What track did you grow up going to?

SpfldMile · 6/25/13, 8:47 AM

Little Springfield, or as we called it, Shaheen's. Sunday nights. Shows on the mile were always a highlight for me as a kid, too. Later on Dad and I started branching out to Granite City, Godfrey, and Terre Haute and DuQuoin later still. What great times.

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hoosierhillbilly · 6/25/13, 9:05 AM

Dad used to take me to,haubstadt on Sundays several times a season. It was a lonely drive back to Floyd county. Like a good kid, I would sleep all the way home. We used always eat at Lakeview truck stop. They had good cheeseburgers and plate lunches.

We would also hit other tracks too. I remember trips to Knoxville and Eldora. The best was a two week run. Eldora for 2-3 days, back home for fresh clothes and on to Knoxville. Fun times.

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racen857 · 6/25/13, 9:23 AM

Port Royal, PA. Went there as a kid with my parents and grandparents every saterday. My father being a dairy farmer, it was well know I had better be in the barn early on saterday. Cause if we were late to the races you just knew "hell" was going break out. Not that I wanted to be late either.

I can remember 1 saterday night sitting in the driveway waiting on my sisters date to show up, my Dad getting madder by the second. Finally he just left with my sister screaming in the back seat, me laughing, and mom yelling what are you doing! Dad said "It's time to leave and I'm waiting not 1 more second for that guy." Turns out we found out 1 year later when the guy called my sister up again, and asked her if she wanted to go out on a date? She told him you never showwed up last time and just called a year later, and now you want to go out again? His reply I got arested and just got out of jail!
Priceless,....

Still go to the Port all these years later, even met my wife at the track while poking around looking for a job on a sprint team. Also Haggerstown was a track my wife and I used to go to for awhile to the Hub city 150 till they stopped running the race.

cws9 · 6/25/13, 9:38 AM

Manzanita Speedway, Phoenix, Az. I always had dreams of someday racing there. Unfortunately, I never got the opportunity. A couple of my brothers got some races in though. Lots of good memories about that place.

robert gatten · 6/25/13, 9:58 AM

back in the 50s (oh my) my dad took me every week to a track east of Columbus he called" the hill" and some call it the hole on the banks of clifty creek. WE ALSO road an Indian scooter there and to Paragon ,I think, know it was a long trip on scooter around Martinsville. But the greatest time we had was those days at the hill watching chop top flat head fords go at it. My favorite driver was a guy named old smoky because his car always ran great but smoked, loose rings I now guess. Sometimes when he hit the track the pa played "on top of old smoky", ha. great memories.

jjones752 · 6/25/13, 10:05 AM

Jalopies at the Carpinteria Thunderbowl and Gardena Stadium. CRA "Big Cars" at "the New" Ascot Park right after they renamed it from it's original name, Los Angeles Speedway, then Midgets on the new infield 1/4 mile at Ascot and Super Mods on the Quarter and the 1/2 mile after Gardena closed. Early-model Stocks at Saugus. Mostly my childhood addiction was fueled on Sundays when Dick "Leatherbritches" Lane called the action from Gardena, then Ascot on KTLA, Channel 5; the in-person trips were special occasions that I lost sleep anticipating, like the night before Christmas.

mscs20 · 6/25/13, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpfldMile

Little Springfield, or as we called it, Shaheen's. Sunday nights. Shows on the mile were always a highlight for me as a kid, too.

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Me too. Every Sunday night. My dad started racing there in 69, myself in 76.
Champaign County Fairgrounds in the 60's and 70's was our Friday night track.

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Shawn · 6/25/13, 10:24 AM

I grew up going to Anderson Speedway on Saturday Night, every week. I was a fan of the figure-8 racing, but really loved the weekly late model series. My favorite driver was #31 Bob Fields, who would do battle with #51 Vic Hellis, #15 Rick Rhonemus (sp) among many others. It was always great racing, plus the cars always looked perfect. They were always squeaky clean and just beautiful.

We would then head to Mt. Lawn Speedway on Sunday and watch the same drivers to battle there. Usually we'd have a picnic, or some sort of meal on the way to Mt. Lawn. As a side note, I really think this is something that HAS to happen with Anderson and Mt. Lawn. They need to have the same rules and race on different nights. Plus, enforce and stick to the rules...for everyone.

We also followed the special shows at Winchester, Salem, etc. We were into the asphalt late models, which included ARTGO andASA. So, I remember going to Nashville Fairgrounds Raceway, Queen City Speedway, Baer Field, etc.. I was fortunate to see drivers like Butch Miller, Johnny Benson, Dick Trickle, Darrell Waltrip, Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin and others that moved onto bigger things. There were also the drivers that I enjoyed watching, like Bob Senneker (sp), Mike Eddy, Jay Sauter, Jim Sauter and many others. My Dad was one of the first members of the Mark Martin Fan Club. So, we traveled a lot helping them with the picnics, or whatever. What a great time!

My dad and I were talking on our way back from the USAC Midget Week show at Kokomo. We sure missed a lot of great racing on the dirt during that time. We both really wish we would have been turned onto the dirt racing scene a lot sooner, but I wouldn't trade the time at the race tracks while growing up for anything. It was time with family, every weekend. It was also creating memories with them. It was also what ignited my passion for racing. That's something that will last forever.

tntbusco · 6/25/13, 10:30 AM

Kt have to agree with you about Avilla. Raced at both Warsaw and Avilla. Warsaw was a great place but Avilla was a track that was more fun to race on. Grew up 5 miles from Avilla but Warsaw was dirt so that's where we went

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ROSS · 6/25/13, 10:53 AM

Started at Mt. Lawn speedway where my Grandpa took tickets at the gate for many years and my grandma worked the concession stand. Grandpa used to let me run around the track in his pickup and I was hooked on racing. When I wasn't visiting grandparents I was going to action track with my family. Picking up a bucket of chicken and meeting other families in the infield. Great memories of throwing the football with my brother and watching the races. I can only hope I'm having the same effect on my own son right now.

By the way Shawn I was not a Fields fan. I was a Steve Ellis fan and they had some great battles. Also was a fan of LJ Lines. Mostly because my dad helped him when he was a kid. Bet we crossed paths many times.

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