Abandoned/unused racetracks?

frenchyd said:

In reply to adam525i : I got my first SCCA license at Holtville, an abandoned WW2 bomber base east of San Diego  

very similar to Sebring in that it was rough as a cob due to settling and heaving of the concrete sections.  

Flat featureless as any airport coarse, it still allowed me a safe runoff when I over pushed the car and ran off the track learning the limits of the car.  

Then I graduated to Riverside race track and really learned why Sports car racing was so wonderful.  I also learned how to do body work thanks to turn six boiler plate wall and failed brakes. 

Both tracks are gone now

I ran Holtville too - ITB in the mid 80s and H-Prod in the early 90s. It got worse every year and I wore a kidney belt inthe 90s. 

San Diego also had Carlsbad Raceway. An airport tack but a bit newer.

Also, the old LVIS (Las Vegas International Speedrome) road course and drag strip was plowed over for the current oval etc. 

In reply to L5wolvesf :

We used to go out to the remnants of the old Stardust Raceway and ride our motorcycles around late at night.

One note on the old LVIS road course and drag strip; half the road course and the top emd of the strip are still there and in use. The big oval was build on top of the gravel pit that wad outside of the original turn 3. The original turn 3 was out where the entrance tunnel to the speedway is.

In reply to Tom1200 :

I didn't know that. 

Is this the area you are referring to?

In reply to L5wolvesf :

Yeah that is pretty much the spot.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching both seasons of Lost Speedways on Peacock, hosted by Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Speedways

https://www.peacocktv.com/watch-online/tv/lost-speedways/8244217463726854112

Season 1

Metrolina Speedway, Charlotte, NC

Middle Georgia Raceway

New Asheville Speedway

Augusta International Raceway, GA

Hinchcliffe Stadium Passaic Paterson, NJ

Occoneechee Speedway, Orange Speedwary, Hillsborough, NC

Jungle Park Speedway Bloomingdale, IN

Dirty Mo Speedway Mooresville, NC

Season 2

Daytona Beach and Road Course, FL

Pennsboro Speedway Pennsboro, PA

San Antonio Speedway (Highway 16) and competitor track Pan American Speedway

Columbia, Cayce, SC

Texas World Speedway, College Station

Arundel Speedway, Maine

Cleveland County, Shelby, NC

Myrtle Beach Speedway

One of my favorite "forgotten" race tracks wasn't even a closed circuit, Long Island Motor Parkway from 1908 to 1938.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Island_Motor_Parkway

https://forgotten-ny.com/2000/07/long-island-motor-parkway/

I was able to drive a remaining short segment of the Motor Parkway every day for a month this summer.

From when we lived in Virginia, old-timers used to talk about Princess Anne Speedway in what is now Norfolk and Chinese Corner in what is now Virginia Beach. This news story dates from 1994.

https://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-xpm-19940303-1994-03-03-9403030017-story.html

http://www.speedwayandroadracehistory.com/princess-anne-speedway.html

http://racersreunion.com/community/forum/stock-car-racing-history/37888/the-forgotten-norfolk-speedway

There's a lot of famous names and history listed.

In reply to frenchyd :

The name of the race track was Lyndale Farms 

In reply to Lof8 - Andy :

My wife and I visited the old Augusta International Speedway a few years back, and you're right that most of it is still there. No chance ever running cars on it, but you can walk or bike it. 

It's kind of hiding in plain sight, too. We had the coordinates for the track and followed them. We found ourselves sitting on an access road for the park. Then we realized that we were parked on the old racing surface--it had simply been repurposed. I'd guess that about 90% of the original track remains. Once you get off in the woods, you can find the old pavement. 

In reply to David S. Wallens :

It's quite a neat setup!  Repurpose the area for a new use while preserving most of the history.  I saw a sign indicating that there's a preservation society working to save as much of it as they can. I really enjoyed visiting the place! 

Local effort by a friend to re-claim an old karting and at one point drag facility. The Strip is long gone but its a decent surface and has real potential for Drift and Autocross with minor updates/changes.

In reply to asphalt_gundam :

I've been fllowing his youtube updates.  Very nice progress he's made!

How about the old Grand Prix of Tampa Circuit? Not the St. Pete Grand Prix, but the temporary "street/parking lot" course that surrounds the Florida State Fairgrounds? (I saw Priest and Van Halen there.) Most if not all of the track still remains, I believe, but it's hiding in plain sight. 

In reply to stroker :

I wonder how cheap you can buy an old road race track?  Is it priced where a few friends could buy it, clean it up and have some fun?  
Or do you need to be in the 1% to even consider such a thing? 

frenchyd said:

In reply to stroker :

I wonder how cheap you can buy an old road race track?  Is it priced where a few friends could buy it, clean it up and have some fun?  
Or do you need to be in the 1% to even consider such a thing? 

I wonder if a few years ago The Hive could have done a collection for the down payment on an available property, but I very much doubt that's possible now...  :(  I mean, with shopping malls going under right and left, there's gotta be a big parking lot available at some point.  

There are 50+ acres for sale right behind my parents' house right now--some hills, totally undeveloped--and the price seems fair. My dad said I should buy it and turn it into a BMX track. I like the way he thinks. 

Grand Prix of DC anyone?  Held in 02' in the RFK parking lot, hosted ALMS and support series.  GRC repurposed the track in 14' to 16'.  It was very entertaining and my only experience seeing LeMans spec cars in person.

I need to scan in my 35mm pictures from the race so they don't get lost forever. 

I went to school in Athens, Ga., and we had a dirt track in town. I want to say that it closed right around the time that I graduated.

I drove past it a few years after, and half of the bowl was filled in for a new road. I recently checked the map, and now the area is fully developed. So long, half-price corn dogs during the final races of the evening. 

Smithton Motordrome has officially been sold. To some construction outfit to be used as storage. Shame, but the $1 million price tag hid about $20 million in repairs to be a real track again.