Racing History in the Southern Tier of New York

[blackjackracing]

Wow jay mooney..that's awesome. A funny thing...I researched Chemung County Fairgrounds today and stumbled across the name of a 1/2 mile track that was in Big Flats in the late thirties...TRI-CITIES (must have been a popular name)

[blackjackracing]

does anyone remember a track on Doty Hill road in Wellsburg?

[dirttrackrocker]

I think the track in Bath was located out behind the livestock auction or there abouts. Somewhere around the house here, I have a stack of complimentary passes from there.

[Jay Mooney]

As Tompkins County is often grouped among the counties that make up the Southern Tier, I’d thought I’d post this here first.  Anyone have any knowledge of Ithaca Speedway?

I located a photo and story about the track in the Binghamton Press dated June 24, 1951. The co-owner of the track, Marjorie Marble was preparing for the opening of the speedway.  She had been advised that she would be arrested if the track raced on Sunday's as they would be in violation of the state's blue laws. That never happened, though. After three straight rainy weekends, the track folded. 

Ithaca Speedway was located on Route 34, three miles north of Ithaca. Anyone know if this track, or portions of it, is still there?

Ithaca Speedway was not the Ithaca-Dryden Speedway (aka: John Wood Speedway).  That track was located on Route 13.

Here's newspaper ad for Ithaca Speedway from June 28, 1951 which was run in the Auburn Citizen Advertiser:

[Larry756]

I know/knew drivers that raced at Doty Hill.
I know the location, but there is nothing there
that shows any resemblances of a track.

[chassis works]

Corning War Memorial Stadium
1/4 mi.  dirt oval   sometime in the late 40's

http://www.autoracingrecords.com/arr/tracklist2.php?region=New+York

[chassis works]

Ahhh, here is a few I remember
LOL

Addison Addison
Airport Speedway Big Flats
Airport Speedway New Springville
Airport Stadium Speedway Rochester
Bath Speedway Bath
Big Flats Big Flats
Black Rock Speedway Dundee
Bliss International Speedway Bliss
Brighton Fairgrounds Brighton
Broome County Fairgrounds Whitney Point
Broome-Tioga Sports Center Richford
Brown Farm Olean
Cayuta Lake Odessa
Champion Speedway Owego
Chemung County Fairgrounds Elmira Heights North
Chemung Speedrome Chemung
Chenango County Fairgrounds Norwich
Chittenango Chittenango
Corning War Memorial Stadium Corning
Cortland Fairgrounds Cortland
Cuba Lake Raceway Cuba
Elmira Driving Park Elmira
Five Mile Point Speedway Kirkwood
Hornell Raceway Hornell
Ithaca Motor Speedway Ithaca
Ithaca-Dryden Speedway Dryden
Lawrenceville Speedway Lawrenceville
Little Valley Speedway Little Valley
Millerton Millerton
Naples Speedway Naples
North Van Etten Raceway Van Etten
Olean Speedway Baldwin Heights
Oneonta Oneonta
Ovid Speedway Ovid
Penn Yan Fairgrounds Penn Yan
Perry Perry
Reed Run Thrill Bowl Elmira
Seneca County Fairgrounds Waterloo
Seneca Falls Speedway Seneca Falls
Shangri-La II Motor Speedway Tioga Center
Silver Speedway Elmira
Skyline Raceway Blodgett Mills
South Seneca Speedway Ovid
Southport Speedway Southport
Spencer Spencer
Sportsman Speedway Addison Hill
Sundown Speedway Bradford
Triple State Speedway Johnson City
Trumansburg Fairgrounds Trumansburg
Twin Valley Speedway Chenango Forks
Wellsville Wellsville
Wellsville Stock Car Speedway Wellsville
Woodhull Raceway Woodhull
Yates County Fairgrounds Penn Yan
 

[blackjackracing]

quite the list...did you make it to all those?   In all seriousness, I've been dong a lot of research and there is a lot of misinformation in this list. For instance...Ovid Speedway...supposed to be 1/4 mile dirt track which ran from 1951-1952. My step-father grew up there and if anybody would remember this track, he would be the one. Chemung County Fairgrounds was supposed to have run big cars in the late thirties and early forties. I scoured the microfiche for these years and there was nothing. Mind you they made a HUGE deal when they ran at Tri-Cities in Big flats (the Big Flats track you mention) at the same point in time, so I'm sure they would have made a big deal of racing at the fairgrounds. my point here is that there are lists ad-naseum...I LOVE what This Mooney dude is posting...substantial information  JMO

[bywr]

Whitesville ?

[lynchmobb]

BlackJack - I have been using a book to assist im my hobby (collecting race programs) - 'The History of the American Speedway', by Allen Brown (the same guy that publishes the yearly Speedway Directory). The book lists all known American & Canadian speedways. I have found some discrepancies in the book, but overall it is pretty good.

[blackjackracing]

Thanks Lynchmob...I'll look into that. I think I need to let people know where I think this is headed. My cousin does a lot of historical research and he had tried to get me to do it in our area for some time...I just didn't have the time.  Over christmas the plant I work at was shut down so I had time to get on-line and start researching.... Type in Doty Hill Speedway or Bath Speedway and see what happens...I can tell you...NOTHING. The local historical society has some stuff on racing and it will fill a shoebox with room to spare. The curator of their library said she hears over and over how someone threw out such and such because they thought it was worthless.  This is lost history for the most part and I think that we're at the point where if we, as a racing community, don't come together to save that history it will be gone forever...okay, maybe a little mellow-dramatic, but a LOT of it will be lost...Like Doty Hill. So we need to un-bury it. I have been going to the library which is an excellent way to find stuff...found a track that was in  Athens PA yesterday called Valley Speedway...Looking for one thing found another. The other thing we can do is talk about it...I'm driving the people I work with nuts, but I heard about Doty Hill that way. Anyway..I'm rambling. When i get done I plan on donating everything I've un-buried to the local historical society. I plan on including anything I can find ie; pictures of local drivers, programs, memorabilia etc...You can do the same. I'm betting that for the most part if you're reading this, your local historical society dosen't have any of this either. If you have ANY info or leads or stories (oral history) or pictures  you would like to share that pertain to our region (binghamton to ithaca to ovid to towanda to wellsville?) call me at 607-739-2789. Thanks Bob

[Larry756]

Bob, it was nice to chat with you on the phone today.
When you mentioned mapquest I looked up Doty Hill
the track was located at the intersection with Ridge
Road. Chet Bennett Sr. showed where the track was
he remember towing his car up the steep hill, sometimes
he said his tow car would over heat. I wonder if Darrell or
Dale Welty remembers if there dad, Norm raced there.
Norm and Chet were good friends.

[Tangletongue]

Chassis Works: You kicked up a couple of memories... you're the only person that I've ever heard mention Millerton, as in Millerton, Pa. I vaguely remember watching what I believe were 1/4 Midgets in my pre-teen years in a field in Millerton. Also, 1/4 midgets were raced five or six times at the baseball field on the Wiley Farm in Nelson, Pa. sometime between '58 and '62... can't lock it down to a more specific date. (I turned 10 years old in 1962)

I believe the "Addison" and "Sportsman Speedway, Addison Hill" are one and the same. Wendall Hand operated that track through the fifties and then reopened in '69 and '70.

I lived in the Cowanesque Valley for the first 20+ years of my life and never heard of a track in Lawrenceville...

Someone mentioned Whitesville. Could that be Circle K which was operated by Audrey Kio (Mrs. Don Kio)?

You have two entries for Wellsville... fellow Nelson resident Loren Doan raced at Wellsville in the early fifties and in past conversations with him (and a couple of other folks that grew up in that area) I've never heard of two Wellsville tracks. Gordon Chilson (grandfather to the Chilson-Wilcox Chrysler/Jeep dealer) and the great Dutch Hoag also raced at Wellsville.

Liberty Speedway in Liberty, Pa. (south end of Tioga County, Pa.) was another short lived dirt track in the Twin Tiers.

[blackjackracing]

Sportsman Speedway is listed on the allegany site as being in Mills PA. AWESOME photos on the site.

[Tangletongue]

Bob, I'd never heard of Addison Hill being called Sportsman Speedway, but didn't argue the point.  I know of at least three "Sportsman Speedway" locations in NY and Pa., and there's probably more. Gaylord Miller promoted Mills and at one time I believe it was called Millers Speedway. It was north of Rt. 49 between Whites Corners and Ulysses and was basically in Jim Van Pelt's back yard. ( a mile or two up the road).

A little sidelight history: George Williams got into a discussion on how to run a racetrack with Gaylord, and after being rebuffed, went home and laid out a neat little racetrack on his farm in Woodhull. Woodhull Raceway opened on Sunday afternoon June 13, 1965, and Gaylord promised penalties to any of his drivers that went over to race with "those farmers." Mills ran Friday nights, Hornell Sat., and Woodhull settled into Sunday. Amidon called George and told him that Hornell was closing at the end of the '65 season, and George switched Woodhull to Saturday nights for 1966. Gaylord wanted Saturday nights and was not a happy camper. Mills only lasted a short while after that. Wonder if we'd have our Saturday night home on the hill in Woodhull if Miller and Williams had a better relationship?

I may be mixing memories here, but I'm thinking there was a "Sportsman Speedway" in Pa. that I believe was run by the local Fire Company. The name of the town escapes me, but I think it was only three or four letters, may start with R? ...and it was near Smethport. I'm thinking it may have been a different track than the McKeen County Fairgrounds?