Are there any TNF members out there with any recollections of openwheeler racing being held after dark with all events being held underlights??????

Only speedway cars in Australia ,that i know off.

I raced Sprint Cars and Midgets in the 1970s at night. Watched thousands of Stock Cars and Midget races at night in the 1950s and 1960s. Not uncommon at all. Are you talking about Indy Cars/Champ Cars?

Perhaps a little 'topic-divergent' ( )but hadn't the sun dipped below the horizon by the time the 1976 Japanese Grand Prix finished?

I think what Peter is alluding to is Bernies alledged ultimatum to Melbourne that there will be no F1s there beyond 2010 unless its on at a better time for international TV = late evening.

And it had not quite fully emerged from the horizon in time for the 1989 Thursday (early) morning prequalifying session at the Monaco GP. City lights were still on when the cars came out of the paddock as I recall it. And Bernie was behind it all already

That must have been unbelievably early, Frank.

At Monaco 1965 I was sitting in the grandstand on the Friday morning at 5.40 a.m. when the F.3 cars came out and the sun was already well up.

Indeed, it had been fully light when I boarded my train in Menton.

At the night meetings at Oran Park the open wheelers did their races before the sun set and left the dark stuff for the blokes with headlights. The format was practice in the afternoon and some open wheel races before the sunset then a break for dinner while the sun dissapeared and when it finally set the racing resumed with the tin tops and sports cars.

One of the darkest races I did was at about 10pm in a thunderstorm. It was very, very dark and then suddenly you could see everything for half a second and then it was dark again. Very hard to adjust the eyes.

There are lights that could do the job ,But it still going to be very dangerous around Albert park hope it a FULL MOON on that Night.
Bernie.

The Champ Car World Series raced under the lights on Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland in 2004, and at Houston's Reliant Park in 2006.

There was a USAC Championship race at Nazareth (then a dirt track) in 1968.

As Buford mentioned, most U.S. short track oval racing from the late 40's/early 50's took place at night, and still does. There was quite a bit of pre-WWII Midget racing held at night. And Legion Ascot in Los Angeles had "Big Car" racing at night in the early 1930's.

Other than Nazareth, I can't think of any 1 mile or larger track earlier for "major" racing series (obviously CART, OWRS and IRL have had many in the last decade).

The session started at 8:00 am IIRC. Cloudy weather maybe too. And a bit of exageration on my part too maybe . But however, even on June 21 nowadays the sun is never up before 6:00am around here. I wonder how much of delay this as taken in 40 years ? In the XIXth century races I often read the start was given at sun set, i.e. often around 4:00am ! I always found this puzzling but then never found an astronomical answer to that... (didn't search much either I must say).

While technically not a night race, it was getting so dark at the end of the 1994 CART race at Surfers' Paradise that the street lights were coming on. The race had been delayed for rain.

In the 1950s, some races for 500cc F3 cars were run in Europe on velodromes (bicycle tracks) at night.

The 2003 and 2004 Champ Car Races at the Milwaukee Mile were held at night under the lights.
Tom

Night races are quite common in Karting.

Oran Park (sydney) ; 1970 start of a touring car race:



During the same race.



Note pictures are copyright Autopics (www.autopics.com.au).

Mallala (and AIR) in Adelaide have run 'twilight' meetings for many years now, usually the first and last meetings of the year. Usual format is to run cars without lights during the day and then cars with headlights later in the evening. There was one memorable moment in the mid 1980s when AIR had a race for mxed open wheelers and sports cars after it got dark. Quite interesting to come across a black Formula Ford which had spun and was sitting in the middle of the track in an unlit part of the track! No one hit it but the driver must have had a few worrying moments!