Sportsmans Raceway Park

[Mike Croley]

Colorado Springs was blessed with an abundance of race tracks , which was just fine with me . One of those tracks was Sportsmans Raceway Park , just east of town . It was owned by Roy Sportsman originally . It was a 1/4 mile paved banked oval that had some of the least restrictive rules of any track i've ever been to . 1949 or newer coupes or sedans , 4 carburetor barrels , and the engine had to be in the front 1/2 of the wheelbase . Apart from safety rules , that was pretty much it . That led to Bob Silvers and his 57 Chevy # 409 with a 409 Chevy engine set back into the area where the dash would be . Mike Woolley with a Studebaker Lark powered by a small block Chevy with the same type of engine setback . Ronnie McDowell with his 57 T-Bird that had a 427 Ford Engine , Vern Root with the first 396 Chevy engine in the area inside his 56 Chevy . The cars had no floorboards , save directly under the drivers feet .
They also ran modifieds on a regular basis , many of whom came down from Denver . At that time they were 6 cyl cars and they put on exceptional racing . Dale DeWitt in the number 166 , the Ager brothers , Bob Harington , and Cal Chambers .
The track was sold to Wayne Strobridge , who had raced for years under the name of Gary Wayne , and the track name was changed to Colorado Springs Raceway Park . It was bulldozed many years ago , but its one of my best memories . The photo is of Wayne with his midget at Colorado Springs Raceway Park .

[Mike Croley]

Heres the only other photo i have of Sportsmans . Ronnie McDowell is in the # 119 Nova , Joe Becker is in the # 6 x 56 Chevy, and up against the wall is , i believe , Bob Silvers in the # 409 57 Chevy .

[parrot]

Mike, can you tell me when Sportsmans Raceway Park was built? Was researching some '63 Lakeside programs today and ran across a mention by one of the CARC guys that he also was racing at the 'new' track in Colorado Springs. Since midgets had raced at Pike Peak Speedway just figured they were older. Remember going to PPS and seeing a lot of CARC cars there, then before it was over, a bunch of E'Wood cars come by from Sportsmans, so they both must have been open then.

[Mike Croley]

I can't be positive , but i believe it was around 1962 , maybe 1961 . The Englewood mods ran there all the time . There were a few local modifieds , like the Agar brothers , but mostly the cars came down from Denver , a few from Pueblo . They ran midgets at Sportsmans from time to time . I was at a USAC show there , got to see Jan Opperman in action .

[JRKracer]

Mike, according to Bill Hill , Sportsman Park was racing in 1960 as Eddie Jackson won the inaugural ' Nite before the Hillclimb" Bobby Unser won in '61 and '62 and my dad Earl Kouba won it in '63. The track must have been built sometime in '59.

[Mike Croley]

Mike, according to Bill Hill , Sportsman Park was racing in 1960 as Eddie Jackson won the inaugural ' Nite before the Hillclimb" Bobby Unser won in '61 and '62 and my dad Earl Kouba won it in '63. The track must have been built sometime in '59.

I think you're correct . I didn't see the 1960 " Nite before the Hillclimb " , but i saw all of the rest .

[JRKracer]

I think you're correct . I didn't see the 1960 " Nite before the Hillclimb " , but i saw all of the rest . Boy this is a blast remembering my Colorado life. I was born there in 52 and we moved to MN. in 66 so I have some of you alls memorys.Thanks to all of you for sharing on this great web site