Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

I have been to over 75 dirt tracks in my fourty years of being a fan. My all time favorite track is Knoxville. I have been to three Knoxville Nationals (2000, 2017, 2021). Just the atmosphere and the way the entire town embraces the Nationals is worth the trip.

On my local front, My three favorite tracks are Williams Grove, BAPS and Bridgeport NJ

Fans love to knock The Grove, but it is my happy place whenever I pull into the track. I have season reserved seats and attend eight to ten races a year. There is nothing like an Outlaw weekend, and most of the time, The Outlaws vs The Posse lives up to the hype.

Bridgeport was my hometown track growing up in South Jersey. Since the track was reconfigured a few years ago, the racing is fantastic. It is a shame there are no races scheduled for both The High Limit or The Outlaws this season. The place was always packed for the 410's

What Scott Gobrecht has done to the old Susquehanna Speedway is to be commended. The entire facility has been totally refurbished, from new seating, lighting, new fencing, new video board etc. At 3/8th's it is the perfect size for 410 racing. I try and support Mr Gohbrect for all his hard work and attend four or five races a year whenever the 410's are on the schedule. 

Perris Auto Speedway is my favorite track. It has a great layout and surface that they know how to prep. The facilities are very nice and the PA system is much better than any other track I can recall. I don't remember if they have reserved seats or not for their regular shows. I've probably been to 100 races there. I haven't been since 2014, and I miss it.

A couple of other favorites are Grays Harbor Speedway and Cedar Lake Speedway. I've been to Grays Harbor probably 6 or 8 times and Cedar Lake only twice. Both tracks put on good racing in my opinion. The facilities are decent at both tracks.

I also have seen some really good races at Ventura, but not since the days of SCRA. The facilites are not as good, but if the track prep is on, then the racing is good. The announcer is awful, though.

knoxille of course is my favorite............nothing like being there....even for a weekly show it only gets me more excited for Nationals

dislike---the 5 hour drive   been going every year multiple times since 95   every nationals since 96

home track---HUSETS...its close, getting covered in dirt....and for most of my 50 years of going ive had up to 4 generations of my family sitting with me....sitting next to the same group of people for the last 30-40 years......

bad part---all the mccarl wins......the mccarl fans...........

I will first mention tracks I attended in my 50+ years of watching sprint cars and hardtops that no longer exist

Kearney Bowl

Ascot

Manzanita

Devil's Bowl

In today's world of livestreaming I will set everything aside if there's a race at Port Royal, never been there tho...

No, I watch a lot in replay, but there's something special about being live, the spoilers will be everywhere if you wait more than a few hours

Ascot and Manzanita were my all-time favorite tracks. They were a little run down, but the racing was first rate. My family went to Ascot almost every Saturday between 1974 and 1990. 

My dad talked a lot about Airport Speedway (Kearny Bowl). He used to go there all the time after the war and always told me that it was a good track. He was friends with Bill Vukovich and owned two service stations in Fresno with Bill.

So you are familiar with the Fresno area?  The track I remember the most from my childhood was one I never got the chance to attend, by the time I got old enough it was gone.  They used to race in the rodeo ring at the clovis fairgrounds, I'm originally from Clovis.  I think the hardtops would race KB on Friday and Clovis on Saturday, or maybe the other way around.  We were 3-4 miles away and we could hear it real well when the main event started

Only went to Ascot once, it was a pilgrimage, it was holy ground...

Manzanita was a real adventure, I have such precious memories from that semi-junkyard lol

And yes I know the name Vukovich very well, my avatar is Bill Jr in a hardtop at KB

My dad had left Fresno by the time I was born, so I'm only familiar to a small extent. Pretty much only what he told me and what I observed from visiting relatives there as a kid. I've been to most of the tracks in the southern valley like Kings, Tulare, Mesa Marin and Bakersfield (Oildale), but that was much later in the 80's and 90's.

If you ever read the book Vukovich by Bob Gates, you'll read a lot of my dad's remembrances of his times there.

ascot

thunderbowl is my favorite

Ascot was the greatest of all time..

West Capital wasn't half bad either..

Life is good...

Thanks, I will find that book.

Based on the tracks I've attended over the years and currently:

No longer in existence and missed:

1.  Penn National - attended 10+ races a year, they had reserved seating, a great grandstand, good food and atmosphere, good racing
2.  Silver Spring - attended 10+ races a year, always great surface and racing, big crowds, and amazing atmosphere.

Current:

1.  Port Royal - 3-4 races a year, nice seating, good racing, and unlike what one poster here always says the track prep almost always produces good racing

2.  BAPS - 3-4 races a year, and I agree with the other poster that the old Susquehanna speedway has really been fixed up and is enjoyable to go to.

Several of my all time favorite tracks are gone now

RIP:

West Capital Raceway- West Sacramento, CA

Manzanita Speedway- Phoenix AZ

Baylands Raceway Park- Fremont, CA

Some current favorites:

Ocean Speedway- Watsonville, CA

Perris Auto Speedway- Perris, CA

Bloomington Speedway- Bloomington, IN

All of the above have/had some great racing.

Honorary mention: Calistoga Speedway. Huge 1/2 mile in as beautiful a setting as you're going to find 

These are my top 5 tracks.

Knoxville 

Eldora 

Lincoln PA

Selinsgrove 

Williamsgrove

Let's go Sprint Car Racing!

Knoxville - Best Track In the USA!
Eldora - 2nd Best Track in the USA!

Favorite tracks: Chico(old Chico that is), Baylands(gone), Cottage Grove(loved watching the Outlaws at that place), Tri-State, and Knoxville.

Knoxville, Eldora, Lernerville, Lawerenceburg, Attica, Sharon. Been to about 30+ additional tracks

Been going to the Nationals every year since 2017. Lost count how many Eldora & Attica shows I've been too. Been to 3 Sharon & Lawrenceburg races, and a handful of Lernerville races. 

All have reserved seating but I am more of a showup and sit in various spots kinda guy

Strong points are all have great racing due to the track crews, facilities are nice, clean, organized, well maintained, have plenty of parking available, easy in and out.

Weaknesses they are all 2hrs or more away from my house. 

Terre Haute. 

Within hearing distance of Tri City Speedway

Knoxville Raceway is my favorite track. It's about 2.25-2.5 hours away. Haven't missed a Nationals since 1991. Honestly I can't remember the last time I missed a weekly show. 

Other Favorites: Eldora Speedway, 34 Raceway... Other than Knoxville I don't get to too many tracks...

I've been to around 200 tracks with my favorites being the ones that start their program at the advertised time, have a decent & fairly priced concession and I don't have to stand in piss in the bathroo.

1. knoxville, eldora & pevely, atomic

2. Knoxville & eldora run a tight ship and it's no surprise they are the premier tracks, pevely is a good show. Atomic is a great track but they have a hard time keeping on schedule, it's 2 hrs for me and I can wait to leave until the advertised start time and not miss much if any racing 

3. I think they all have reserved but I always walk up & get .

4. I usually go to all I mentioned several times a year except pevely and it's usually only once. several at eldora will be all of their sprint shows