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Abandoned Race Tracks

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Were they really abandoned, or were they shut down after people built homes nearby and then complained about the noise?
 
off the top of my head
(I know there's even more)
communities encroaching in on them
bitch about the noise,
when the track was there for years or decades prior
or land values, are so damn high
the owners sell out for huge $$$,
made into strip malls our housing tracts
or noise restrictions drove them out
many reasons

Fremont
Riverside
Oroville, Lake Oroville area (track's still there too)
Lions
Long Beach
Santa Ana
Vaca-Valley, Vacaville
Half Moon Bay
Cotati &/or Santa Rosa
Ontario International Motor Speedway
Orange County
'Old' Irwindale Raceway
Lodi &/or Kingdon
San Fernando
LACR, LA County Raceway Palmdale
Nigerian Nationals, Pittsburg by Hwy-4 (those from the area will know)

that just here in California,
in my lifetime, now just 60 years
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soon to be Sacramento Raceway,
it's been for sale for a while now
(the owners an %&#@*^, well I won't say, on a public access forum)
a housing tract & subdivision is encroaching in,
it use to be in the middle of nothing
housing really close now, it's only a matter of time
 
I sure there are bunch that we will never no or hear about in small towns ,post em as you see them
 
St. Charles Speedway aka the Charlie Bowl. Sbdivisions built around it and the residents got the city to enact noise ordinances. Then the owner got old and sold.

Lake Hill Speedway, Valley Park, MO. Ken Schrader and Rusty Wallace's home track when they started. Kenny's dad's repair shop was almost at the entrance.
Track is still there but nature has taken over. Its under water all the time.

Mid America Raceway, Wentzville, MO.
Property values skyrocketed and the family sold. Houses were built on parts of the property. Last time I looked parts of the road course were still there.

Rolla Speedway, Phelps County, MO fairgrounds.
A guy built his house just outside turn one and then sued to get it closed. Hired a lawyer, Mel Carnahan, who won the suit and later became governor.
Ran for Senate but was killed in a plane crash after being warned not to fly the aircraft as there was a safety directive to replace the vacuum pump.
Flew anyway, right into bad weather. Family sued Cessna aircraft and won.
 
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Alton Dragway, Alton, IL.
Home of the first 200 mph 1/4 mile but was not recognized because the track wasn't NHRA sanctioned and Karamasines used nitro methane fuel. It wasn't allowed then.

The owner was also in the mobile home business and was a developer. He built the racetrack so he could develop it if needed. In 1972 he turned it into a mobile home park. The strip serves as an access road. Ironically, STL Regional airport is next door.
 
Just one kilometer behind my house is an abandoned 1/8 mile drag strip the locals use on weekends.

 
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