjoy the Nashville nightlife as it only takes a few minutes to leave the track and return to the entertainment districts.

[SeminoleWind]

Staying on the thread topic....

Miami Hollywood Speedway
- remember being there but not much else as I was very young. As a teen would go to the dragstrip often, but the oval was now closed.

Peach Bowl
- Bowman Gray type track, with large crowds and car counts, smack in the heart of downtown Atlanta. Closed in 1971. Many of the dirt late model stars of the 70's and 80's, actually started their careers on this asphalt surface. A Marta bus repair compound was built on the land and still stands today. Absolutely no evidence exists today that a race facility existed on the property and there is not enough money you could bribe local politicians or residents to build a speedway anywhere near Atlanta today.

Irwindale Speedway
- Almost made it last year, was in California for the Alpinestars dealer summit, thought it was the perfect oppurtunity, but it rained on Saturday night. Supposedly, it never rains in SoCal during the Fall, but it surely did so. This facility is slated for demolition this Winter.
Once a hotbed of everything car and racing related, Southern California has only a couple of race facilities still in operation.

Birmingham Fairgrounds Speedway
They used to have a racer's auction and trade show during the Winter. There was an artificial turf football field in the infield and the track itself was big and narrow. Somewhat similar to Nashville. Local politicians and residents wanted the track gone and it was bulldozed about 7 years ago.

Lakewood Speedway
Mile long, super dangerous dirt track on the southside of Atlanta. Parts of Smokey and the Bandit were filmed there. A popular music ampitheatre now sits on the property, however, some grandstands and portions of the track still exist.
I believe they even ran an Indy race there in the 60's.

Kevin Shaw