RevRico said:In the complete opposite direction of this topic, nearby where I was rally crossing today is an abandoned turn pike tunnel that has been used as a testing grounds for race cars on and off since the 70s.
Odd, this article says constructed in 03, but I have heard rumors of it since I was little.
03 was when the tunnel was turned into a test tunnel. The tunnel was built as part of the original PA turnpike(Irwin to Breezewood). I started driving thru that tunnel in 1959.
I was knee high to a grasshopper when I saw my first race at Flemington Speedway.
"Flemington Speedway was a motor racing circuit in Flemington, New Jersey which operated from 1915 to 2002. The track was known for being the fastest 5/8 dirt track in the United States. Later it was for hosting four NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races and its pioneering use of foam blocks used to lessen the impact of crashes, which led to the adoption of the SAFER barrier and was America's longest-running Saturday night shorttrack until its closing."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flemington_Speedway
"The track's grandstand opened in 1917 and remained standing until the track was demolished in January 2005."
The adjacent Flemington Fairgrounds hosted the Hunterdon County Agricultural Fair for 145 years. It's a shopping mall now. Yay. 
There’s a Facebook group called “Retired race cars and abandoned race tracks”. There is lots of good content there!
Does anyone remember the uncompleted/abandoned road course in northern Kentucky near Cincinnati?
oldsaw said:For quite a few years the road course at Thompson Speedway (in CT) was abandoned but it has been resurrected. This is where I saw my first oval and first sports car race. The track was and still is a "roval".
http://www.thompsonspeedway.com/about-thompson-speedway/history?nid=150#1
I believe that Thompson was the first dedicated road course in America. A few years before they resurrected it, I walked the remnants of the track and it was hard to figure exactly how it was laid out. I haven't been back yet, but I'm hoping to drive it this year.
There's a good Facebook page for this sort of thing
westsidetalon said:Does anyone remember the uncompleted/abandoned road course in northern Kentucky near Cincinnati?
Bluegrass Motorsports Park. Unfortunately it was doomed from the start and was never completed. They paved a track, but poor water management on the site and local sound ordnances killed it.
In reply to Spoolpigeon :
Yes thanks! I was just thinking about this track last week and was thinking about some urban exploring. The wiki mentioned it to having one of the longest straights in North America! It appears to be next to the highway with little to no development remotely close to it which makes me wonder why the strict noise level? I do remember seeing photos of sections of it being washed out. Such a shame for all the time, money and effort.
Theres this one one in the Clewiston FL area that appeared to have never been used at all when I went exploring one day
Woody said:oldsaw said:For quite a few years the road course at Thompson Speedway (in CT) was abandoned but it has been resurrected. This is where I saw my first oval and first sports car race. The track was and still is a "roval".
http://www.thompsonspeedway.com/about-thompson-speedway/history?nid=150#1
I believe that Thompson was the first dedicated road course in America. A few years before they resurrected it, I walked the remnants of the track and it was hard to figure exactly how it was laid out. I haven't been back yet, but I'm hoping to drive it this year.
Thompson road course is always a good time. It's a bit overshadowed by Palmer now, but I always enjoy a day there. If I had to choose, I'd probably go up to Palmer instead, but luckily there's enough days run at both that there's no need to choose!
A few minutes from my house there is a complex with a Walmart and a Lowe's and a McDonalds, pretty typical stuff. But it used to be this:
Heidelberg Raceway, that's I-79 passing behind it. From 1948 until 1973 they ran stock cars there. Interesting historical fact, the last time the Ringling Bros. Circus set up a tent in the US, it was in there in 1956. (here is a film from the first time they set up there: https://vimeo.com/63012745)
jimbbski said:I had a old friend who started a website called "Ghost Tracks" where he gave the history of a number of road race tracks that came and went here in the midwest.
Sadly the website went away after he passed.
The most famous tracks that he had a history of was "Meadowdale" northwest of Chicago. It didn't last very long but it held a number of pro races and it's still mostly all there.
It's now a forest preserve with the track used as a walking path.
They have a website: http://www.mirpa.org/home-1.html
Another small club track that's gone but not gone is one that was build in southern WI. It closed and was turned into a housing development with the builder using the track as it was and just adding pavement as required. He even named some of the streets with "racing" names.
The last one is a drag strip called "U.S. 30 Raceway" it's also still there just overgrown. https://www.google.com/maps/@41.4751478,-87.2835804,889m/data=!3m1!1e3
We used to ride mountain bikes and take out trucks 4-wheeling on that land--- before they declared it a park. We had no idea it had once been a racetrack......until one day we came upon the paddock. "Wait....this looks like.......a ......racetrack! " It blew our minds, so we began doing a bit of research. The original track had a big "Monza Wall" that had since been torn down. Just before the wall there was a washed-out bridge, and on the pavement was painted a simple warning......."PRAY" is all it said.
It's a really cool place, and they've done a great job wit it. If you are ever in Carpentersville IL, heading up Rt. 31---- check it out.
I like finding the traces of old tracks in cities. My uncle went to the same university I did, but 25 years earlier. The sports car club used to run races on campus, a concept that just defied belief in the uptight 90's. I was able to trace out most of the track but there was a building in the way by that time so I never was able to run an illicit lap.
There used to be a dirt oval in Grand Junction. This is where it is, it sure looks like there's the outline of a track in that empty lot.
I like this one. The Grand Prix of Denver was an Indycar race that last ran in 2006. You can see concrete reinforcement on turn 5 and trace the straight that runs from there to turn 6 through the "Prius lot" tag. Still driveable!
that old rt 30 drag strip is near me. I might have to go check it out. Also, looks like there is a lake at the end - better hope those brakes (or chute) work!
Lakeville Speedway in Lakeville Massachusetts
Norwood Massachusetts. Norwood Arena
We've had this conversation a few times over the years about different tracks, but never a general thread I can think of. This is one that came up before. It's actually an old Kart track I belive so a bit small for anything other than autocross, or maybe rallycross in it's current state. It's abandoned but now part of 'Greenwood acres family campground' about 7-8 miles east of Jackson Mi, just south of I94. I grabbed this off Google maps back then, but it's still visible on Google maps if you look for Greenwood acres.
kb58 said:Not much to discuss about the old tracks in California; they're all under housing developments, malls, or golf courses.
The only one that still "exists" around San Diego is the parking lot of the Del Mar fairgrounds, but it always been just that, with no evidence remaining of what drove there in the past (all the way back to the 1950s).
Don't forget about Cajon Speedway. Went to a few events there as a kid, then rode the Motocross track on the property until it also closed about 10-12 years ago.
Haven't checked out the property recently, so don't know how recent this google earth image is.
oldsaw said:Augusta International Raceway existed for ten years outside of Augusta, GA. It was a multi-track site that included an oval, a drag strip and a 3-mile road course.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusta_International_Raceway
My wife and I have walked Augusta Int'l Raceway. It's now a park. I'd say that like 95% of the original track remains. Love to go back there with our bikes.
Bridgehampton 1994
Bridgehampton 2017 (makes me sad)
The speeds at this place were very high. My one and only crash at the place started at the crest of a small kink before the last corner and ended up with me spinning through the last corner and down the front strait and off the the inside.
A track that you were always thankful to have survived to come back another day.
In reply to pinchvalve :
Heidelberg brings back memories. I drove on that track and the one that used to be close to the intersection of RT 30 and RT48(Mosside Blvd) and the one at Windber, PA back in the early 1960's.
In reply to Grizz :
The road course at Marlboro was fun to drive. The transition from the road part to the oval was tricky.
What if we start a thread about race tracks that were announced but never built?
In reply to Woody :
Until several years ago you could see a difference in the trees. Pretty much all equal now.
I remember it being called the Mountain Corse by some.
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