Here's the start of a sprint car heat race in 1954. Mike Nazaruk is in the #3, Mutt Anderson's car, on the pole.
Don Freeland is in the #4 on the outside. Then comes Gene Force in #74, Eddie Sachs in #25,
Pat O'Connor in #1, and Larry Crockett in #31, Charlie Engle's car.
Photo copyright Ray Peterson, from the Skip Peterson Collection
ONCE UPON A TIME...
There was a time, not too long ago, when the road to Indianapolis for fast young race drivers went through "the hills," three blindingly fast, high-banked speedways in the Midwest. Once a driver proved himself on these race tracks, car owners were willing to consider the driver capable of driving, and possibly winning, on the big tracks, like the 2 1/2 mile Indianapolis Speedway.
The three tracks were Salem Speedway in Southern Indiana, Funk's Speedway (later Winchester Speedway) located near the city of Winchester in Eastern Indiana, and Dayton Speedway, on the outskirts of Dayton in Southwest Ohio.
The history of these three raceways is the history of auto racing itself. Big time American motorsport grew up on these high-banks and was nurtured by hundreds of bright eyed young men who lived only to race. But these tracks could be cruel, and more than a few dreams of racing glory died there with the drivers who pushed too hard, who bobbled, who made that one fatal mistake, or who suffered some mechanical failure that ended their careers.
Two of the speedways still exist and still host auto racing events, though for the moment both have given up trying to stage weekly events. Salem and Winchester still draw the crowds of race fans and still challenge the nerve and skill of veteran and rookie drivers alike.
But Dayton Speedway, the favorite of so many racing fans, is gone, gone forever, turned into a landfill. Scarcely a shadow of the old track remains. But for those of us who competed there, who thrilled to the battles between the most famous drivers in auto racing history, Dayton Speedway is still there, still alive, still an important part of who we are and how we became auto racing fans.
With this website, through pictures and stories, and with the invaluable aid of some of the many friends of Dayton Speedway ("FODS"), I hope to do my part to keep the memory of Dayton Speedway, and the part the speedway played in American motorsports, alive and well. And with the assistance of my long-time associate, Foggy Goggles, we'll have some fun along the way.
Thanks for stopping by!
Wm. Michael "Mickey" Thompson
The start of a 1950 sprint car heat race sees the cars slide
through the first corner and into the second.
Photo copyright 1950 by Ray Peterson, from the Skip Peterson Collection.
Ned Shoemaker raced at Dayton Speedway in the track's early days.
---Photo from the collection of Gene Ingram.
Driver Lenny Waldo prepares to take his Stenger's Ford sponsored
United States Auto Club (USAC) sprint car onto the speedway.
---Photo courtesy Marvin Goins collection.
Early sprint cars exit the fourth turn as they prepare to test Dayton Speedway's high banking. In this photo
the track is dirt, not yet paved. Notice the absence of a guardrail. Notice also that the neat wooden fencing
appears to have been replaced here, probably more than once, and probably as a result of an errant race
car. This photo was taken from the pedestrian bridge that once crossed the track near the fourth corner. ---Photo from the collection of Gene Ingram
In this photo from the collection of Marvin Goins, Dick Freeman prepares to take his
Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) Mercury stock car out onto the Dayton Speedway.
Freeman won three ARCA events at the speedway during his career.