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Finding old race tracks (circuits)

Started by HistoricMustang , May 04 2006 21:53

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12 replies to this topic

#1 HistoricMustang

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Posted 04 May 2006 - 21:53

Not sure if this link has been up before.

This really "hits home" on what still needs to be done as the individual mentioned has recorded 110 race track finds.

Are there former tracks (circuits) that should still be with us but have not been located? How many have you, as a TNF'er, "discovered" on a personal basis?

http://www.research....004/racing.html

Henry

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#2 Cris

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Posted 05 May 2006 - 00:19

Funny you posted this, as today I was thinking the weather is finally good enough (and the ground dry enough) to start looking for tracks again. Here's a web page of some of the tracks near where I live that were lost. Through it I've met some interesting people who have told me of even more tracks in my area whose existence is practically undocumented.

http://dabica.com/tracks/index.html

Cris

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#3 Terry Walker

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Posted 05 May 2006 - 04:34

There's always many more than you thought.

Years ago I looked into the same subject here in Western Australia, expecting to find maybe half a dozen road racing circuits. In the end I turned up twenty odd, and that was not counting the numerous motorcycle road racing circuits, and not counting speedways, of which there were many. There were also TQ midget tracks all over the place in the 1950s which were not speedways, and not road racing tracks, but unique to TQs. Then there were motorcycle scramble tracks by the dozen. And of course hillclimbs.

And Kart circuits....

Later, when I did a similar project for the whole of Australia I came up with over 100 automobile road racing circuits, and occasionally another long forgotten one turns up out of the blue.

Trying to research an entire country is too big for any one person, but your state, or even your county, could keep you occupied for a while.

A long while.

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#4 Bernd

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Posted 05 May 2006 - 05:07

Fast Tracks is an invaluable resource Terry. Many thanks for it :up:

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#5 chuckbrandt

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Posted 05 May 2006 - 10:01

There are several people working on a few projects like this here in the Midwest. There is a lost dragstrip called the Des Moines Dragway that many people raced at that is gone now and being researched.

I have been trying to drive on and document the current condition of regional tracks that the cobra team raced at. I have been lucky to cover Greenwood Roadway and Lake Garnett so far.

Greenwood Roadway

Lake Garnett

I hope to cover Lake Afton (another city park course just west of Wichita) and visit Lyndale Farms in Wisconsin (now a housing development).

As you can see I try to document a windshield tour and take "then/now" photos when possible. If anyone knows of any other tracks I should check out please let me know.

Chuck Brandt

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#6 fvebr

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Posted 05 May 2006 - 12:53

mapping & Googling

Lake Garnett

Greenwood Road Way

Lake Afton

Lynndale Farm

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#7 LittleChris

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Posted 05 May 2006 - 22:24

There aren't really a lot in Western Europe to discover as such. There are several that have, to my eyes, been forgotten and amongst them I'm glad to have visited Les Planques ( Albi ) and especially Cadours.

I still await confirmation that Barry Boor & Roger Clark actually did drive on the mystery Amiens track or did I miss the confirmation

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#8 HistoricMustang

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Posted 06 May 2006 - 00:10

We are searching for two missed tracks.

One is the Dan Bowles Speedway and we have a general idea of the location.

Another is a track that was located on Sand Bar Ferry Road and we have no idea of the location except that is was close to the Savannah River.

We will try. :

Henry

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#9 MattKellett

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Posted 06 May 2006 - 03:16

I was thinking the of a similar thing the other day. I wanted to retrace a couple of road races in this area and see if I could do some before and after shots. The two places I intend to go are Peeble Beach and Golden Gate. Does anyone know of others in Northern California, Moffat field obviously still exists, but I doubt with all the homeland security these days that you can gain access for photographing.

Matt

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#10 Barry Boor

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Posted 06 May 2006 - 07:15

No, Chris, we eventually decided that despite the 'overwhelming' evidence that we WERE in the right place, we were, in fact, miles away!

With the help of a couple of our French colleagues, it was established that the Amiens circuit was very much in the city area, not out of town in the fields where we were cavorting!

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#11 HistoricMustang

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Posted 06 May 2006 - 13:39

If some tracks are "re-discovered", perhaps GPS coordinates can be put up?

Henry

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#12 YankeeRacer

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Posted 12 June 2009 - 04:48

Edited by YankeeRacer, 12 June 2009 - 12:54.

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#13 YankeeRacer

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Posted 12 June 2009 - 13:15

One track that was not included in Allan Brown's book History of America's Speedways as of 2003 is the Harwinton Fairgrounds located in Connecticut. I had never heard of it until I was going through some racing tickets from various New England race tracks that I bought off of ebay. It was for a motorcycle race there in 1948. Especially since there is no trace of the track today, I'm glad I was able to at least document its existance.

I used Brown's book to help with the Chisholm Speedway in Alabama, which ran an early NASCAR GN race in the 1950s. I could find hardly anything other than the stats on that race or a mention if someone ran in the NASCAR GN event(s).

Brown's book helped out by giving me the alternate name for the track as the Montgomery Fairgrounds (1570 Federal Dr., Montgomery, AL 36107).
I brought up some old aerial imagery and the track was there through the early 60s at least.