Closed Speedways & Race Tracks
Racing circuits need hundreds of acres, which makes them prime candidates for redevelopment as suburbs grow around them. Several tracks in this collection hosted national championship racing before becoming shopping centers, logistics parks or housing.
Track sites are large, so locations below mark the former facility's parcel rather than a single grandstand.
57 venues
Michigan State Fairgrounds Speedway
The Michigan State Fairgrounds Speedway was a one-mile dirt oval in Detroit, built for horse racing in 1899, that hosted AAA and USAC Indy car races and two NASCAR Grand National races. Its grandstand was condemned in 1971 and demolished in 2001.
Trenton Speedway
A racetrack at the New Jersey State Fairgrounds that evolved from a 1900 half-mile dirt oval into a 1.5-mile paved speedway hosting Indy cars and NASCAR until its 1980 closure.
Syracuse Mile
The Syracuse Mile at the New York State Fairgrounds was a one-mile dirt oval that held auto races from 1903 until October 2015. It hosted AAA and USAC Indy cars, NASCAR Grand National races and Super DIRT Week, and was torn down in 2016.
Rockingham Park
New England's first Thoroughbred track, which raced in Salem, New Hampshire from 1906 until 2009 and closed in 2016 to make way for the Tuscan Village development.
Nazareth Speedway
A Lehigh Valley racing site, associated with the Andretti family, whose paved one-mile oval hosted CART, IRL and NASCAR Busch racing from 1987 until International Speedway Corporation closed it in 2004.
Los Angeles Motordrome
The Los Angeles Motordrome in Playa del Rey was a one-mile board track that opened in April 1910 and was abandoned after a 1913 fire. Automobile and motorcycle speed records were set there.
Tacoma Speedway
Tacoma Speedway was a dirt and later board racetrack in present-day Lakewood, Washington, that drew top AAA drivers from 1912 to 1922. Its grounds became an airport and later Clover Park Technical College.
Balboa Stadium
Balboa Stadium, built for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, was the San Diego Chargers' home from 1961 to 1966. The original stadium was demolished in the 1970s and replaced by a small 3,000-seat field in 1978.
Des Moines Speedway
Des Moines Speedway was a one-mile board track at Valley Junction, Iowa, operated from 1915 to 1917 by the Prince Speedway Company. It was dismantled in November 1917.
Uniontown Speedway
Uniontown Speedway was a 1.1-mile wooden board track at Hopwood, Pennsylvania, that held AAA races from 1916 to 1922. A half-mile dirt track later operated nearby on the site.
Lakewood Speedway
A one-mile dirt oval at Atlanta's Lakewood fairgrounds, raced from 1917 to 1979 and known as the Indianapolis of the South, whose site is now partly covered by Lakewood Amphitheatre's parking.
Beverly Hills Speedway
Beverly Hills Speedway was a 1.25-mile wooden board track that ran AAA championship races from 1920 to 1924. Rising land values led to its removal, and the site became part of the Wilshire Boulevard commercial district.
Cotati Speedway
Cotati Speedway was a 1.25-mile board track in Sonoma County that held AAA championship races in 1921 and 1922. Its lumber was salvaged for local buildings after it closed.
Mark's Stadium
Mark's Stadium in North Tiverton, Rhode Island, opened in 1922 as the home of the Fall River Marksmen of the American Soccer League. It was torn down in the 1950s and the site is now an empty lot.
Legion Ascot Speedway
Legion Ascot Speedway was a 5/8-mile oval in El Sereno, Los Angeles, that ran from 1924 to 1936 and earned a reputation as a killer track. A school and housing now cover the site.
Charlotte Speedway (board track)
Charlotte Speedway was a steeply banked 1.25-mile board track at Pineville, North Carolina, that held AAA championship races from 1924 to 1927. An industrial park now occupies the site.
Langhorne Speedway
A fearsome near-circular one-mile oval in Bucks County that hosted AAA, USAC and early NASCAR racing from 1926 until 1971, after which the land was quickly cleared for retail development.
Ruppert Stadium
Ruppert Stadium was the Ironbound ballpark of the Yankees' top farm club, the Newark Bears, and the Negro National League Newark Eagles, who won the 1946 Negro World Series there.
John F. Kennedy Stadium
Built for the 1926 Sesquicentennial, Philadelphia's huge municipal stadium hosted the Army-Navy Game, Eagles football, title fights and Live Aid. Condemned in 1989, it was demolished in 1992.
Atlantic City Speedway
Atlantic City Speedway was a 1.5-mile, 45-degree-banked board track near Hammonton, New Jersey, that ran AAA races from 1926 to 1928. It was dismantled by 1933 and the land returned to woods.
Fulford–Miami Speedway
Fulford–Miami Speedway was a steeply banked 1.25-mile board track in present-day North Miami Beach that held a single race on February 22, 1926. The September 1926 hurricane destroyed it.
Bush Stadium
Bush Stadium, opened in 1931 as Perry Stadium, was the Indianapolis Indians' home until 1996. It was partly demolished and turned into the Stadium Lofts apartments in 2013.
Gilmore Stadium
Gilmore Stadium was an 18,000-seat Fairfax District stadium built by oilman Earl Gilmore in 1934, best known for midget auto racing and professional football before CBS Television City replaced it.
Dayton Speedway
Dayton Speedway was a high-banked half-mile in Dayton, Ohio, that opened in June 1934 and closed after the 1982 season. It hosted AAA, USAC and NASCAR events.
Daytona Beach and Road Course
The Daytona Beach and Road Course combined the beach and a paved highway into a racing circuit that hosted NASCAR's early races until 1958. Daytona International Speedway replaced it.
Roosevelt Stadium
Roosevelt Stadium was a WPA-built Art Deco stadium on Jersey City's Newark Bay waterfront, where Jackie Robinson made his professional debut in 1946 and the Brooklyn Dodgers played part-time in 1956-57.
Roosevelt Raceway
Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury, Long Island, began as an auto racing circuit in 1936 and became a landmark night harness track from 1940 to 1988. The site is now shopping centers, condominiums and apartments.
Occoneechee Speedway
Occoneechee Speedway was a dirt track in Hillsborough, North Carolina, that hosted NASCAR from its first season in 1949 until 1968. The abandoned oval survives in the woods as a historic trail site.
Westboro Speedway
Westboro Speedway was a quarter-mile asphalt oval on Route 9 in Westborough, Massachusetts, that raced from August 1947 to September 1985. The site is now a shopping plaza.
Islip Speedway
Islip Speedway on Long Island was a 0.2-mile oval that ran from 1947 to September 1984, the smallest track ever to host NASCAR's Grand National Series. It is credited with the first demolition derby in 1958.
Heidelberg Raceway
Heidelberg Raceway in Scott Township near Pittsburgh ran from May 1948 to 1973 and hosted four NASCAR Grand National races. The site is now the Raceway Plaza shopping center.
Riverside Park Speedway
Riverside Park Speedway was a quarter-mile paved oval inside Riverside Park amusement park in Agawam, Massachusetts, that ran modified stock cars from 1948 to 1999. It was demolished when the park became Six Flags New England.
Asheville–Weaverville Speedway
Asheville–Weaverville Speedway was a half-mile oval north of Asheville that hosted NASCAR Grand National races from 1951 to 1969. It closed in 1970 after a noise dispute and was later demolished.
Marchbanks Speedway
Marchbanks Speedway, later Hanford Motor Speedway, was a dirt and then paved 1.4-mile tri-oval near Hanford, California, that hosted NASCAR and USAC Indy car races. It closed around 1970 and was torn down in 1984.
Manzanita Speedway
Manzanita Speedway was a dirt track in southwest Phoenix that raced from August 1951 to April 2009. It hosted USAC sprint cars, NASCAR Winston West races and World of Outlaws events.
Columbia Speedway
Columbia Speedway in Cayce, South Carolina, hosted NASCAR's top series from 1951 to 1971, mostly on dirt. The property is now an events facility.
Raleigh Speedway
Raleigh Speedway was a one-mile oval north of Raleigh, North Carolina, that opened in 1952 and held NASCAR Grand National races until 1958. It was demolished in 1967.
Hialeah Speedway
Hialeah Speedway in Miami-Dade County, Florida, ran stock car racing from 1954 until it was sold for development in 2005. It had a 1/3-mile paved oval and a figure-8 course.
Lions Drag Strip
Lions Drag Strip was a quarter-mile drag strip in Wilmington, beside Long Beach, that ran from 1955 to 1972. The Harbor Department reclaimed the land, which later became a container terminal.
Paramount Ranch Racetrack
Paramount Ranch Racetrack was a 2-mile road course on a movie ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains used in 1956 and 1957. Fatal crashes at its last meet ended racing there.
Riverside International Raceway
A Southern California road circuit that from 1957 to 1989 hosted NASCAR, Can-Am, Trans-Am, IMSA and a 1960 Formula One Grand Prix before being replaced by the Moreno Valley Mall and surrounding development.
Ascot Park
A Gardena-area dirt track that from 1957 to 1990 was Southern California's home of sprint car, midget and motorcycle racing, ending with the 1990 Turkey Night Grand Prix.
Bridgehampton Race Circuit
Bridgehampton Race Circuit was a 2.85-mile road course on Long Island that hosted Can-Am, World Sportscar Championship and NASCAR races. It closed in 1999 and was turned into a private golf club.
US 30 Drag Strip
US 30 Drag Strip in Hobart, Indiana, was an AHRA flagship drag strip that operated from at least 1957 until the end of the 1984 season. Parts of the strip and its buildings remained in 2001.
Myrtle Beach Speedway
Myrtle Beach Speedway was a 0.538-mile asphalt oval on U.S. 501 that opened as a dirt track in 1958 and held its last race in August 2020. It hosted NASCAR's top series from 1958 to 1965 and the Busch Series from 1988 to 2000.
Meadowdale International Raceway
Meadowdale International Raceway was a 3.27-mile road course near Carpentersville, Illinois, that ran from 1958 to 1969 and was known for its banked Monza Wall turn. The site is now the Raceway Woods preserve.
Continental Divide Raceways
Continental Divide Raceways near Castle Rock, Colorado, combined a 2.8-mile road course, a half-mile oval and a drag strip from 1959 to 1983. It hosted USAC Indy cars, Trans-Am and NASCAR's western series before being sold to developers.
Atco Dragway
Atco Dragway in Waterford Township, New Jersey, was an NHRA-sanctioned drag strip that opened in 1960 and closed abruptly on July 18, 2023. It was described as the state's oldest drag strip.
Stardust International Raceway
Stardust International Raceway was a 3-mile road course and drag strip west of Las Vegas built to draw high rollers to the Stardust casino. It hosted Can-Am finales before closing and giving way to the Spring Valley housing development.
Beltsville Speedway
Beltsville Speedway was a half-mile asphalt oval in Prince George's County, Maryland, that ran from 1965 to 1978. It hosted ten NASCAR Grand National races between 1965 and 1970.
Altamont Raceway Park
Altamont Raceway Park was a half-mile oval near Tracy, California, that ran NASCAR regional and weekly racing from 1966 to 2008. It is best known as the site of the 1969 Altamont Free Concert.
Middle Georgia Raceway
Middle Georgia Raceway was a half-mile paved oval in Byron, Georgia, that held NASCAR Grand National races from 1966 to 1971 and closed in the mid-1980s. It is also remembered for the 1970 Atlanta Pop Festival held beside it.
Orange County International Raceway
Orange County International Raceway in Irvine, California, was a drag strip and road course complex that opened on August 5, 1967, and closed on October 30, 1983. The Bob Bondurant driving school was founded there in 1968.
Ontario Motor Speedway
A 2.5-mile oval built in the image of Indianapolis that operated in Ontario, California from 1970 to 1980 before financial failure led to its sale to Chevron and demolition for the Ontario Center development.
Houston Raceway Park
Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas, was an NHRA national-event drag strip that opened in 1988 and closed after the April 2022 SpringNationals. A 3/8-mile dirt oval was added in 2000.
Walt Disney World Speedway
Walt Disney World Speedway was a one-mile oval on the Walt Disney World Resort grounds that opened in 1995 and closed in August 2015. It hosted the Indy Racing League's Indy 200 from 1996 to 2000.
Auto Club Speedway
Auto Club Speedway was a two-mile superspeedway in Fontana, California, that hosted NASCAR and Indy car racing from 1997 to 2023. Most of its land has since been sold for warehouse development.