It opened in 1926 and quickly gained a reputation as one of the toughest tracks in the country, thanks to its high banks and long straightaways. Worry not, for the misery of Langhorne lives on; its grounds are occupied today by a Sam's Club. [11], From 1951 to 1971, Langhorne Speedway hosted the Langhorne National Open, which became the nation's most prestigious race for Sportsman and Modified cars. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7osqPCRB5KF4ppEuhX-w7w 109 12K views 2 years ago An unknown driver flips during the 250-mile NASCAR Grand National race at Langhorne Speedway held on September 14, 1952. George Moscot and his partner Ray owned the car . could say was the fourth turn area. In 1965, one of the most spectacular comebacks in auto racing history began with the serious burns and injuries to Mel Kenyon. Technology, performance and design delivered to your inbox. "In fact, the year I finished second, I used the prize money for my honeymoon.". The Veith/Ward combo was 10th, with 94 laps To make that claim, you have to go way back to the very beginnings of NASCAR to a track in Pennsylvania. trials, with clockings of 33.06 and 33.45. hed be out of sight, with the stands blocking the view of the track, Langhorne Speedway, which opened in 1926 and closed in 1971, was tabbed with numerous nicknames during its almost half-century of stock-car, open-wheel and motorcycle racing. And I made it! All Rights Reserved. Two years later, Hugh Randall was killed in an eerily similar accident two laps into his relief stint in a Champ Car race. FIRE IS A RACE CAR DRIVERS WORST ENEMY! In 1939 the Langhorne Speedway was part of an organisation called "Hankinson Speedways" - Hankinson ran events under AAA sanction at a long list of tracks both in the North-Eastern USA as well as in the Carolinas. took Amick 1:03:01.463 to go 100 miles. "I was fast enough to hit him in the rear," Bobby recalls, "but I just didn't have enough to pass him. It would get awful rough, he said. They still had horrendous wrecks on the pavement and people got hurt, but no one else was killed after the surface was paved. Paving removed some of the tracks fearsome nature, but those who ran its dirt surface had long memories. Going through there, you were gritting your teeth, Andretti said. Many drivers flat refused to go to Langhorne. Track ownership responded to that with an expansion to the facility's catch fencing, raised from 15 to 21 feet, and with overhangs doubled from 3 to 6 feet. They only want to race in the softer spots. According to Riggs, nearly two dozen drivers were killed at the 'Horne, along with another dozen or so motorcycle riders, flaggers, and spectators. tremendous racing took place around the circular, oiled down, big dirt mile And some of those who did never came home. usually drew quite a few cars from the mid-west. tires, too, as can be seen in the photos. The 1-mile track. Catering chiefly to USAC's Championship Car Division, Fried and Gerber had the track's layout reconfigured to a D shape in 1965 by building a straightaway across the back stretch and paving over the uneven dirt surface with asphalt. That view was basically "The track was always kind to me," he says. VINTAGE INDY 500 Winners Aj Foyt / Mario Andretti Photo - Trenton Speedway - $5.59. Amazon.com: OnlyClassics 65 USAC Jim HURTUBISE Kenyon AUTO Racing Crash Langhorne Speedway Photo INDY 500: Photographs Within the 1.5-mile oval's confines, a newly-revised 2.28-mile road course, a quarter-mile short oval, and a 0.6-mile karting track are held, and the track's owners also own a drag strip and dirt short oval across the highway. and Thomson in the first row, followed by Magill and Sostilio. was taken by Walt Imlay. OConnor, Jerry Hoyt, Mike Magill, Duane Carter, Charlie Musselman, Being the most modern track on this record, ISM has the fewest confirmed fatal accidents. "The whole place had deteriorated over the years -- the infield, the pits, everything.". Langhorn. He qualified on the outside of the front row and took the lead at the start. Daytona International Speedway: 8 1965 2001 Langhorne Speedway: 3 1952 1956 Charlotte Motor Speedway: 1964 1965 Memphis-Arkansas Speedway: 2 1956 1956 Darlington Raceway: 1957 1965 Riverside International Raceway: 1964 1967 Talladega Superspeedway: 1973 1975 Atlanta Motor Speedway: 1984 1989 North Wilkesboro Speedway: 1 1954 Michigan . and Ratjmann were out before 60 miles had been On Saturday, October 14, 2006, almost 35 years to the day of the last race held at Langhorne, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission dedicated a historical marker at 1939 E. Lincoln Highway (in the same general area where the track was located) which reads: Opened in 1926, this circular one-mile dirt track was known as the "Big Left Turn". vicious series of end over end flips, with Crockett being thrown out of the car LANGHORNE, Pa., Oct 11 (AP)Freddy Adam of kutztown, Pa., won the annual 100mile national open championship for modified stock cars at the Langhorne Speedway today. Riverside did not cease to take lives, however. winners were Al Herman, Mike Nazaruk and Charlie Musselman. but Nazaruk pretty quickly disposed of Thomson, and was cartwheeling through the air, out of the car. The next time I saw him, he I But after the Champ Car race at Trenton in the spring, the drivers met secretly and voted to boycott the event. almost a lap down, in third. The The dust was worst in Puke Hollow, where the track broke up into a badly potholed washboard with slats the size of small waves. BUNBURY GLEN IRIS LITTLE CIRCUIT 1961 - 1974, BUNBURY AUSTRALIAN MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX 1962, ESPERANCE BANDY CREEK PINK LAKE SPEEDWAYS, KALGOORLIE GOLDEN MILE TROTTING TRACK SPEEDWAY, PERTH BUCKLAND - ROPEWORKS - MONUMENT HILL HARLEY SCRAMBLE, PERTH BULLSBROOK RAILWAY ROAD SPEED TRIALS, PERTH DIRT TRACKERS - GIDGEGANNUP - KEWDALE, PERTH FORRESTFIELD SPEEDWAY HARTFIELD ROAD, PERTH FORRESTFIELD SPEEDWAY DAWSON AVENUE 1960s, PERTH FORRESTFIELD SPEEDWAY DAWSON AVENUE 1970, PERTH FORRESTFIELD SPEEDWAY DAWSON AVENUE 1971, PERTH FORRESTFIELD SPEEDWAY DAWSON AVENUE 1972, PERTH FORRESTFIELD SPEEDWAY DAWSON AVENUE 1973, PERTH FORRESTFIELD SPEEDWAY DAWSON AVENUE 1974, PERTH FORRESTFIELD SPEEDWAY DAWSON AVENUE 1975, PERTH FORRESTFIELD SPEEDWAY DAWSON AVENUE 1976, PERTH FORRESTFIELD SPEEDWAY DAWSON AVENUE 1977, PERTH FORRESTFIELD SPEEDWAY DAWSON AVENUE 1978, PERTH FORRESTFIELD SPEEDWAY DAWSON AVENUE 1979, PERTH FORRESTFIELD SPEEDWAY DAWSON AVENUE 1980, PERTH KALAMUNDA GO KART & SOAP BOX RACING, WONGAN HILLS - PIAWANING GRAVEL PIT - WONGAN HILLS SPEEDWAY, 1991 > 1995 BUNBURY SHRUBLAND PARK MOTOCROSS, 1996 > 2000 BUNBURY SHRUBLAND PARK MOTOCROSS, 2001 > 2005 BUNBURY SHRUBLAND PARK MOTOCROSS, 2006 > 2010 BUNBURY SHRUBLAND PARK MOTOCROSS, 2011 > 2015 BUNBURY SHRUBLAND PARK MOTOCROSS, 2016 > 2020 BUNBURY SHRUBLAND PARK MOTOCROSS, KATANNING PINWERNYING PARK SPEEDWAY 1985 > 1998, WANNEROO PINJAR PARK SENIOR SPEEDWAY 2021, PORTLAND HI PINE SPEEDWAY SOUTHERN 500 SPEEDWAY, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1970, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1971, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1972, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1973, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1974, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1975, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1976, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1977, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1978, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1979, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1980, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1981, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1982, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1983, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1984, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1985, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1986, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1987, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1988, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1989, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1990, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1991, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1992, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1993, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1994, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1995, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1996, CANBERRA TRALEE - FRASER PARK SPEEDWAY 1997, DUBBO SPEEDWAY - DUBBO SHOWGROUNDS SPEEDWAY, GOULBURN RACECOURSE SPEEDWAY SHOWGROUND SPEEDWAY, LAKEVIEW HILL CLIMB CANBERRA SPORTING CAR CLUB, NEWCASTLE BOOLAROO MOTOR CYCLE HILL CLIMB, NEWCASTLE MEMORIAL DRIVE HILL CLIMB (NSW), NEWCASTLE MOTORDROME - JERILDERIE PARK SPEEDWAY, SYDNEY CASULA MOTOR CYCLE HILL CLIMB (NSW), SYDNEY CUMBERLAND OVAL PARRAMATTA SPEEDWAY, SYDNEY LANSDOWNE MOTOR CYCLE HILL CLIMB (NSW), SYDNEY - OLYMPIA MOTOR SPEEDWAY MAROUBRA SPEEDWAY, SYDNEY ST GEORGE POLICE AND CITIZENS BOYS CLUB KART TRACK, SYDNEY TO MELBOURNE RELIABILITY MOTOR CONTEST, WALLSEND MOTOR CYCLE CLUB WALLSEND PARK SPEEDWAY (NSW), YASS MARCHMONT RACECOURSE & MOTOR RACING CIRCUIT, ACACIA RIDGE SPEEDWAY ARTHUR PARK SPEEDWAY, BRISBANE EXHIBITION SPEEDWAY - COORPAROO SHOWGROUNDS - RNA SHOWGROUNDS - (QLD), CAIRNS SHOWGROUND & PARRAMATTA PARK SPEEDWAY, MARYBOROUGH COPENHAGEN BEND McAULLIFE PARK (QLD), TOWNSVILLE BOHLE - THURINGOWA - SUN CITY SPEEDWAY, ADELAIDE VIRGINIA FAIRGROUNDS - THUNDERBIRD RACEWAY, HEATHFIELD SKYLINE MOTORDROME / STIRLING SPEEDWAY, PORT PIRIE PHOENIX PARK TROTTING VENUE (SA), SOUTH AUSTRALIAN CENTENARY INTERSTATE CAR RALLY, DROUIN CANNIBAL CREEK SPEEDWAY GARFIELD SPEEDWAY, DROUIN WATTLE PARK (GARFIELD WATTLE) SPEEDWAY, FRANKSTON CRANBOURNE ROAD RESERVE SPEEDWAY, MELBOURNE MOTORDROME - OLYMPIC PARK SPEEDWAY, MELBOURNE SPEEDWAY - BROOKLYN SPEEDWAY - NORTHERN PARK SPEEDWAY - USAC BROOKLYN SPEEDWAY - WESTERN INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY - MELBOURNE SPEEDBOWL, MELBOURNE WERRIBEE MOTORCYCLE RACES (VIC), TARRAWINGEE WANGARATTA AIRSTRIP TARRAWINGEE CIRCUIT, SAN GABRIEL VALLEY SPEEDWAY - IRWINDALE SPEEDWAY (CA), SEAFORD SPEEDWAY - MIDDLEFORD SPEEDWAY (DE), DAYTONA SPEEDWAY & INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY (FL), TWIN CITY SPEEDWAY CHAMPAIGN MOTOR SPEEDWAY (IL), AUDUBON COUNTY SPEEDWAY BULL VALLEY SPEEDWAY (IA), CORBIN SPEEDWAY CUMBERLAND FALLS HWY (KY), CONOCOCHEAGUE SPEEDWAY HAGERSTOWN SPEEDWAY (MD), WHISKEY RIDGE RACEWAY NEWAYGO COUNTY SPEEDWAY MAPLE ISLAND SPEEDWAY, MISSISSIPPI - ALABAMA STATE FAIRGROUNDS (MS), BATES COUNTY SPEEDWAY BUTLER MOTOR SPEEDWAY OLD 71 SPEEDWAY (MO), BELARO SPEEDWAY - YELLOWSTONE SPEEDWAY - MAGIC CITY SPEEDWAY (MT), LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY DRIFT COURSE (NV), NEW HAMPSHIRE INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY (NH), HIGHSTOWN SPEEDWAY - EAST WINDSOR SPEEDWAY, ROUTE 66 SPEEDWAY HOLLYWOOD BOWL SPEEDWAY (NY), SYRACUSE MILE - NY STATE FAIRGROUNDS SPEEDWAY, CINCINNATI MOTOR SPEEDWAY CONEY ISLAND SPEEDWAY, GLEN ESTE SPEEDWAY - GREATER CINCINNATI RACE BOWL (OH), DELAWARE VALLEY SPEEDWAY - STROUDSBURG SPEEDWAY (PA), PITTSBURGHS PENNSYLVANIA MOTOR SPEEDWAY (PA), CAROLINA MOTORSPORT PARK ROAD COURSE (SC), GAULTS MOTOR SPEEDWAY - BUFFALO MOTOR SPEEDWAY - UNION COUNTY SPEEDWAY (SC), TENNESSEE MOTOR SPEDWAY - COOKEVILLE SPEEDWAY, OLD DOMINION SPEEDWAY - LONGVIEW SPEEDWAY (VA), PULASKI COUNTY SPEEDWAY - NEW RIVER VALLEY SPEEDWAY - MOTOR MILE SPEEDWAY (VA), NORTHERN WISCONSIN STATE FAIRGROUNDS (WI), REDEX TRI STATE MOTOR CYCLE RELIABILITY TRIAL 1954, 1936 SOUTH AUSTRALIAN CENTENARY INTERSTATE CAR RALLY. Sick of the circuit's lack of safety, ailing facilities, and unpleasant driving, the racing world gradually turned its back on the Pennsylvania raceway, and when Champ Car drivers organized a boycott of the race in 1971, Langhorne's fate was sealed; a final autumn modified stock car race was Langhorne's valedictory. 1926 - LANGHORNE SPEEDWAY This one mile dirt circle track was built by members of the National Motor Racing Association and opened on the 12th of June 1926, The official opener was set down for the 31st of May but was rained out. Unclaimed. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network. Despite temperatures that reached 106 degrees, Bryan wasted no time getting back up to speed. Both are asphalt short tracks. Since 1965, however, the track has not suffered a single known fatal accident. ", Although 25,900 fans had shown up for the Champ Car race in 1970, the 'Horne was increasingly unpopular with drivers. Touch device users, explore by touch or with swipe gestures. Bobby Grim raced directly underneath it. dont think that there was a worse year than 1955 as far as deaths in auto He said they expected to get a good report. It was my first race in a Champ Car, and it was on dirt, and it was at the toughest place you could go -- one of those tracks where you had to brave it. winners were Nick Fornoro, Fred Jiggs The track became famous for it's many ruts and uneven terrain. his 11th lap, Engle wrote down the letters E-Z on his blackboard, a year later, it was returned to him, the thumb part still in the glove. It was very rough (in its dirt-track days). They let it settle in over the winter. Jones was making his debut at the 'Horne in 1960 when Bryan died in an aerial wreck in Puke Hollow. 2022Recurrent Ventures. And tragedy also. Thats where a lot of guys bought it. The holes were up and the smooth side was down. Palm Beach Speedway in West Palm Beach, Florida, was a half-mile, dirt track that saw its first NASCAR event when it opened the 1952 NASCAR season on January 20, 1952. in row 5, Don Freeland and Mike Magill in row 6, Eddie Russo and Jack Turner in track that day, as the racing usually was at the , Here But there was a lot of trouble. An unknown driver flips during the 250-mile NASCAR Grand National race at Langhorne Speedway held on September 14, 1952. So? To do well, you had to want to run fast, and you had to want to race. Guaranteed starting positions were awarded to the winners (or highest finishers not already qualified) at special Langhorne Qualifier races held at weekly racetracks throughout the Northeast and Southeast. AAA sprint car show was held on May 1, 1955, at the big, circular oiled dirt Save. The competition was never fiercer -- or deadlier. pace. In almost 109 years of racing at Indianapolis, a total of 72 people have died as a result of crashes or other accidents that occurred at the circuit. Johnny Boyd (pictured below) was badly burned when his cars fuel tank was knocked off, and cars broke up and got upside down in Puke Hollow. Countless more were maimed in crashes that entailed high-altitude barrel rolls and hellacious fires. Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made. The American Motorcycle Association sanctioned bike races at the 'Horne for more than a decade, and Carroll Shelby even won a sports car race there, holding off a 4.4-liter Ferrari in his bizarre-looking Cadillac-powered mongrel. McCoy, Johnny Kay, Nick Fornoro, Al Herman, Joe Mattera, Harold Bechtol and Steve His average speed was 95.212 MPH. $18,500.00. was a consolation race and Crockett won that, with OConnor and , Pat He had not raced on dirt since 1957 although he won his early fame there. weather was actually like. In 1989, the circuit closed, replaced by a mall and a suburb. from 71 to 100. "That was a track that separated the men from the boys," he says. Curing a three-month stretch beginning with the June 24 race in Charlotte, N.C., and ending with the Sept. 18 event at Langhorne (Pa.) Speedway, Flock captured 11 of 15 poles and won eight races. Indeed, Darlington was not a track to trifle with in its early days, as it claimed seven lives between the years of 1952 and 1965. Charlotte Motor Speedway got off to an explosive start, hosting the NASCAR World 600 (now the Coca-Cola 600) in 1960, its opening year. In the following 11 years, four more were killed at the track, and in 1983, the 10th and final fatality at Riverside occurred, when ex-Formula 1 and Le Mans driver Rolf Stommelen's IMSA GTP Porsche lost its wing at 190 MPH. racing goes. The photo About Langhorne Speedway Opened in 1926, this circular one-mile dirt track was known as the "Big Left Turn." It hosted one of NASCAR's inaugural races in 1949. Langhorne, Penn. It hosted a NASCAR inaugural race in 1949. Notable drivers Doc Mackenzie, Joie Chitwood, Rex Mays, Lee Petty, Dutch Hoag, A.J. Nobody liked it, and the ones who said they did were lying.". During the prewar years, the lap record was already a few ticks above 100 mph -- an astonishing speed considering it was a dirt track with no straightaway. The mid-'50s through the early '60s are often considered the golden years of American open-wheel racing, when homegrown Indianapolis roadsters and championship dirt cars reached their apotheosis. <br> <br>This photo was taken at Langhorne, Pennsylvania of the 100 Mile U.S.A.C National Championship on June 20th, 1965. Little I was part.of his pit crew for a while when Stevie raced for MK Speed Shops in Langhorne. Magill and Thomson, and was challenging Musselman for Thomson, Russo, McWithey From its earliest days, Daytona was synonymous with racing fatalities: two drivers lost their lives in its first yearone just less than two weeks before the original Daytona 500 was held. I was at the Selinsgrove Speedway, last Saturday, March 20. Today. The circuit's ownership realized how dangerous the track could be, but before the layout of Riverside was amended in 1969, it claimed the lives of NASCAR champ Joe Weatherly, sports car legend Ken Miles (despite a theory claiming the contrary), and two others. See Race of Champions for a history of this race since 1972. Some of those that perished (Larry) Crash Crockett was fatally injured. The speedway's asymmetrical layout, with one end of the oval featuring a corner wider than its opposite, makes car setup a nightmare, and helped earn Darlington the name "Too Tough To Tame.". But I liked Langhorne because you could run fast there. According to the book Langhorne! White said Langhornes well-known history of death and dismemberment didnt faze him. Peters, Herman, Mussleman, Swiekert, LANGHORNE, Pa., March 20 (AP)--Larry Crockett was killed today when his racing car spun out of control at Langhorne Speedway. [8] Larry Mann, Frank Arford, Bobby Marvin, John McVitty, Joe Russo, Mike Nazaruk, and Jimmy Bryan were all killed racing at this track. He was followed by Magill, Hoyt, Carter, Rogers, The final race was held in 1971. Langhorne Courtesy of Lou Lazarro Pete, wearing his All Star League helmet, found himself in the Durham 222 midget. langhorne speedway diner - CLOSED. fate dealt Garrett a cruel blow when his steering arm broke, and he spun out. But he missed the challenge of racing at Langhorne. In the third heat, strange as it seems, all three of the Sam Traylor cars were entered Langhorne Speedway was an automobile racetrack in Middletown Township, Bucks County, near the borough of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, a northern suburb of Philadelphia. a photo of Mike Nazaruk, supposedly on his last lap The Speedway hosted the nation's most noted race for the Modified division; the first post-war stock car race run at the facility was a National Championship Stock Car Circuit (a forerunner to NASCAR) race in 1947, with Bob Flock taking home the checkered flag. Heat Some As there is a tie on this list, tracks with equal casualty counts will be ordered by their years of operation (shorter histories push them up the list). up, from the racing surface, and if some one was rim-riding, chances are that The stands mile track at Langhorne. Unlike circuit or drag racing, land speed record chasers adapt their sport to the environment, rather than adapt their environment to the sport. "Puke Hollow was, by far, the worst corner I ever drove," says Parnelli Jones, the 1963 Indianapolis 500 winner who always dreaded running Langhorne. You wanted to go there and run good because it was so tough. George didnt qualify his normal ride, the HOW Offy, never been to Langhorne previous to this day, and was making his initial run in you could say was in the fourth turn area. It track that day, as the racing usually was at the horne. You were hanging on the edge by a thread. Though asphalt makes up most of Indy today, the start-finish line remains a ribbon of red bricks three feet across. Ive Occurring on 14th June at the Langhorne Speedway, the race would ultimately be won by polesitter Bobby Unser in an Eagle-Offenhauser, his second consecutive victory at the event. They talk about Darlington, but I think Langhorne was probably as tough as any track because of no banking and alland you had to really drive it. Andretti won IndyCar races at Langhorne in 1966 and 1967, leading both races from wire to wire. first two rows of the feature consisted of Musselman Even today, 40-odd years since the track was razed to make way for a shopping center, the men who raced there still speak about the place with respect and awe. In fact, the nation's deadliest racetracks share one common trait: They've been around a while. When Mario Andretti made his debut at Langhorne in 1964 in a big, old Offy-powered Champ Car with no power steering, he recalls, "We put electric ape on my steering wheel so I could grip it better. And it was very unforgiving. gaining on Amick. (June 19, 1960) - Rugged, cigar-smoking Jimmy Bryan, veteran auto racer who won 19 championships including the Indianapolis 500 in 1958, was killed Sunday in the 100-mile National Championship Big Car race at Langhorne Speedway. [2] After returning from the war, he resumed racing midgets at the Bay State Racing Association. Those ruts would send you up in the air, and the speed was so high., After several deaths and countless wrecks in that part of the track in the late 1950s, officials called in Indianapolis Motor Speedway superintendent Clarence Cagle, who was known far and wide for being able to solve surface and design problems at speedways. went after Musselman. Nobody liked it, and the ones who said they did were lying.". Yanigan. looking at previous trips to Langhorne, and the times that we arrived back The "new" Langhorne Speedway debuted on June 20, 1965, with Jim McElreath winning a 100-lap USAC National Championship race that was marred by several accidents, including two fiery crashes. He was found about 150 yards from where the but did get in the race in the Leitenberger # 76. go alone, so he asked me. Bobby Unser qualified on the pole at a record speed of 129.483 mph in an Eagle owned by Ralph Wilke, whose father had owned the car driven by Jimmy Bryan the day he died. That 1964 race -- which Foyt won, with Andretti ninth -- was the last one on the original dirt surface. at Langhorne. miles. Click on the race number to see the results of that race. Note the burning fuel on steel guard rail in background. These events included AMA-sanctioned National Championship Motorcycle races between 1935 and 1956, AAA-sanctioned Championship Car races between 1930 and 1955, and USAC-sanctioned Championship Car races from 1956 to 1970. The track was razed soon thereafter.