Abandoned tracks

[fieldodreams79]

Oglethorpe Speedway Park in Pooler, Georgia, just outside of Savannah has closed after 70 years of operation. Another one gone

https://www.wsav.com/news/race-fans-...s-of-memories/

[morninggents]

Originally Posted by coppice

I'm currently writing a piece on Rufforth, once a regular haunt of mine . I first went in 1968 (and walked from York station !),and last visited in about '74 . I returned last week , courtesy of the Gliding Club, and it was an eerie feeling standing on the old back straight. A day or so later I spent a very enjoyable 90minutes with Brian Robinson , whose Lotus Cortina FVA was such a feature of my early visits .

Most will have seen it, but there is a marvellous YouTube film of club racing at Rufforth and Cadwell in September 1969 .

I have lots of results from Rufforth between 1966 and 1977, though mostly special saloons, if you would like copies. Also quite a few reminiscenses.


Are you going to publish your piece?

[coppice]

Already published, thank you . In Low Flying (Lotus Seven Club ) and probably Speedscene (HSA ) . If interested , PM me and I can send you a copy .

[Mike E]

Augusta International Raceway.

This looks like another sad loss.

https://youtu.be/oD6grqgwfP0

[Aysedasi]

As always, sad to see.....

[S griffin]

At least there’s still some traces there, for now

[ChrisA]

Originally Posted by The Fat Clerk

I liked the Rally they used to run there every December.

Doing fast laps on the Oval was serious fun as well.

Did those rallies a few times. Sometimes the weather was good, but invariably cold and wet, even snow once, which made it interesting. Always enjoyed the meeting as most of cars were classic rally cars.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by Mike E

Augusta International Raceway.

This looks like another sad loss.

https://youtu.be/oD6grqgwfP0

I did a deep dive for us a while back, but somehow missed this post. Here's a little more on it. The place was a monster!

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

There is something eerie, haunting and sad, yet utterly fascinating about abandoned circuits. I've been meaning to read this thread for some time now. Great stuff! I have only read accounts of the he Reims circuit until this thread; looked simple and fast. Only time across the pond for me, I hung around the Gypsy Hill area, and surely would have passed by the old Crystal Palace park and circuit several times, unbeknownst to me. I did, however, know about Brands and found myself hanging out there for a Saturday of historics


Here's one that I never had the chance to get to (wasn't around at the time) and it appears it was just far too ahead of its time. It had a 1/2 asphalt shorttrack, drag strip, cart track and a daunting, high banked 3 mile road course, plus a planned, but unfinished 2 mile speedway!
Augusta International Raceway

In this case, a local nonprofit has come together to try and preserve what is left:
http://www.augustainternationalraceway.org/

Track Map / Arial Photo
Article on track history w/ photos
Video of modern day look at the circuit

Driving a King Cobra, Dave McDonald beat Jim Hall and Bob Holbert in a USSRC race merely weeks before he lost his life at Indy. This is was the only "big" sportscar race held at the circuit:
http://www.racingsportscars.com/phot...964-03-01.html

Great article with photos and clippings from that USSRC race:
http://www.davemacdonald.net/gallery...raaugusta1.htm

Fireball Roberts won his last NASCAR race there on the 3 mile road course. Richard Petty, Joe Weatherly, David Pearson, Bobby Issac and Dick Hutcherson are among winners on the 1/2 mile oval. In 1964 Wendell Scott finished 18th at Augusta the week before he won his only race at Jacksonville Speedway.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a show on Peacock in the US that visits abandoned tracks called Lost Speedways. Not sure y'all get it across the pond. Matthew Dilner and the producers can be a bit sappy, but I like their stories and the stories of the tracks.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12591286/

One of the first episodes, they went to Augusta. Neatest thing from the show was the concrete letters they had on the wall out front were still there, because no one is going to move gigantic concrete letters!! Can't find a google image off hand.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12824604/?ref_=ttep_ep4

[fieldodreams79]

I mentioned in another thread that I'm a little under the weather ABD don't feel like working. Found this while slacking off this morning and love this thread so thought I'd share it. Goes along with some previous posts of mine about "The Bridge":

A little more info on the track:
https://bringatrailer.com/2022/10/22...at-the-bridge/

Neat old track map:
https://bringatrailer.com/wp-content...size=620%2C477

Great video of the Cam-Am race held there in 1967.
https://www.facebook.com/GLSmith9823...18292175048529

Paul Newman quote about taking a first ride around the circuit w/ Mario Andretti

"It was 1967 and Mario took me around Bridgehampton in a 427 Mustang... my first ride with a professional driver. As we approached a fourth gear,blind,down hill righthander, I thought I'd have a better chance of surviving Custer's Last Stand than this. When we stopped in the pits, I hurled myself from the infernal machine, belly down, kissed the ground, thanked my Maker, and vowed never to kick my dog or as it turned out later, his pig."

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

And at least the track itself is preserved through the park; the two tracks mentioned in the article written by the guy with the crappy Lotus, Bridgehampton and Riverside, are hardly noticeable anymore. Riverside is a mall, and Bridgehampton is a golf course. At least the golf course left some of the remnants of the old circuit.

Brigdehampton then
Bridgehampton now

It's Bridge Golf Course, Bridgehampton NY.

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

Indeed, and as someone who actually enjoys playing golf, I have to admit it would kinda neat to play that course, even though it would leave me wondering how cool it would have been to see a race there. The course, in it's hay day, was something of legend; high speed and if you got it wrong, the dunes were there to bite you.

A good look at the high speed T1 section:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezbcQYdnzLM

Edit
Can Am 68:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xWMuEKfs6w

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by Mike E

Avus grandstands to be restored/repurposed.

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2...de-grandstands

Any update on this?

[fieldodreams79]

Another one going by the way of urban sprawl...

Historic Rockford Speedway in Illinois Closing After 76 Years

https://www.thedrive.com/news/histor...ct_source=pitc

[Greem]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

Any update on this?

https://www.avustribuene.com/

Middle bit is a multi-use venue.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by Greem

https://www.avustribuene.com/

Middle bit is a multi-use venue.

That's really neat. Clean looking space with history. My favorite things!!

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Greem

https://www.avustribuene.com/

Middle bit is a multi-use venue.

that is really cool, and love the 360 tour!

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

There is something eerie, haunting and sad, yet utterly fascinating about abandoned circuits. I've been meaning to read this thread for some time now. Great stuff! I have only read accounts of the he Reims circuit until this thread; looked simple and fast. Only time across the pond for me, I hung around the Gypsy Hill area, and surely would have passed by the old Crystal Palace park and circuit several times, unbeknownst to me. I did, however, know about Brands and found myself hanging out there for a Saturday of historics


Here's one that I never had the chance to get to (wasn't around at the time) and it appears it was just far too ahead of its time. It had a 1/2 asphalt shorttrack, drag strip, cart track and a daunting, high banked 3 mile road course, plus a planned, but unfinished 2 mile speedway!
Augusta International Raceway

In this case, a local nonprofit has come together to try and preserve what is left:
http://www.augustainternationalraceway.org/

Track Map / Arial Photo
Article on track history w/ photos
Video of modern day look at the circuit

Driving a King Cobra, Dave McDonald beat Jim Hall and Bob Holbert in a USSRC race merely weeks before he lost his life at Indy. This is was the only "big" sportscar race held at the circuit:
http://www.racingsportscars.com/phot...964-03-01.html

Great article with photos and clippings from that USSRC race:
http://www.davemacdonald.net/gallery...raaugusta1.htm

Fireball Roberts won his last NASCAR race there on the 3 mile road course. Richard Petty, Joe Weatherly, David Pearson, Bobby Issac and Dick Hutcherson are among winners on the 1/2 mile oval. In 1964 Wendell Scott finished 18th at Augusta the week before he won his only race at Jacksonville Speedway.

Originally Posted by Mike E

Augusta International Raceway.

This looks like another sad loss.

https://youtu.be/oD6grqgwfP0

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

I did a deep dive for us a while back, but somehow missed this post. Here's a little more on it. The place was a monster!



Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a show on Peacock in the US that visits abandoned tracks called Lost Speedways. Not sure y'all get it across the pond. Matthew Dilner and the producers can be a bit sappy, but I like their stories and the stories of the tracks.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12591286/

One of the first episodes, they went to Augusta. Neatest thing from the show was the concrete letters they had on the wall out front were still there, because no one is going to move gigantic concrete letters!! Can't find a google image off hand.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12824604/?ref_=ttep_ep4

I had the opportunity to check out Augusta Raceway in person this week on a trip back from South GA. It's a gigantic park now and it has to be miserable in the summer!! It was about 90F (32C) in late spring....

First pic is at pit in, then pit straight, then looking across the park and finally the turns 1 and 2 complex, with the banking.

I'd like to spend some more time there one day.

[Tel 911S]

Just doing a bit of catching up on this thread .And remembering some of the tracks .
I raced on the Crystal Palace circuit , [ I think I also did the last ever full circuit race there ,] Aintree . The original Snetterton circuit with the long Norwich straight .
Snetterton reminds me of one that I doubt that many people have heard of .
FERSFIELD . Old WW11 airfield used as a racetrack in the 1950s .The races there then moved to Snetterton when that airfield was turned into a racetrack , again in the 1950s .
A lot of old airfields were used as racetracks , and I guess there is quite a few more that have disappeared forever .

[Tel 911S]

Originally Posted by Tel 911S

Just doing a bit of catching up on this thread .And remembering some of the tracks .
I raced on the Crystal Palace circuit , [ I think I also did the last ever full circuit race there ,] Aintree . The original Snetterton circuit with the long Norwich straight .
Snetterton reminds me of one that I doubt that many people have heard of .
FERSFIELD . Old WW11 airfield used as a racetrack in the 1950s .The races there then moved to Snetterton when that airfield was turned into a racetrack , again in the 1950s .
A lot of old airfields were used as racetracks , and I guess there is quite a few more that have disappeared forever .

And guess what . Managed to find a video .https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idYw7iWr9eU

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

I had the opportunity to check out Augusta Raceway in person this week on a trip back from South GA. It's a gigantic park now and it has to be miserable in the summer!! It was about 90F (32C) in late spring....

First pic is at pit in, then pit straight, then looking across the park and finally the turns 1 and 2 complex, with the banking.

I'd like to spend some more time there one day.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...51eca994ca.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...4c0151192e.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...3cb1661276.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...7ff8295465.jpg

That’s a bit different from Phoenix I went to last week. Although just as stupid hot!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August...tional_Raceway

It looked a fun one. Quite short lived, unfortunately.

[Tel 911S]

Originally Posted by Tel 911S

And guess what . Managed to find a video .https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idYw7iWr9eU

Fersfield is actually part of American history .During the war , as an American base , Joe P Kennedy jnr took off from there in a bomber converted into a remote controlled bomb .When he got to the English coast , he switched on the control mechanism prior to baling out .But it went wrong and he was killed when it exploded .
This stopped his fathers future plans of making him the president , and his younger brother , John F Kennedy got the job instead .

So Fersfield might be known to Americans as an airfield before it became a race track .

[Tel 911S]

Been a bit quiet on here , [ then just noticed Gordons post ], but I thought I would bring up a bit from " Abandoned Tracks ".
Had been looking up the history of FERSFIELD . A link to it here .https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idYw7iWr9eU
And looked up the history for Snetterton and Silverstone .
From old maps it looks like they were all very similar design WW11 airfields .
Silverstone had its first racing in 1948 , Fersfield in about 1951 and Snetterton a year or two later .
Fersfield did not last very long , [ probably to far away from main roads ,] but the other 2 are still going strong as race circuits today .

How many tracks across the country had similar starting points , as I cant think of many that were about , [ Brooklands ], before the war .

[grantp]

Originally Posted by Tel 911S

Been a bit quiet on here , [ then just noticed Gordons post ], but I thought I would bring up a bit from " Abandoned Tracks ".
Had been looking up the history of FERSFIELD . A link to it here .https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idYw7iWr9eU
And looked up the history for Snetterton and Silverstone .
From old maps it looks like they were all very similar design WW11 airfields .
Silverstone had its first racing in 1948 , Fersfield in about 1951 and Snetterton a year or two later .
Fersfield did not last very long , [ probably to far away from main roads ,] but the other 2 are still going strong as race circuits today .

How many tracks across the country had similar starting points , as I cant think of many that were about , [ Brooklands ], before the war .

Donington, though somewhat briefly.

But then again, dedicated tracks must have been rather rare pre-WW2.

[grantp]

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

Possibly slightly missing the point of Tel's post in terms of airfield tracks post WW2, but having lived next to the park whilst racing was still active, albeit as a very young person at the time, I think the concept of the Palace is something that should be remembered.

That said most of my visits to the Park were more memorable for the dinosaurs.

https://cpdinosaurs.org/

[Tel 911S]

Originally Posted by grantp

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

Possibly slightly missing the point of Tel's post in terms of airfield tracks post WW2, but having lived next to the park whilst racing was still active, albeit as a very young person at the time, I think the concept of the Palace is something that should be remembered.

That said most of my visits to the Park were more memorable for the dinosaurs.

https://cpdinosaurs.org/

I should have looked that one up , but did not know it had been about that long .
I actually raced there a few times , including ,[ I think ] the last meeting on the full circuit ,in about 1974 .

[grantp]

Originally Posted by Tel 911S

I should have looked that one up , but did not know it had been about that long .
I actually raced there a few times , including ,[ I think ] the last meeting on the full circuit ,in about 1974 .

There is a video of the last meeting's races on YouTube somewhere.

Maybe not all of the races though.

[Tel 911S]

Originally Posted by grantp

There is a video of the last meeting's races on YouTube somewhere.

Maybe not all of the races though.

Have seen links to videos , but I think they were for the last International races at Crystal Palace , which were in [ I believe ] 1972 .
And I think clubman races went on until about 1974 .