Vintage Auto Racing | Auto Racing Memories

Race Track Profiles

Written by Jerry Lee McGuire and Rick Wasilko

The birth of what would become one of the fastest short track speedways West of the Mississippi started with two men, Ed Clark and Carroll Quelland, who together owned many properties around the Denver area. One of the lots was a desolate 15 acre field of weeds in what is now the small Southwest suburb of Sheridan, CO. The site was between Clay Street and South Federal Blvd., along the North side of West Oxford Ave. At the time, South Federal deadened at Hampden Avenue.

Originally, the two men were interested in buying a Midget race car when Ed’s brother John convinced them to build a racetrack instead. John Clark was running a concessions business at race tracks and rodeos around the region, and this new track, just a few miles out of Denver, would be a perfect place to center the business.

Lakeside Speedway - Denver, Colorado

Written by Bill Peratt
It seems man has been competing against man for about as long as history can tell us. Horses, chariot races, foot races, all in the name of competing to see who can be first, quickest, fastest, farthest, and so on. Among those contests, speed evolved to include anything powered by energy sources, wind, steam, and the good old internal combustion engine. Almost as soon as the automobile was invented the challenge was on to see who had the fastest of those ”new fangled contraptions”. Early contests included activities on what roads there were at the time, but straight stretches were sought out as well. The sands of Daytona Beach, and the dry lake beds including Bonneville, proved popular for these early speed challenges. Going in a circle seemed to make more sense to others, as witnessed by horse racing, in that a contestant didn’t have to travel forever to get back to the start point, as was the case in the aforementioned beach and dry lake courses. Horse tracks were already in place, and were used early on. However, recognizing the need for automobile only speed courses, prompted the development of venues designed specifically for them. From the simple oval carved out of the side of a hill, or in the pasture west of town, to the high banked board tracks designed to exact every horsepower out of an engine. And finally, the great paved ovals such as Indianapolis (even though originally brick) to the magnificent super speedways of today. All across America, small tracks, paved and unpaved, were built in small towns to larger cities alike. Colorado was no different, as race courses of the circular kind began to show up soon after the automobile did. Many of those tracks in the larger communities were associated with an amusement park, usually taking their name from that of the park.
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Culver City Speedway - CA

Written by Mitch Guttormson

Culver City Speedway was located about one block from Lincoln Blvd. and Washington Blvd. in Culver City, CA. near Long Beach. It was a former dog track that was enlarged, banked and paved in 1947 during the height of the midget racing boom. There is documentation of races being held on a 1/5 mile dirt oval in 1933, and maybe racing in 1941.

The track became a permanent auto racing facility for the 1947 racing season. Midget racing was the featured division at Culver City, and as midget racing's popularity began to weaken, tracks began to compete for the racing fan's dollar, so in 1949 the track owners made a 1/2 mile paved road course using part of the oval, and part of the parking lot. The road course included a hill, that actually crossed over the track so the cars crossed over and under one another at one point. In the aerial photo of the track you can kind of make out where the crossover, and parking lot portion of the road course was used. Land values, and encroaching home development spelled doom, the track property was sold to Douglas Aircraft, the track was torn down in 1954.

In the aerial view you can see Washington Blvd and the tracks grandstands, to the left you can see the intersection of Lincoln Blvd. and Washington Blvd.