It’s most likely no shock to be taught that Motor1 readers are the best possible. At the top of January, we discovered a Facebook group for Google Earth photos that, amongst different issues, featured previous race tracks. We wrote an article sharing the abandoned circuits, and also you responded with even extra locations to go to. Virtually, anyway.
Below is a set of previous deserted and forgotten tracks submitted by you, the readers. Join us for one more spherical of Google Earth excursions. Don’t see an previous street course or drag strip you are pondering of? Post within the feedback or shoot over an e mail. We’d love to listen to from you and have them in a future installment of this digital sightseeing saga.
Track: Speedworld Raceway
Location: Wittmann, Arizona
Coordinates: 33°43’12″N 112°28’34″W
Thanks to Timm for the tip on this wonderful multi-use monitor in Arizona. Located roughly 25 miles north of Phoenix, what began as a drag strip within the Nineteen Sixties finally expanded to incorporate a small filth oval and motocross programs, amongst different issues. The facility was pressured to shut in 2013 in line with Dragzine, nevertheless it’s not utterly devoid of exercise. A neighborhood radio-controlled airplane membership operates from a small runway on the grounds.
Track: Bee Line Dragway
Location: Fountain Hills, Arizona
Coordinates: 33°30’26″N 111°45’45″W
Motor1 reader Timm additionally shared one other defunct Arizona drag strip with us, situated close to Fountain Hills within the jap suburbs of Phoenix. The ghostly stays of the quarter-mile monitor are simply seen simply south of Highway 87, although Dragstriplist.com states it has been closed since 1982. It was a thriving monitor by way of the Nineteen Sixties and Seventies, serving as a daily cease on the skilled drag racing circuit.
Track: Amatol Raceway
Location: Hammonton, New Jersey
Coordinates: 39°36’19″N 74°44’33″W
This monitor despatched to us by reader Carl is likely to be a bit robust to identify. So we have utilized our nifty compare-image device to assist. Click or contact the arrows within the center to pull left or proper. We’ve highlighted in blue the place Atlantic City Speedway was once. Rows of timber define the previous 1.5-mile oval, which was inbuilt 1926 and closed simply two years later. According to SouthJersey.com, a handful of 500-mile races have been held on the picket monitor, which was finally torn down in 1933.
Track: US 30 Dragstrip
Location: Merrillville, Indiana
Coordinates: 41°28’33″N 87°16’55″W
Drag strips are hiding all over, together with this one despatched to us by Motor1 reader Frank. Located roughly 10 miles south of the Lake Michigan shoreline and round 35 miles southeast of Chicago, the quarter-mile monitor closed in 1984. Lost Indiana says it opened within the Fifties and allegedly noticed the very first humorous automobile race. Legends like Don Schumacher and Don Garlits raced there, and Google imagery from 2022 exhibits the monitor remains to be largely intact.
Track: Cornhusker Dragway
Location: Omaha, Nebraska
Coordinates: 41°10’41″N 96°08’02″W
We give an enormous shout-out to reader Captain Stu for the following two tracks. He regaled us with tales of attending races right here as a young person within the Seventies, although there is not a lot left of the previous quarter-mile strip. Concrete firms have arrange store on the land, leaving only a small portion of the monitor and return street seen between them. It had a brief run, working from 1969 by way of 1973 in line with Dragstriplist.
Track: Sunset Speedway
Location: Omaha, Nebraska
Coordinates: 41°19’58″N 96°05’33″W
Captain Stu frolicked at this oval monitor, too. Located northwest of Omaha, it was once a quarter-mile filth monitor for Late Model, Modified, and World of Outlaw racing. Midwest Racing Archives states it opened in 1957 and stayed energetic for 44 years. As the close by metropolis of Omaha grew, Sunset Speedway turned the topic of noise complaints and closed for good in 2000. Now, it is solely recognizable by the timber outlining the previous monitor.
Track: Meadowdale International Raceway
Location: Carpentersville, Illinois
Coordinates: 42°06’55″N 88°18’16″W
Approximately 40 miles northwest of Chicago you may discover Raceway Woods Forest Preserve. This was once Meadowdale International Raceway, a sprawling 3.27-mile street course that opened in 1958 and closed 10 years later. But in contrast to most locations on this checklist, this previous monitor hasn’t been deserted. The whole format nonetheless exists as a part of the protect, simply seen by way of the timber. You will not see automobiles crusing across the corners, nevertheless it’s open to hikers and bicyclists. The Midwest Racing Preservation Association is devoted to conserving the monitor’s reminiscence alive, as are Motor1 readers Gajoseric and Joseph – each of whom emailed us about this cool location.
Track: Marlboro Motor Raceway
Location: Upper Marlboro, Maryland
Coordinates: 38°48’24″N 76°44’20″W
According to North American Motorsports, Marlboro Motor Raceway in Maryland opened in 1952 as a small filth oval monitor, finally increasing to incorporate a number of ovals and a 2.4-mile street course by the late Fifties. It was the positioning of quite a few endurance races and SCCA Trans-Am occasions earlier than closing in 1969, due partly to the opening of close by Summit Point. While Marlboro’s oval is definitely seen, we outlined the format of the previous street course which is essentially gone. Shout out to Motor1 reader Steve for the tip and historical past on this cool ghost monitor.
Track: Granite State Park Speedway (AKA Dover Speedway)
Location: Dover, New Hampshire
Coordinates: 43°14’00″N 70°53’42″W
We have some unanswered questions on this monitor, despatched to us by reader Channing. Located close to the border with Maine, this spot as soon as had a fifth-mile, half-mile, and one-mile oval layouts. Satellite imagery suggests the mile-long monitor was really a tri-oval, however historic photos on the Catamount Stadium web site present solely a conventional oval as we have outlined above in blue. In any case, the power began with horse racing within the Nineteen Thirties, then expanded to auto racing till it closed down in 1962.
Track: Augusta International Raceway
Location: Augusta, Georgia
Coordinates: 33°21’10″N 82°05’28″W
You can nonetheless carve some corners that have been a part of this 3.0-mile street course, albeit at gradual speeds whereas driving round baseball fields. According to Racing Circuits, Augusta International Speedway was envisioned as the biggest motorsports advanced on the planet, with a big oval in addition to a quarter-mile drag strip. That by no means occurred, however a strip and a smaller oval joined the street course throughout its 10-year run from 1960 by way of 1970. These are seen on the high of the picture (above proper), intermingling with subdivisions, church buildings, and a faculty. Shout out to Motor1 reader Mitchell for the tip on this one.
Track: Rattlesnake Raceway
Location: Midland, Texas
Coordinates: 31°54’42″N 102°02’40″W
At a look, this monitor appears to be like prefer it might nonetheless be used as we speak. Sent to us by reader Andrew, what you see here’s what stays of the previous Chaparral Cars two-mile check monitor utilized by firm co-founder and racing driver Jim Hall. Built within the late Fifties, it was used for less than a brief time frame. Aside from testing, North American Motorsports mentions choose SCCA races and Porsche Club occasions happening right here. Zooming in by way of Google, the floor appears to be like a bit tough however nonetheless intact.
Track: Nazareth Speedway
Location: Nazareth, Pennsylvania
Coordinates: 40°43’42″N 75°19’08″W
While investigating a small monitor close to Pittsburgh despatched to us by Eric (sorry, we could not discover something) we stumbled on Nazareth Speedway. This monitor existed in numerous varieties for almost 100 years, beginning life as a half-mile filth oval for horses. According to Abandoned Online, vehicle races started in 1910 earlier than finally rising right into a paved one-mile tri-oval within the Nineteen Eighties. As you may think, all types of automobiles raced right here by way of the a long time, together with these from NASCAR and IndyCar. Nazareth was additionally dormant for a number of stretches of its life, which lastly got here to an in depth in 2004.
