DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Racetrack is a one-mile (1.6-km) clay oval motor racetrack in
Du Quoin, Illinois
Du Quoin ( ) is a city in Perry County, Illinois. It is best known for hosting the annual DuQuoin State Fair and the Street Machine Nationals. The population is estimated at 5,761 in the 2020 census.
Geography
Du Quoin is located at (38.0068, ...
, about southeast of
St Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which ...
. It is a stop on the
ARCA Menards Series
The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into the three nation ...
,
USAC Silver Crown Series
The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapol ...
and
American Flat Track
American Flat Track is an American motorcycle racing series. The racing series, founded and sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in 1954, originally encompassed five distinct forms of competitions including mile dirt track ...
.
History
The
DuQuoin State Fair was founded in 1923 by local businessman William R. "W.R." Hayes, who owned the fair and ran it. (It did not become run by the state of Illinois as a true "state fair" until the 1980s; it is now officially called the Illinois State Fair in DuQuoin, as opposed to the longtime one at state capital Springfield.) At the start Hayes had a half-mile harness-racing track on his 30-acre site, with wooden grandstands that seated 3000. In 1939 Hayes started buying adjoining stripmined land to develop its potential as parkland, replanting it and turning the strip pits into family-friendly ponds and lakes. He eventually expanded his little fairgrounds into 1200 acres.
The DuQuoin "Magic Mile" racetrack was constructed on reclaimed stripmine land in 1946 by W.R. Hayes. The track's first
national championship
A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...
race was held in September 1948. In the second race on October 10, popular AAA National driving champion
Ted Horn
Ted Horn (February 27, 1909 – October 10, 1948), born Eylard Theodore Von Horn, was an American racecar driver. He won the AAA National Championship in 1946, 1947 and 1948 and collected 24 wins, 12 second-place finishes and 13 third-place ...
was killed in the fourth turn when a spindle on his championship car broke. The national championship race for the
USAC Silver Crown dirt cars is held in his honor.
In 1957 the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds became the third longtime home of the
Hambletonian, America's premier harness racing event (established 1926). The grandstands and bleachers were expanded to seat 18,000. When the Hambletonian left DuQuoin after 1980 to be raced at
the Meadowlands, the Fair became the home of the World Trotting Derby. This race was held from 1981 until it was discontinued after the 2009 race. Both off-track and on-track betting are allowed.
Music concerts are also held at the track, especially during the state fair (in 2012 from August 25 through Labor Day, September 3). The stage is at center at the foot of the grandstand, backed up against the protective cyclone fence that shields the stands from the track.
Race winners
AAA/USAC Champ Car/Silver Crown race winners
''All winners were American''
ARCA Racing Series
Lap Records
References
External links
Official DuQuoin State Fair WebsiteTrack Enterprises WebsiteDuQuoin State Fairgrounds archiveat Racing-Reference
Motorsport venues in Illinois
ARCA Menards Series tracks
NASCAR tracks
Buildings and structures in Perry County, Illinois
Tourist attractions in Perry County, Illinois
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