What is the first race track you ever attended?

[Bob Hubbard]

Mid 1960's - Glen Este speedway / Florence speedway / LawerenceBurg / Queen city speedway

[lokwaidid]

cincinnati race bowl around 1955. the legendary lawrenceburg speedway a few years later. it was special before they rebuilt and destroyed the place. when mel johnson ran the place it was perfect.

[dirt33]

Knoxville Raceway, mid-1980s. My Dad let me hold the steering wheel for a little bit on the drive there, which of course seemed like the coolest thing ever to a kid aged 6 or 7. I remember the crowd cheering so loudly when Randy Smith of Mt. Ayr, IA had problems and coasted to a stop on the front stretch. I couldn't fathom why so many people were cheering the misfortune of a driver. The explanation that was given to me was my very first look into what it means to be the "bad guy" or "villian". Evidently Randy Smith won his fair share of races, and maybe ruffled a feather now and then in doing so...?

Winged sprint cars at a place like Knoxville was quite an introduction to car racing, that's for sure. I remember the very next Saturday, sitting in Centerville, IA, at a racer's house/garage, and being informed that the races for that night were "rained out". I remember being quite unhappy about that. That day of course was only the first in a LONG list of being bummed out by races that have been lost to rain.

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

cincinnati race bowl around 1955. the legendary lawrenceburg speedway a few years later. it was special before they rebuilt and destroyed the place. when mel johnson ran the place it was perfect.

Amen! The old configuration was something special.

[gator 49]

The old Lincoln Illinois speedway about 1955.My Uncle and his son ran the race track then. My next race track I remember was St. Charles speedway in Missouri.

[Taboo62]

Lavonia Speedway, 1978 or 1979. I remember the camaro body late models with huge spoilers. Believe Buck Simmons won that night. 25 years later I was working on the John Deere car w/Buck, we helped him break the 1000 career wins and he also won twin-track championships in 2003.(Toccoa & Hwy 106 Speedways).

[3 wide]

Winchester,tn. In 63. Atomic,tn. Speedway in 71 then on to the fairgrounds in Nashville around 80 back then waltrip the Allison red framer a lot of them were running down there.

[CIRF]

Mazon Speedbowl,at the Fair, Mazon, Ill, Late 50's.

We're not all that far from Mazon. I've heard a lot of stories about that place. It's impossible to tell it was ever there these days. My Dad said the place was banked steeper than anything he'd ever seen before. I've heard that Bob Tattersall from Streator, Illinois loved the place. I've also been told that Mazon and the old 3rd Street Speedway in Streator, IL is where Tattersall started his hall of fame career.

Fairbury in about 1968. Same with the Mazon Speedbowl. Thankfully the neighbor parents took me with their son.

Wow, you got to see the fabled rail cars (supermodified's/sprint cars) at Fairbury. Norman "Bubby" Jones, who just passed away last January, and Larry "Boom-Boom" Cannon were probably still racing weekly at Fairbury in '68.

Fairbury 1956. Went with my cousins. My brother was farming in Chatsworth and we were visiting.

Krooser, do you remember what classes they were racing at Fairbury back in '56? I know the small track was originally built for midgets but they may have made the transition to stock cars by '56. They also raced automobiles on the old 1/2 mile horse track way before the little track was built but I don't know if it was still being used for cars in '56 or not.

Most of Spencer Bayston's family are farmers near Chatsworth.

[BTExpress]

My first ever race was in 1969 at Langhorne Speedway for the Indy cars with my Dad. The highlight was going into the pits afterward and getting to sit in Bobby Unser's #3 car, which was the same car he won the Indy 500 with only a weeks prior (still have a photo)

First Dirt Track Race: 1975 at East Windsor Speedway, NJ for the Big Block Dirt Modifieds
First Sprint Car Race: 1980 at Lincoln Speedway, Pa for the World of Outlaws
First DLM Race: 1995 at Hagerstown Speedway, MD

[drunkinashortbus]

Santa Fe Speedway in 1980. Then my 1st job was at Santa Fe in 1986 at age 13.

[Pennsboro32]

Tyler County, has to be 1992 or 1993.

[XRACER1993]

CIRF
, If you can go to, Chicagoland Auto Racing.com , on the left of the main page you will see "race tracks", click on that and go to Mazon Speedbowl scrool through the pic's and stats.. lots of info there thru the years, and also look at drivers bio, lots of stuff on this site.. Hope you enjoy it ! Thank You..

[FastEd95]

Chateau Speedway, Lansing, Minn. - summer of 1973 (6 years old). Been to 110 tracks in 12 states overall.

[WisWildManFan]

Fairbury American Legion Speedway. Don't remember the exact year. My parents first took me to FALS when I was 6, 7, 8 years old. Don't remember for sure but I was very young. Jack Tyne was a friend of my Dad and was a grizzled veteran on his way to becoming an Illinois Racing HoF inductee but still raced FALS every weekend.Every time I go to FALS these days, which is often, it brings back some great memories or my youth. Looked forward to race nights at Fairbury like it was Christmas Eve every Saturday night, especially the race nights during the Fairbury Fair!

To think with your infinite ball of knowledge you would be able to recall the year when you were 6,7,8 years old. Must be the dementia setting in. God speed my memory lost friend.

[Dirt Clod]

XRACER / CIRF,

Looks like we all have something in common - Central IL racing. Back in the day, it certainly gave us options. I was born and raised in Streator. Unfortunately, I was just behind the Bob Tattersall era. USAC midgets rarely raced in central IL (that I knew of) and I was too young for a license. When Bob got cancer, I do remember a benefit in Streator for him that included a parade of midget cars. That was pretty special.

Yes we could never forget the names Boom Boom Cannon and Bubby Jones. Nice to see you remember the rail cars. Not many do. I do remember the B-4 being towed by a Cadillac in the pits.

I did get to enjoy the Jack Tyne era. One of his mechanics owned a body shop next to our house and occasionally they brought the #89 and #189 cars to work on it. Got a close up look. Then came the Tom Reints era. Streator had some racers.

Regarding Mazon, that was quite the place. I imagine the banks were 20 degrees. Just a guess. With no walls, it was exciting to see the cars go up the banks and many times over. Loved to see the famous Chicagoland legends come to Mazon, then Morris. At least Morris paved the way for the ARTGO series.

XRACER, that is a great website. Chicagoland Auto Racing.com Plenty of old records, photos and stories.

One track I went to only once was the 1/2 mile Fisher Road Champaign Speedway. I think that is what it was called. I saw a daytime World of Outlaw show there in about 1978? Some guys on Facebook replied me the address and sometime this summer on the way to Fairbury, from Indy, I'm going to try to find it.

Nice connecting with Central IL race fans.