The Strangest Tracks NASCAR Ever Raced On

[@PlayMadness]

I would kill to see a Colosseum style exhibition race calling back to the Daytona Beach track. Long straights, part pavement and part dirt. Hell, make it a progressive elimination race, where a handful of cars in the back of the field are eliminated every few laps to call back to the days of running moonshine.

[@JakeSimRacing]

That would be crazy honestly. I hope they keep trying new things with the schedule, a new track always gets me more interested

[@NazriB]

Lies again? Singapore Brazil Old Home

[@briantaylor9285]

Racing in a circle and a baseball field is the ultimate BRUH.

[@kurtheidel6535]

Trenton Speedway in NJ. It had several configurations, but it's last was a 1.5 mile oval, with a dogleg on the backstretch. It was considered a Kidney Bean oval. Turn one at Pocono mimics turns 3/4 at Trenton.

[@FlashoftheBlades]

I’m surprised that track didn’t at least get an honorable mention.

[@sheasmith4283]

crashing a racercar into the 1st base dugout is just not something you think you’d ever hear about

[@Daveybird]

Speaking of racing at a baseball stadium, 16th Street Speedway during the late 90s was a USAC Midget dirt track inside the former Bush Stadium for Indy's minor league team, as an IRL initiative. It only lasted from 1997-99...

[@jacor653]

Langhorne wasn't a perfect circle; it was more of an oval, or rather an ellipse.

[@danieljackett4193]

Richard Petty's first 2 races were in football stadiums in 1958 First was Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, where the Toronto Argonauts played... About 20 years later, it became the first home for the Toronto Blue Jays The next day the same drivers raced at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo...This was the first stadium the Buffalo Bills played in

[@JakeSimRacing]

Yep, lots of football stadiums held races in the early years, so I kinda left them off the list. But there are definitely a lot of examples of football stadiums they ran in early on

[@J.C...]

Lee Petty won here in 1953 at the only known NASCAR race here. The rest appeared to be IMCA, mainly. and some others. All, kinds of people raced here. Ernie Derr, Terry Labonte, Aj Foyt. Countless others. The track that was here, Louisiana State Fair Speedway, is said to be the first track that, had luxury boxes, back in the 1950s. They had a Golf pro shop in the infield that they would turn into luxury boxes during races. Houston is said to have the first luxury boxes that were just luxury boxes and nothing else. The ones here weren't permanent. They only converted the pro shop into boxes. Still, it's said that State Fair Speedway was the first track to have them in any form. IIRC, they were also air conditioned. I posted this once already and youtube deleted my comment for some reason. Really getting sick of that tbh. My comment had nothing in it that it needed to be deleted for. I was talking about a racetrack. Smh.

[@J.C...]

Lee Petty won here in 1953 at the only known NASCAR race here. The rest appeared to be IMCA, mainly. and some others. All, kinds of people raced here. Ernie Derr, Terry Labonte, Aj Foyt. Countless others. The track that was here, Louisiana State Fair Speedway, is said to be the first track that, had luxury boxes, back in the 1950s. They had a Golf pro shop in the infield that they would turn into luxury boxes during races. Houston is said to have the first luxury boxes that were just luxury boxes and nothing else. The ones here weren't permanent. They only converted the pro shop into boxes. Still, it's said that State Fair Speedway was the first track to have them in any form. IIRC, they were also air conditioned. I posted this once already and youtube deleted my comment for some reason. Really getting sick of that tbh. My comment had nothing in it that it needed to be deleted for. I was talking about a racetrack. Smh.

[@J__C__]

Let's try this again. It says I replied twice but neither of them show up when I come back to the comment. So I'm trying a different one. Lee Petty won here in 1953 at the only known NASCAR race here. The rest appeared to be IMCA, mainly. and some others. All, kinds of people raced here. Ernie Derr, Terry Labonte, Aj Foyt. Countless others. The track that was here, Louisiana State Fair Speedway, is said to be the first track that, had luxury boxes, back in the 1950s. They had a Golf pro shop in the infield that they would turn into luxury boxes during races. Houston is said to have the first luxury boxes that were just luxury boxes and nothing else. The ones here weren't permanent. They only converted the pro shop into boxes. Still, it's said that State Fair Speedway was the first track to have them in any form. IIRC, they were also air conditioned. I posted this once already and youtube deleted my comment for some reason. Really getting sick of that tbh. My comment had nothing in it that it needed to be deleted for. I was talking about a racetrack. Smh.

[@RC.41]

Wasn’t Petty’s first win in Toronto or just his first race?

[@J.C...]

The track we had here in North Louisiana long ago, the State Fair Speedway, is known for being the first NASCAR/IMCA track with "luxury boxes" back in the 1950s or so. The infield had some sort of golf "pro club" and they used that during races and let big time fans stay there. IIRC, it might have even had AC. They weren't the first dedicated luxury boxes. That was in Houston some time later. These were converted for use during races only. Edit: OK so there was possibly only 1 NASCAR sanctioned race here in 53. Won by Lee Petty. The others were IMCA races, I think? People like Ramo Stott & Ernie Derr won here. Bobby Allison raced here. Terry Labonte. All kinds of well-known drivers.

[@zepplinrox3]

My dad's friends raced at Longhorne on a couple of occasions..... they told some sketchy stories when I was a kid.... turn 2 was nicknamed Puke Hollow

[@thoughtlessroamer]

ok i literally just got into nascar, and this channel is ultra informative. subbed!

[@JakeSimRacing]

Appreciate it! Hope you get a lot of info out of my channel

[@coletrickle-km7cl]

Catholic gun guy-- other awesome you tube nascar channels to check out : The scene vault podcast-- lotsa nascar history and war story's from past drivers and people that worked in the nascar industry. Stapleton 42--they talk to old nascar drivers and go to former nascar shops. Stock car surplus--shows you how they build a nascar race car.

[@bluedoggg1]

I was a little kid when they raced at McCormick Field. I could hear the cars at my house on Friday night. At the time there was no noise ordinance.

[@JakeSimRacing]

That’s an awesome story! I’m sure the sound was great especially back then

[@jbj7599]

Oh damn i forgot about Langhorne, some nasty crashes. Insane track

[@villehursti]

Even on a full circle, the NASCAR dudes are like "turn 4 is so hard".

[@JakeSimRacing]

Lmao

[@g_men2121]

Id love to see NASCAR run a cup race at Cleveland! Same with Indycar. If they can close the airport for a few days for the air show.

[@JakeSimRacing]

I like the idea of bringing Cleveland back, would be super fun

[@gofastandwynn]

@@JakeSimRacingCleveland can’t comeback, the FAA won’t allow it. Mike Lanigan tried to bring it back in the mid 2010s but was told that post 9/11 you can’t shut down an airport for a new event.

[@sam21462]

"Airport tracks have gone the way of the DoDo" Silverstone: 😂🤣

[@JakeSimRacing]

Same could be said for Sebring too. I meant active runways for most of the year lol

[@sam21462]

@@JakeSimRacing : Silverstone: Fair enough, I haven't been an airport since I defeated the Nazis.

[@FlashoftheBlades]

Along with Croft, Snetterton, and Thruxton. And those are just the ones that I can remember.

[@jprice1150]

My papa Tom raced Daytona beach. Then went on to win several boat racing championships . Wish I coulda experienced those days!

[@terryjacob8169]

Langhorne: would have loved to have been around to watch Curtis Turner and Joe Weatherly race convertibles on the dirt there.

[@nicolesgaming8917]

To be fair, Chicago is the first street circuit in the Cup and Xfinity Series, not in NASCAR as a whole. The Pinty's Series used to run a support race for IndyCar in Toronto, and in the late 80s, a regional series (I want to say the Winston West Series) ran two races on a street circuit around the Tacoma Dome and one on a street circuit in Spokane, WA. Also, about the Tacoma Dome street circuit, I find it odd to think that the longest straightaway now has light rail on it, and one of the short 1-block straightaways is now just a walking path.

[@aussieozzyaussie]

I don't think this is true, technically Circuit Giles Villeneuve is a street course and XFinity has run there

[@aussieozzyaussie]

There was also races run on an LA Street Circuit but I'm not sure what series ran there

[@Noskywyd]

The arca series raced on the streets of Iowa in 1991

[@jbj7599]

​@@Noskywydis arca nascar?

[@Noskywyd]

@@jbj7599 yes, the same arca than ran a combination rave with the Winston west series at Texas world Speedway

[@johnjones928]

Langhorne aka "The Big Left Turn", it wasn't exactly a perfect circle so their were time when they were riding the rim and times they hugged the inside. That made it a track with one racing line that would start disintegrating midway through the race. It was almost impossible to pass for position because once they went off line they were traveling too fast to stay on the track.

[@bowlingvanjapan4099]

I think predicting the future like that is a fool’s errand. Also, the hubris of thinking that todays tracks and rules are the be all end all for all time.

[@ATEC101]

You want an airport track? How about NASCAR at Sebring? Why has this never happened?

[@billmadison2032]

not enough lodging for fans. it's a small town with a famous track in the boonies. IMSA might be a roadblock too

[@FlashoftheBlades]

@@billmadison2032NASCAR owns IMSA, so it wouldn’t be THAT farfetched. At the very least, I can see Sebring hosting NASCAR testing. Maybe a regional series. But that’s about it.

[@acedelta12]

How did you not mention that one track with nearly perpendicular banking? Oakland Speedway, was it?

[@kylegroulx3073]

I'm disappointed that Hanford speedway in CA didn't get mentioned, or Trenton NJ

[@JakeSimRacing]

There might be room for a part 2!

[@DJDouglasWarden]

Great video

[@JakeSimRacing]

Thank you

[@dingle37]

Gonna get to Talladega this weekend. First nascar race ill have gone to. Gonna be awesome!

[@dingle37]

Who you think gonna win at Dega?

[@harrisgage]

Have fun Blaney is gonna get the w

[@maxmccullough8548]

I'll be there myself! See you at the races.

[@NASCARCHAT24]

Im going to the goodyear 400 this weekend!

[@NASCARCHAT24]

My first nascar race

[@bruceweidner2571]

In 1970 I went to Langhorne and I watched Merv treichler beat his cousin Rodger and Jeffrey Bodine what a wild track that was

[@JakeSimRacing]

Nice! I bet it was crazy

[@thespicemelange.1]

West Palm Beach used to have a 3/8 mi at the fairgrounds It was the fastest bull ring raceway in the world.

[@JakeSimRacing]

I might do some more research into that

[@christopherharmon2433]

Speaking of airport tracks, did NASCAR ever run at Sebring?

[@JakeSimRacing]

Not that I am aware of, definitely not in the Cup Series at least

[@FlashoftheBlades]

It would be a nice testing venue for NASCAR.

[@tombuchmann8248]

I remember flying over California raceway Ontario

[@hughjaass3787]

IMO a beach race would be Dope AF

[@JeffWeselyan]

It gotten sooo dangerous they had be shut down

[@bnice9810]

This is right side tyre hell

[@TheObsesedAnimeFreaks]

... Sebring in Florida is an ex military airport... and still retains 1 active runway.... so to say that an airport track can't work... it's kinda just not true... you can retire one or convert part of one to a track, but to just shut one down doesn't always work... nevermind all the drag strips that used to be airports too.

[@noone-ft9lw]

Good video

[@JakeSimRacing]

Thank you

[@Electriceye1984bySam]

Nice vid❤

[@jacobwt1]

Riverside speedway exists now

[@doylecardwell1442]

Trenton was odd

[@jacekatalakis8316]

So if the owners would have had money, we'd have had a 1.5 mile Bristol? Okay now that sounds amazing even nowadays. I kind of envision it like the fictional Coca Cola Speedway from NR2003 or one of the fantasy ovals in the Thunder games for some sort of comparison EDIT: Wait a minute, Louisvillee had a circular track in the 95 Truck season too didn't it?

[@JakeSimRacing]

Louisville was definitely a weirdly shaped track and it was on the Truck schedule for a few years

[@jacekatalakis8316]

I only remember it from 95 due to the weird rules it had, I'm airly sure it was stated either on the broadcast or elsehwere it was a circle though but don't remember exactly

[@MatthewLewisAtlanta]

Talladega is technically an "airport track" as well isn't it?

[@coletrickle-km7cl]

Lee petty crashed into the dug out????!!!!!! Talk about your out!!! Grab some pine !!!!!!

[@SteveAllen-vz4pb]

You forgot Trenton

[@tommcglone2867]

Langhorne was literally the 8th Circle Of Hell. Especially when some fucking Einstein thought it was a good idea to pave a perfectly circular dirt track that was already stupid fast and so dangerous it should have been shut down.

[@JakeSimRacing]

Crazy how Langhorne lasted as long as it did. Insane

[@coletrickle-km7cl]

Langhorne was so dangerous because of the type of dirt they were running on. It was the wrong kind of dirt to race on. Its not the red clay that sticks together like you see in the south. The dirt surface would come apart in chunks and create pot 🕳 and ruts around the track. They tryed spraying pensylvania oil down on the track dirt surface to help the bad visiblity from the dust and to help to hold together the dirt surface before they paved the track 1965 and try to stop the ruts and wash board that formed during a race. But that didn't help all that much. The dirt and track oil got into every part of the race cars and the drivers.

[@coletrickle-km7cl]

(Joking)........aaand that's the "dirt" on that race track.....(🥁rimshot!🥁) Your knowledge on langhorn has come full CIRCLE.... OK I'll stop b/4 the dad jokes get stuck going around in a circle and get in a rut then get tossed out...

[@MichaelWilliams-vb6wr]

How In the world did they see with all that dust that's Nuts they should do that today to see who the real racers are not no Bristol dirt neither I'm talking about out in a field real dirt no prep and let em run

[@sandrinedefaux3290]

Nardo ring; noobs.

[@JB0143RP]

Fort Miami Speedway in Toledo, Oh was originally a horse racing track, which ran a couple of cup races in the 50s. It later became a ballpark, Ned Skelton Stadium, for the Mudhens, with the front stretch grandstands being repurposed as the 3rd base stands.

[@Davespackey]

I live in Toledo and that’s pretty cool.