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Dirt Track Racing in your path?


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#1 70JesperOH

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Posted 09 April 2021 - 05:04

A couple of weeks ago I watched the NASCAR Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, USA. After a raindelayed Sunday the race was on on a late monday evening, with the Truck series as warm-up. Unusual for my TV-provider they actually showed the race live on late Monday!

 

For a couple of weeks before numerous races had been held on the fabled 0.533 mile concrete oval

short track located in Western Tennesse, but now covered in dirt!. Dirt track oval racing with big high prolifigh NASCAR teams, cars and drivers? It has not happened since 1970! Yes, it was on a day late, but only because of massive rain falls on Sunday!

 

And what was on!? - 40 big body, all American NASCAR cars (still 3400 ibs?) slithering around, occationally bouncing off each other and or off the wall, with traction low, breaking distances was long and it didn't take long to wipe out two of the pre-race favorites. In hindsight I have started to appreciate the talents of Junior Johnson, Ned Jarrett, Richard Petty, the Flocks and a whole bunch of others for their talents around a left hand only half mile dirt track, in a completely new way!

 

But my first impression was, I have seen this before! Back in 1987 my dad, my brother and I went to Fangelbanen for the final round of the Danish Autocross Championship. We usually strock to our local track Nisseringen, and their fancy Autocross track (more about that later).

To support the stragling field of 11 Autocrossers (12 in the entry list) were 2CV and Folke-Race. The two latter races had their own version of the track with chikanes placed midway on the two straights adding meters to the circuit and slowing down the speed. Local ace Ole Nielsen won the major race and the Championship in his Opel Manta-B.

 

Fangel has been announced being 600, 630 or 650 meters, but with corners bordered by heavy, solid sand filled used tyres, I suspect It never changed it's outer peremiter through its 48 year history (1946-1994). Among the specialties of Fangelbanen was that it was noted for relatively long straights and narrow corners, but also that the breaking zones were uphill at both ends - throwing dirt in your face from RWD cars – from stained memory!

On rainy days the track had a reputation for getting rutted and the two wheelers were never happy about the marriage.

For most of its history a former rail road passenger wagon housed any kind of official duties, with a very rudimentary paddock area inside turns 3 and 4.

Placed in the middle of the country with a lot of support, but considered a Dinosaur by 1994. I believe that inviromental issues was the death for this track.

 

More to follow

 

Jesper OH

 



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#2 Lee Nicolle

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Posted 10 April 2021 - 05:40

Sprintcars raced at Bristol 10-15 years ago.So nothing new with clay at that venue.

I have seen bits and pieces and a LOT of those drivers at all levels were a fish out of water.

And lap times? I noticed they were not shown. I suspect the rear steer late models were a LOT Faster.

But still look stupid!



#3 70JesperOH

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Posted 10 April 2021 - 15:41

1946 was the year Korskrobanen was innaugeretet. Close by the harbour city of Esbjerg, a lot of British racers on two, three or four wheels travelled the North Sea and raced at the odly shaped 666 meter circuit, with narrow entries into to the corners, but wide exits. Jørgen Holm was in charge of the circuit for quite some time and by 1977 he took it a bit further. With the bikes being an important part of the income the original design did not work out. Denmark and neighboring West Germany had traditions of 1000 meter track speedway on two wheels, and that was what Holm presend for 1977 - I guess the 4 wheelers didn't dissagree! The standard of the place was apperently top notch, but by 1978 Ring Djursland presented Rally Cross in Denmark and all of a sudden oval tracks looked dated! The circuit is still in operation with multiple functions availble, The oval are still visible, but a rallycross track are the main attraction. 

 

Jesper OH


Edited by 70JesperOH, 11 April 2021 - 02:32.


#4 BRG

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Posted 10 April 2021 - 16:02

A lot of UK short oval racing was done on dirt or shale tracks for many years.  This was mainly because they sometimes used the same tracks that were used for motorbike speedway and for greyhound racing.  But gradually, some tracks became only for cars - stock cars, hot rods and bangers - and were gradually given hard surfaces.  I can remember going to Wimbledon Stadium when it still partly shale.  It didn't seem to be a problem for the racers to adjust to the differing surfaces and grip levels but maybe on the 440 yard oval, the speeds aren't high enough to make much difference?



#5 elansprint72

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Posted 10 April 2021 - 20:53

I think that dirt-track racing in the UK was on Speedway/stock car (UK version) "ovals". Speedway in Europe means motorcycles without gears or brakes. I'm sure I read that Black Jack Brabham started out on this type of track. When I say "sure"... perhaps thaty was a dream, or just the usual voices in my head....  :smoking:



#6 Beggysmalls

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Posted 11 April 2021 - 09:48

The world of dirt track speedway cars have an amazing diversity of classes and tracks across the USA and Australia

We have over 70 classes here in aus and probably a similar amount of tracks. The track sizes here are a bit smaller with most being the 400m - 600m in size. The common misconception is that because you are only turning left so it cant be that hard. With constant changing track conditions

The NASCARS did look a bit silly but primarily that was because they were taking a car thats setup for ashphalt and trying to make them work for dirt.

A fully fledged sprintcar/latemodel setup well on dirt is stunning to watch. Multiply that by another 20 odd or so on a 500m track and you get plenty of action.

#7 Beggysmalls

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Posted 11 April 2021 - 09:51

I'm sure I read that Black Jack Brabham started out on this type of track. When I say "sure"... perhaps thaty was a dream, or just the usual voices in my head.... :smoking:


Yes that is correct he raced speedcars and was a national champion

#8 Lee Nicolle

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Posted 12 April 2021 - 00:55

I think that dirt-track racing in the UK was on Speedway/stock car (UK version) "ovals". Speedway in Europe means motorcycles without gears or brakes. I'm sure I read that Black Jack Brabham started out on this type of track. When I say "sure"... perhaps thaty was a dream, or just the usual voices in my head....  :smoking:

Sir Black Jack was quite succesfull in that midget with an 880 Jap. The car survives and has been 'demonstrated' in the not so distant past.

I am unsure of who owns it now as the owner is no longer with us.



#9 Lee Nicolle

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Posted 12 April 2021 - 00:57

Yes that is correct he raced speedcars and was a national champion

Never national champ,, though from memory NSW Champ.



#10 BRG

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Posted 12 April 2021 - 11:20

A more recent F1 driver who started on dirt might be Martin Brundle.  He started off grass-track racing in a Ford Anglia as a teenager (no karting!)  then moved into short oval hot-rod racing.  At that time some of the tracks used would still have been at least partly shale surfaced.



#11 68targa

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Posted 12 April 2021 - 11:34

Derek Warwick was another F1 driver who was very successful in UK with Spedeworth Stock Cars which ran on dirt. He was still in his teens when he won The Superstox World Championship, which seems to have been mainly UK drivers. There was a degree of contact involved which may have helped in British Touring Cars later on :)    



#12 70JesperOH

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Posted 13 April 2021 - 20:31

Another track to open just after WW2 was Jydsk Motorbane about five kilometers north of Hobro in northern Jutland. Fine ideas was behind but can also be seen as a lesson in how difficult it could be to survive as a dirt track.

 

Initially formed by five motor clubs based in the region each with a stake in what in the spring of 1947 became known as I/S Jydsk Motorbane. Catering for two, three and four wheelers on a 1.0 kilometer dirt oval, that was build within three months of the start up of the collaboration. But it was also faced with an increased entertainment tax - I'm not kidding - upped from 40 to 60%. To ad insult on June 15 1948 a ban of all motor racing was introduced in Denmark because of concerns over the fuel reserves of the nation. The ban lasted eight month so racing could at least resume in from the spring of 1949.

But the real big blow was the death of a bike rider in the spring of 1954. Safety issues was raised and with the prospect of finansing improvements four of the clubs left, leaving one club struggeling on till final curtains in 1961.

 

Another issue that has been brought up with bike and cars sharing the same circuit, seems to have been that especillialy in rainy weather the cars could tear up a circuit, but at least the motor sport clubs were in it together. It was another issue when horse racing tracks were visited. They saw motor racing as an extra income, but would some times demand that one or two of the inside lanes were blocked off during meetings to leave a fresh track for the horses.

 

The horse tracks were often of the same lenght as Jydsk Motorbane and Jydsk Væddeløbsbane in Aarhus and Skive Travbane in northern Jutlands was active in the same period and likely in close competition with the track by Hobro. Together with Amager Travbane south of Copenhagen they played their role in dirt track car racing untill the late 1960s at a time when the only asphalt track Roskilde Ring was joined by Ring Djursland in 1965 and Jyllands-Ringen the year after. With new exciting cars on these three tracks, the dirt tracks took on a more secondary role, the horse tracks leaving it to the regular dirt tracks such as Fangel and Korskro mention earlier.

 

A lot of the information comes from http://speedwaylife....h-tracks/hobro/. As the title of the site indicate it is about the bikes, but does give a glimpse of car racing as well and that is what I'm trying to dig into.

 

Jesper OH