Dayton Speedway was a race track in Dayton, Ohio, United States. It has been called the "Fastest 1/2 mile (plus 210 feet) in the world".
The track held events for NASCAR, AAA, MARC, ARCA, ASA, and USAC.
History
The track was opened in June 1934 as a flat "D shaped" 5/8 mile dirt track. The original track was a "copy" of the Legion Ascot Speedway.
<br>Timeline - The following is a timeline of events from 1933 to the present:
- 1933 - A "Kids Race" was held in September 1933.
- 1934 - The Official opening of the track was Sunday, June 3, 1934.
: The first race was won by Ken Fowler of Paterson, New Jersey. Future Indy 500 winner Mauri Rose of Dayton was second.
- 1934-1935 - The Speedway Manager was Paul Ackerman.
- 1936 - On June 4, 1936, the entire track was repaved with asphalt and promised to be the fastest track of its design in the world.
- 1937 - Track was purchased by Frank Funk.
- 1939 - The track was converted to a high-banked 1/2 mile.
:Funk also raised the banking, twice.
:May have buried old Trolley cars to help fill the space.
:Added an "oil substance" that "made the track as hard as pavement" (on hot days the stuff would get soapy and rain over the cars and drivers).
- late 1930s - 1970 - Covered grandstands were added.
- 1940s - Billboards on the backstretch began to be displayed.
- 1941-1945 - Closed during WWII.
- 1946 - Reopened after World War II on Friday, June 29, 1946, with the first "Big Car" race ever held
:at night on the East Coast (Ascot was first in the world).
- 1947-1954 - The track infield was 1/4 mile.
- 1949 - Sold in 1949.
- 1949-1958 - It had a single white guardrail.
- 1949?-1954? - The track had a wooden scoring / announcers stand.
- 1950 - It had a single "Strap" Guardrail (from 1950 Sprint Car Start on Home Page).
- 1951/52 - Track was converted to (corrugated/extruded) rounded guardrails.
- 1952 - Sprint car driver Gordon Ried was killed in a gruesome crash on the frontstretch that also killed three spectators and injured many others.
- Later that year, Jim Rigsby was killed when his car made contact with another car and was launched off the turn 3 banking over 20 feet in the air, landing in a cabbage field 200 feet from the track.
- 1953 - First Dayton 500 was won by Iggy Katona.
- 1954 - Track site was used for a concert by "The Drifters" on August 7, 1954.
- 1955 - The infield track was 3/8 mile.
- 1955 - Jim Romine Olds photo shows bridge (No bridge after 1955?)
- 1960s - Harlan Fengler era (chief steward of the Indy 500)
:He removed 6 feet off the banked turns.
:For 3 years, Earl Baltes ran the track (and several other tracks until 1979).
- 1969 - Black and white stripes were used on the guardrails.
:Infield scoring stand was built (Benny Parsons Photo).
- 1970 - Covered grandstands in photos.
- 1971-1974 - Closed but the track was used for testing.
- 1975 - A new grandstand was built with new owner
: Black and gold stripes were on the guardrails.
- 1976-1978 - Closed but the track was used for testing.
- 1979 - Don Thompson era.
:Red-white-blue trim was applied to guardrails.
:Track re-named "Greater Dayton Speedway" and was painted on infield scorers stand.
:The surface was repaved twice.
- 1982 - Front of the Concession Stand near turn one nearly collapsed between races one Sunday.
:Guardrails and restrooms were in disrepair.
- 1982 - Closed at the end of season due to no liability insurance.
- 1984 - Still for sale.
:Guardrails needed to be replaced.
:Grandstands needed repair.
:One groove left in turns 1+2 and huge potholes in 3+4.
:Straights were surprisingly good but banking needed attention.
:The Flagman stand floor had rusted out.
:The top section of infield scoring stand was gone.
:Scales were gone from in front of infield scoring stand.
- 1986-1994 - The track began use as a landfill, eventually refuse filled the infield to the pavement on the straights. The site was then filled with clay and the track no longer exists.
Notes
References