Lonsdale Sports Arena was a high-banked paved oval

race track A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also u ...

located north of

Pawtucket, Rhode Island Pawtucket is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 75,604 at the 2020 census, making the city the fourth-largest in the state. Pawtucket borders Providence and East Providence to the south, Central Falls ...

, on Mendon Road (

Rhode Island Route 122 Route 122 is a numbered state highway running in Rhode Island, United States. Its southern terminus is at U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Pawtucket, and its northern terminus is at the Massachusetts border where it continues as Massachusetts Route 122. ...

) in

Cumberland, Rhode Island Cumberland is the northeasternmost town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States, first settled in 1635 and incorporated in 1746. The population was 36,405 at the 2020 census, making it the seventh-largest municipality and the largest t ...

, on the banks of the

Blackstone River The Blackstone River is a river in the U.S. states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It flows approximately 48 mi (80 km) and drains a watershed of approximately 540 sq. mi (1,400 km2). Its long history of industrial use has left ...

. Ironically, its location near the river would prove a key factor in its ultimate demise. The track operated from 1947 to 1956. Its name was a reference to the Lonsdale historic district in the towns of Cumberland and

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

. A

Stop & Shop The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, known as Stop & Shop, is a regional chain of supermarkets located in the northeastern United States. From its beginnings in 1892 as a small grocery store, it has grown to include 406 stores chain-wide. Sto ...

plaza now occupies where the arena was.

History

The site of Lonsdale Sports Arena was originally an earthen

levee A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually soil, earthen and that often runs parallel (geometry), parallel to ...

holding pond, used to retain water to power a local textile mill. The levee area was bought in 1934 by Edward A. McNulty, a local road builder, who first used it as a sand and

gravel pit A gravel pit is an open-pit mine for the extraction of gravel. Gravel pits often lie in river valleys where the water table is high, so they may naturally fill with water to form ponds or lakes. Old, abandoned gravel pits are normally used eithe ...

. McNulty later constructed a race track on the site. Built for

midget car racing Midget cars, also speedcars in Australia, is a class of racing cars. The cars are very small with a very high power-to-weight ratio and typically use four cylinder engines. They originated in the United States in the 1930s and are raced on mos ...

, the asphalt race track hosted the quick open-wheeled machines during its inaugural season, 1947, as midget racing was king with

Bill Schindler Bill Schindler (March 6, 1909 – September 20, 1952) was an American racecar driver. He began racing in 1931 in a sprint car. He was racing midget cars on the East Coast of the United States at their introduction in 1934.

and his #2 car winning a season-high four features. Other winners that year were Lloyd Christopher, Joe Sostillio and Ted Tappet. Running mostly on Wednesday nights, the midgets also ran twice on Sundays and once on Friday in 1947. The season finale for Lonsdale served as a bellwether for the future of motorsports in the next decade and through to the present day. The MOA sanctioning body hosted the first-ever

stock car race Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It or ...

in the

Northern United States The Northern United States, commonly referred to as the American North, the Northern States, or simply the North, is a geographical or historical region of the United States. History Early history Before the 19th century westward expansion, the "N ...

on Sunday, October 26, 1947, with

Fonty Flock Truman Fontell "Fonty" Flock (March 21, 1920 – July 15, 1972) was an American stock car racer. Flock family He was the brother of NASCAR pioneers Tim Flock and Bob Flock, and the second female NASCAR driver Ethel Mobley. The four rac ...

capturing the 30-lap victory. The MOA sanctioning body was the predecessor to a new and well-known brand of racing called

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

. Bill France Sr. and other stock car entrepreneurs tested the waters at Lonsdale to see if stock car racing had longevity. Decades later, these visionaries have proven their worth as NASCAR is the premier form of auto racing in the United States today. A showcase for midget racing, Lonsdale's role in the post-war midget boom came to an end. The debate over

Offenhauser The Offenhauser Racing Engine, or Offy, is a racing engine design that dominated American open wheel racing for more than 50 years and is still popular among vintage sprint and midget car racers. History The Offenhauser engine, familiarly ...

(Offy) and non-Offy powerplants was a part of the escalating costs of fielding a midget racer and contributed to a great divide within the ranks. A cheaper form of racing was in the near future: the stock car experiment at Lonsdale proved to be it. Stock cars soon replaced midgets at Lonsdale for good in the late 1940s or early 1950s. The stock cars (also called Jalopies or

Modifieds Modified stock car racing, also known as modified racing and modified, is a type of auto racing that involves purpose-built cars simultaneously racing against each other on oval tracks. First established in the United States after World War II, ...

) were a godsend to the track operators. The cars were cheap, provided many racing thrills and most importantly, the drivers and fans could not get enough of these stock cars. It was truly great racing, watching the stock cars test the high banks drew massive crowds to a facility with grandstands that encircled the entire track.

Incidents

On October 12, 1949, a driver from

Harris, Rhode Island Harris (formerly known as Harrisville) is a village near the town of Coventry, Rhode Island on the north branch of the Pawtuxet River near West Warwick. The village was once part of the Burton and Potter farms. Around 1813 Caleb Atwood built a t ...

, was killed in a rollover accident during a race at the track.

Closure

Lonsdale met its ultimate demise because of the Blackstone River. Its location on the banks of the river proved problematic when the river crested, flooded the track and undermined the grandstands. The subsequent dwindling crowds did not allow the owner to rebuild the grandstands. The track's last race saw the same racing that started Lonsdale end its tenure on the racing circuit: an ARDC– USAC midget feature held on September 30, 1956. Cliff Riggot won the final race at Lonsdale in his Wozniak Offy. The final season champion at Lonsdale was the venerable Fred Luchesi, who also won championships at

Seekonk Speedway Seekonk Speedway is a family entertainment venue that features racing of all kinds on a semi-banked 1/3 mile asphalt-paved oval, located on U.S. Route 6 in Seekonk, Massachusetts. The track holds the distinction of being the longest continually ...

, Norwood Arena Speedway,norwoodarena.com
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Waterford Speedbowl The New London-Waterford Speedbowl is a 3/8 mile asphalt oval race track located on CT 85 in Waterford, Connecticut, just off Interstate 395. It first opened for business on April 15, 1951, as "The New London-Waterford Speed Bowl", t ...

and

Westboro Speedway Westboro Speedway, also known as Westboro Sports Stadium, was a banked and paved oval race track located in Westborough, Massachusetts, that operated from 1947 through 1985. It featured various types of racing including Supermodified racing, supe ...

during this rough-and-tumble era. New Jersey's

Wall Township Speedway Wall Stadium (also known briefly as Wall Township Speedway) is a 1/4-mile (0.25 miles inside measurement and 0.29 miles outside by the guardrail), high banked (30° in corners) paved oval track in Wall Township, New Jersey, United States. The track ...

, which opened in 1950, was patterned after Lonsdale.

Sources

* Pronyne Motorsports Museum *

References

{{Reflist

External links

Touring Series & Major Events
at The Third Turn Motorsport venues in Rhode Island Defunct motorsport venues in the United States Sports venues completed in 1947 1947 establishments in Rhode Island 1956 disestablishments in Rhode Island Buildings and structures in Cumberland, Rhode Island Sports venues in Providence County, Rhode Island Defunct sports venues in Rhode Island