First race was in the early 50's at the old Mitchell Speedway north of Mitchell, IN on SR 37. Then the West Baden Speedway. Many Sunday afternoons at Salem. After that, I've been to so many tracks, I can't begin to remember them all. He!!, anymore I can't even remember if I ate breakfast, much less what I might of had for breakfast.

Thanks for the thread.

Brandon,

You had me really confused with your post. It sure is hell getting old and memory play tricks like it does. I remember Lake Hill Speedway as a paved track. We went there late 60's and saw among others running there the Wallace boys, Rusty & Mike. I figured that couldn't be it but then I found a forum that talked about the speedway and it's history.

Lake Hill Speedway was built in 1948 as a 1/5 mile dirt track until it was expanded to a 1/3 mile in 1966. The next year they paved it and it ran until 1981 when it closed.

I am guessing now that you are correct. Belle Clair on Friday, Lake Hill on Saturday and St. Charles on Sunday. Thanks for helping clear that up.

Toledo Raceway Park. A full time horse track and a part time auto racing track in the late 50's and early 60's. Horses finish up this summer and it goes dark for good. Toledo Speedway became the full time speedway for us in the early 60's. My Dad and I stood in the first turn the day they laid down the asphalt that we know today. The cars back then were modified stock cars, super modifieds/super sprints and then the late model stock cars. Drivers included Rollie and Al Beale, Leo Caldwell, Johnny White, Benny Rapp, Dick Good, Tom York, Gordon and Nolan Johncock, Jerry Nemire, Sam Sessions, Johnny Logan, and so many more. From this start in racing we began to follow Rollie Beale throughout Ohio and Indiana as he took to the IMCA and USAC trail. Great thread! It forced me to go back and look at all of those old programs and ball point pen autographs from that era.

Also, I love your avatar. Great looking race car from back in the day.

It is a Don Klein modified(?) from somewhere between 1966 and 1970 I think.

Ya beat me to it Mudpacker, I was just thinking today about another thread how we was remembering the good old days & that was the 1 thing it was, Welding. I too remember when someone might of not had the night they wanted & some fella would be over there making repairs with the welder. Just don't see that anymore.

Dorney Park in Allentown, Pa. Track is long gone. It has been replaced by amusement park rides. My dad wrenched on a stock car. Neil Beech and my mom painted/lettered it. Craziest mix of colors I ever seen.......plum crazy purple with orange numbers. Number 26. He won a few features, but his wife Gloria was really tough in the powder puffs. I can remember the smells of fresh paint on opening night. 55-57 Chevys made up the "late model" class and old coupes bodied the sportsmans. It was the tiniest asphalt "oval". It was really a circle. During intermission my sister and I would run into the amusement park and ride rides. We would return when we heard the engines. If the races got boring we would turn the other way and feed the deer in the field popcorn. I can't remember my first race, but I know dorney was the first track for me.

Posted via Mobile Device

Skagit Speedway in Alger,Wa about 1 hour North of Seattle my Dad worked on a sprint car then later in the 90's I worked on one.

Posted via Mobile Device

I'm a history buff, so excuse my curiosity, but could you tell me where the West Baden track was located? I've heard of it and always wondered.....

Posted via Mobile Device

Born in 61, first race was at Eldora Speedway in 66. We went to all the USAC races, and eventually attended the weekly program. The first USAC drivers I saw were Sonny Ates, Cy Fairchild, Tom Bigelow, Larry Dickson, Gary Bettenhausen, Rollie Beale, Pancho Carter, Billy Cassella, Sammy Sessions, Bill Puterbaugh, Jerry Poland(hometown driver). The weekly events had the legendary Chick Hale in Late Models, along with the unbeatable Larry Moore. They also had a division called Sportsman that was great. They were 30's or 40's coupes for the most part, with drivers Harold Stonerock, Gene Smith, Red Harvey, and Buster Blackford. Dick DeBolt dominated the Hobby Stocks. I also was at the first 8 World 100's.

I also saw a few races at Dayton Speedway. John Marcum's ARCA cars with Benny Parsons, Iggy Katona, etc. Also saw a USAC and Super Modified race there.

We also checked out Tri County/Queen City Speedway, because that's where Larry Moore was racing in the Don Thompson Excavating #27 Monte Carlo. I think we saw a USAC stock race there that Butch Hartman dominated.

Also saw a few USAC races (Sprint and stock) at New Bremen.

All of this took place in the early 70's, great memories!!

I've never had a "home track" per se. The closest track is 81 Speedway in Wichita, and I witnessed lots of Sunday night super modified battles in the '70s, especially when Emmett Hahn and the Oklahoma gang would come up to scrap with Harold Leep, Jay Woodside, and the rest of the locals. But the racing fire was truly lit for me when we lived in the central valley of California in the mid-'40s. Dad would sometimes take us to Kearney Bowl in Fresno (I believe on Sunday nights) to watch the midgets, where we got familiar with the names Vukovich, Bettenhausen, Faulkner, Parson, etc. I was only 3 or 4 years old at the time, and actual memories are few and far between, but the sights, the smells and the thrill are still with me.