2002
Aerial Photos
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This is
how Speedway Park looked in September of 2003. This is the
second track in Ontario to have the name Speedway Park. The
first was open from 1948 to 1954 and was located on Highway
7 right next to the land that eventually held Pinecrest Speedway.
The Speedway Park on this page opened in 1961 as a sister
track to Merrittville Speedway. It was developed by Ken Kavanagh,
Bill Russell and Merrittville owners John Marino and George
Cullen. Speedway Park ran on Friday nights in the early years.
The four partners built a wide, fast dirt track with good
banking. The grandstands were made of steel and concrete and
incorporated washrooms and concessions.
The regular drivers included names like Bruce Van Dyke, Ivan
Little, Denny Deagle, Jeno Begolo, Nick Lapcevich, George
Treanor, Bob Daniels and Don Shirton.
The owners found it stressful to operate both Speedway Park
and Merrittville so in April of 1971 the track was sold to
group consisting of Perc Allen, Andrew Sherwood, Bill Tremholme,
Reg Porcelli, George Porcelli and George McEneny. Harold Woodgate
was the president. The new owners paved the track, widened
the corners and paved the spectator walking areas. The racing
night was switched to Saturday. The Hobby Club was brought
in as a regular class. Late Model Super Stocks were also a
regular class in the paved years.
The track often ran special events for the Late Models of
50-100 laps. Most of the big-name drivers of the time appeared
at the specials or as regular competitors - Don Biederman,
Junior Hanley, Doug Warnes, Howie Scannell, Jerry Makara,
Art Clark, Jack Cook, Terry Kitchen, etc. In 1973, the Super
Modifieds were brought in as a regular, weekly class.
The track changed names in 1975 and became known as "Satellite
Speedway". Unfortunately, being paved put them in direct
competition with Cayuga and Flamborough and it never worked
very well. The track closed for good at the of the 1975 season.
The owners had plans for a housing developoment called "Satellite
City" but it never panned out. Over 30 years later the
track is still there. The "Satellite" name is still
evident in the area though - the Satellite Golf Club is located
near the track property. The grandstands ended up at the Binbrook
Fairgrounds.
The Speedway Park pits were located behind the back straight.
The entrance to the pits was from Mud Street and can still
be seen. The spectator entrance was from Highway 20 and I
believe it also can still be seen. These two entrances are
now access roads to the crop field. The drivers entered the
track from the pits part way down the back straight, closer
to turn 3. The transition pavement from the pits to the track
is still there.
Today the track is fairly easy to find at the north-east corner
of Highway 20 and Mud Street, behind a trucking driving school.
The track appears as a scrub-covered hill, high on each end
and low in the middle, stuck right in the middle of a flat
field. The grandstands are long gone. The infield has been
used for farming. The track surface has started to break up
quite badly with tall weeds growing through. Turn 1 and 2
and half-way down the back straight have been ripped up. The
front wall is still quite intact. You can barely see the start
/ finish line beneath the weeds. Part of the paved spectator
area is still there so it's easy to imagine the paved walkway
from the ticket area to the grandstands.
The remains of Speedway Park may not be around for much longer.
As of early September, 2003 the land is for sale and there
is a City of Stoney Creek zoning by-law change sign on the
edge of the property indicating that it is being zoned for
commercial use.
Update: April, 2005 - I drove by the area and the track is
still there but there's lots of construction nearby.
If anyone has any more information on Speedway Park - photos,
programs, points champions, etc please contact me: webmaster@motorsportscentral.com.
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