Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
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Cedar Lake

Saint Croix Valley Raceway

Both an equal distance at 32 miles.  No travel required and I'm on the media lists for the season.  Friendly people who appreciate my articles and photos.  No motel or travel required.  Great racing in all classes.

If I had the means to travel the rest of my list might look something like this but not necessarily in this order:

Jackson (Jon runs a good show and is a great guy to work with)

Arlington Raceway (great low key weekly show and some great people down in that part of the state)

Ogilvie Raceway (I wish I could have gotten up there this year)

Superior Speedway (some of the best races I have seen have been at Souptown)

Elko when converted with dirt (too bad it didn't work out for Tom Ryan because he was really getting the hang of prepping the track)

Princeton (rough and tumble tight little high banked quarter mile)

River Cities (only been there once but the place is awesome but too far for my budget and tired old wheels)

Angell Park (the old configuration for their big Midget specials)

Places I can take or leave:

Deer Creek and Knoxville (hassled at the gate every time I have attempted to go there after being assure I was on the list)

Everywhere else (too far, hard to sell a non-race-fan wife on vacations as she puts it to loud, noisy, dirty, hot and sticky places with icky bathrooms)  Pretty hard to travel to race tracks when the wife doesn't buy into spending our vacation budget on something like that. 

I do as much as I can locally and I am very fortunate to enjoy great racing close to home while knowing that I'm giving a little something back to the sport and that it's appreciated.  This is supposed to be fun and traveling to unfamiliar places has proved to be a hassle over the years so I don't do it anymore.

Stan Meissner

1. Eagle Raceway- Awesome little track, love watching them shoot off the wall in 2

2. Husets Speedway- My home track only 10 miles from my house seen some of the best racing here

3. Elko Speedway- The Best Facility i have been to, Been to most of the dirt sprint car shows held here always a fun track to watch

4. River Cities Speedway- only went once but need to go back more because its a cool track with great racing

5. Knoxville Raceway- Seen alot of good races here wish it was a little closer so i could go weekly

6. Red River Valley Speedway 1/2 mile- only went once but it was probably the best 1/2 mile race i had ever seen

7. I80 Raceway- Great race facility and always fun to watch the cars fly around the high banks

8. Princeton Speedway- Only went once but saw UMSS and WOO both put on great races

9. Clay County Speedway 3/8- Spencer IA, i attended the 1/2 mile too but the 3/8 is awesome it took a couple years for them to figure out how to prep it but when they did i havent seen a bad race since and ive attended every WOO show there

10. Park Jefferson Speedway- very cool track to watch races at usually get some good racing with the sprint cars as long as it doesnt take rubber, going here tonight for ASCS Midwest vs Minnesota Mafia

Honerable Mentions- Devils Bowl Speedway, Casino Speedway (Watertown, SD), I94 Raceway (Fergus Falls, MN), Cedar Lake Speedway, Deer Creek Speedway, Dakota State Fair Speedway (Huron, SD) and Lake County Speedway (Madison, SD)

Only tracks I've been to:

1. Volusia..great track, easy access to pits from spectator stands.

2. Susquehanna (Pa)..facilities are terrible but track and racing are great.

3. Lincoln (Pa)..infield viewing and tight racing.

4. Knoxville...great facility.

5. Williams Grove...easy access to pits from infield. Super atmosphere for WoO vs Posse events.

6. Port Royal..infield viewing and good racing.

7. Eldora

8. Selinsgrove (Pa)

9. Hagerstown (Md)..poor track prep most times I've gone.

10 Path Valley (Pa)...quater mile...too small for full size sprints IMO.

Although I'm from a different area of the country, like StanM, I support local Pa racing (5 min from the Grove, 30 min from Lincoln, 50 minutes from both Port Royal and Selinsgrove) as much as I can. Keeps me entertained without too much travel.

1. Red Bluff, CA

2. Ventura, CA

3. Lincoln, PA

4. THE Field, Waynesfield, OH

5. The PAS, CA

6. Path Valley, PA

7. Silver Spring, PA

8. Lawrenceburg 1/4 mile, IN

9. Knoxville

10. Eldora

Finally, some one mentioned Ventura.   While I have been to better facilies and the entire place is stacked on top of itself,   There is no other place that can match it's surrondings.   Listen to the cars and then listen to the waves crash on the beach.   Long red flag?  No worries, I will look over my shoulder to the waves hitting the beach. 

I also agree with the person who mentioned Angell Park.   It is magical.

1.Knoxville

2.Spoon River

3. Eldora

4. 34 Raceway

5. Donnelson

6. Columbus Junction Speedway

7. West Liberty Speedway

8. Hawkeye Raceway (Blue Grass Iowa) now retired

9. Farley Speedway

10. Rocky Mountain National Speedway

11. Davenport Speedway

12. Tipton Raceway

13. Hawkeye Downs

These are the only track that I have ever been to.....Lol

Stan, create a "Vacation Fund" and a separate "Racing Fund." If only it was that easy.

Ventura, Watsonville, and perhaps Petaluma are the only places in the country, that i can think of ...certainly could be others, where the track surface is affected by the ocean tide. That's pretty cool!

tracks i have personally been to....

1 - knoxville 

2 - calistoga

3 - manzanita

4 - baylands

5 - the old san jose speedway (pavement)

6 - the san jose fairgrounds speedway (dirt)

7 - ventura

8 - las vegas dirt track

9 - the PAS

10 - ocean speedway (watsonville)

“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science 
gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.” 

I would like to start visiting some different tracks. Gotta start planning now but here is my list from where I have been so far.

1. SelinsGrove. Has that cool old county fairground feel. Even down to the old covered bleachers. Racing for the races I've been there was pretty good. The layout of the facility is fantastic. It's a shame this track has to compete with tracks like Port Royal, Hagerstown, and Lincoln for Saturday night shows. If this track was anywhere else in the country it would bar none have one of the best sprint programs period. The only knock I have on the facility is that the speedway office building is in the center of the infield. Does block your view of the backstretch for a second or two as the cars roll down the backstretch. Driver swag is easy to obtain as well.

2. Lincoln Pa. I have never seen a bad race at this facility. THat's why it ranks where it does. This is a facility that will work to all ends to put on a show even when the weather is questionable. The only thing I'm not a super fan of is the hillside concrete bleachers. Those things IMO SUCK..... They also could be dangerous for elderly/small kids given how steep they are and the lack of handrails. I'm not a super tall guy, but by the end of the night my knees are killing me from sitting there with my knees at an unusual angle. This is one area there that they could definitely improve. I would also love to see a more modern/cleaner bathroom setup. If you have little girls I'm sure you would not be thrilled with the whole portajohn / nasty single standing structure bathroom deal. Picking up swag from the racers is fairly simple by visiting T-shirt alley

3. Port Royal Pa. Excellent facility. Fairground facility. Seating areas are nice. Concession areas are good too. Only reason I don't rank it higher is every time I've been here the show just runs super late. It's a 2 1/2 hour drive for me to get up there and I actually left in the middle of the 410 feature once (It was 11:30) because they (the racers) just couldn't get their shit together and just kept rolling the cars over or something else. I go to watch them race, not wreck. I knew I had to get back home that night with my daughter so we had to leave early on that one. Another time we got through all the features but didn't get out of there until almost midnight. We didn't get home until 2:30 that morning. That's rough for an adult, let alone a 10 year old kid. Part of the experience is getting the show going and getting it done at a reasonable hour. Particularly when you like to bring your kids along.

4. Hagerstown MD. Nice facility that is a victim of it's location. With Port Royal about 1 1/2 hours up the road and Winchester about a hour down the road, local full body racers have particularly super lates have choices of the three. I haven't been this year except for a PA speedweek show. The track is usually pretty good for late models and super lates.

5. Eriez Speedway Erie PA. My hometown track as a kid. Spent many Sunday nights here as a kid. While every track on this list is nicer than Eriez as far as Eriez, it's HOME TO ME.

6. Williams Grove PA. The facility is decent. They really need to look at what SelinsGrove and Port Royal have going on and make some updates. The seating and such for the most part is ok. Bathroom area on the front stretch isn't as bad as say Lincoln, but it isn't great. Reason why I put it here is I've just seen some flat out snoozer races here. That and it seems like they have been awful quick to cancel shows and not get a single drop of rain. Yeah, I know it would be super bad to have folks get there and then get rained out. I get that, but additionally, you need to at least try to get the shows in. If you don't people will find something else to do on the weekends. Only been to the track twice this year because of this vs 5 times to SelinsGrove/Port Royal which are 2 1/2 hours from my house. The Grove is only about an hour.

7. Path Valley Pa. Awesome little bullring. Was there for the Fred Rahmer Speedweek show. That place was packed. Racing was awesome. If this track was alittle more local I would frequent it more often. I realize the facility isn't really built for a 10,000+ people crowd for Speedweeks, but that is what they got this year. Hopefully over the next few months they can make improvements to things like the seating and such. Neat little track out in the middle of no where Pennsylvania. Hope they do well.

current bucket list tracks

Mercer

Volusia

Knoxville

Eldora

Lima

IRP (Yeah I know it's asphalt but that is a cool track) 

santa maria gets a fairshare of the ocean breeze too....

“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science 
gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.” 

1. I-55 Raceway Pevely MO

2. Eldora OH

3 . Haubstadt IN 

4. Knoxville IA

5. Paducah KY

6. I-80 speedway. NE

7. Tri-City Pontoon Beach IL

8. I-30 Speedway AR

9. limaland OH

10. Beaver Dam WI

1. Knoxville- Can't beat it for atmosphere or racing

2. Kokomo- Best wingless racing I've ever seen, and it's not close

3. I-55 - Tremendous racing

4. Susquehanna- Best racing in PA, total dump, but best track

5. Williams Grove - Been bad lately, but I've seen some great races there

6. Hagerstown - This is based on the old Hagerstown, a track that when it is good, it can be great for all types of cars

7. Skagit - I love Washington state and this is one of the most picturesque places I've ever seen a race at

8. Dirt Track at Charlotte - The racing there has gotten much better over the years and the World Finals is one of the best events of the year

9. Fonda - Best modified racing in NY state

10. Eldora - Crazy fast and great racing.

1: Knoxville

2: Iowa State Fairgrounds

3: Perris

4: Tie Terre Haute - Eldora - Oskaloosa

5: Duquoin Mile

6: Springfield Mile

7: Sedalia Fairgrounds

8: Indianapolis Fairgrounds Mile

9: Indianapolis Speedrome

10: Indianapolis Raceway Park

Smaller Tracks -Kokomo IN- Stuart IA- Ventura CA - Lawerenceburg IN - Lincoln Park IN - TriState(Haubstadt)

LOL, no matter how you cut it that's twice as much money.  

I've pretty much seen it all, this is my 54th year of going to dirt track races.  I'm happy with the racing we have locally.  I could go to something like the Nationals and see 100+ cars but we have been there and done that.  Unless a person is locked into a motel they're going to have to drive over an hour from the closest available room or stay in a tent somewhere.  My son and I did that 15 years ago when I was a little younger, showering at a rec center and doing our morning business in public restrooms.  The Nationals would be the only race I'd consider traveling for but the logistics suck for anyone who isn't locked in year after year.

Stan Meissner

1. Lernerville- As far as size, banking, speed, width, view; this is the perfect racetrack for 410's. Facility is OK nothing fancy.

2. Eldora

3. Knoxville- by far the best facility

4. Lincoln(PA)

5. Woodhull, NY- wish they had more sprint shows at this rustic, high-banked, wide 1/3 paper clip.

6. Williams Grove

7. Selinsgrove

8. Hagerstown

9. Port Royal- IMO this track has the best backdrop scenery and best atmosphere of any racetrack I've been too and I love all the improvements they've made the last couple of years. The only reason i don't rank it higher is because the racing is still just so-so. Fast but generally uneventful.

10. Grandview

A

1- Knoxville Raceway

2- I-55 , Pevely, Missouri

3- Eagle Raceway

4- Hussets

5- Thunderhill Speedway, Mayetta Kansas

6- Eastbay

7- Cedar Lake Speedway, WI

8- Lasalle, Ill

9- 34 Raceway, Burlington, IA

10-Tulare, CA

1- Knoxville Raceway

2- I-55 , Pevely, Missouri

3- Eagle Raceway

4- Hussets

5- Thunderhill Speedway, Mayetta Kansas

6- Eastbay

7- Cedar Lake Speedway, WI

8- Lasalle, Ill

9- 34 Raceway, Burlington, IA

10-Tulare, CA

1. I55

2. Knoxville

3. Eldora

4. Husets

5. Home track Lasalle

6. Williams Grove

7 Beaver Dam

8.Sun Prairie

9. Macon

10. Lincoln, IL

Bring back Santa Fe, and LaSalle .

1. Knoxville

2. Attica

3. Lincoln (Pa)

4. Path Valley

5. Williams Grove

6. Port Royal

7. Eldora

8. Sharon (old 1/2 mile)

9. Grandview

10. Lernerville

Honorable mention-  Silver Dollar & Husets