Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.[New Jersey State Fairgrounds. Races for the United States' premier open-wheel and full-bodied racing series of the times were held at Trenton Speedway.
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Racing history
The first race at the Fairgrounds was held on September 24, 1900, but there was no further racing there until 1907. Regular racing began in 1912 and continued until 1941. A new 1 mile dirt oval was opened in 1946. In 1957 the track was paved. It operated in that configuration until 1968 when the track was expanded to 1.5 miles (2.41 km) and a " kidney bean" shape with a 20° right-hand dogleg on the back stretch and a wider turn 3 & 4 complex than turns 1 & 2. The track closed in 1980 and the Fairgrounds itself closed 3 years later. The former site of the speedway is now occupied by the Grounds for Sculpture
Grounds For Sculpture (GFS) is a sculpture park and museum located in Hamilton, New Jersey. It is located on the former site of Trenton Speedway. Founded in 1992 by John Seward Johnson II, the venue is dedicated to promoting an understanding ...
, a UPS shipping facility, and the housing development known as "Hamilton Lakes".
Champ Car at Trenton Speedway
Trenton was a long-time stop for the AAA
AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to:
Airports
* Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA)
* Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA)
Arts, entertainment, and me ...
and USAC Championship Car
American open-wheel car racing, also known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2022, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar.
Competitive event ...
series. Its first recognized Champ Car race was held in 1949 on the dirt mile. The series did not return until 1957 when the track was paved, but when it did, at least one Champ Car race was held every year until 1979. The final Champ Car races held in 1979 at the track were sanctioned by CART. During his career A. J. Foyt
Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (born January 16, 1935) is an American retired auto racing driver who has raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes United States Automobile Club Champ cars, sprint cars, and midget cars. H ...
won twelve Indy Car races at Trenton Speedway. The May 1976 race was Janet Guthrie
Janet Guthrie (born March 7, 1938) is a retired professional race car driver and the first woman to qualify and compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500, both in 1977. She had first attempted to enter the Indianapolis 500 in 1 ...
's first IndyCar appearance.
NASCAR at Trenton Speedway
Trenton hosted the 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 ...
Grand National
The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap st ...
and Winston Cup series 8 times: once each May in 1958 and 1959, and once each July from 1967 to 1972, a race known as the Northern 300. Richard Petty led all drivers with three Trenton Grand National victories.Stock Car Racing magazine
''Stock Car Racing'' (SCR) was founded in the U.S. in May 1966Larry Cothren, Automotive.com, Source Interlink Media, 200."Racing Magazines agazine-Agent.com,
Magazine-Agent.com, 2009, webpagmag-agent"Specialty Equipment Market Association - SEMA. ...
listed it on the schedule in its early 1974 season issues) but was dropped early in the year and replaced by Pocono Raceway's Purolator 500.
Major races for NASCAR Modifieds
Race of Champions
From 1972 to 1976, Trenton Speedway hosted the Race of Champions
The Race of Champions (ROC) is an international motorsport event held at the end/start of each year, featuring some of the world's best racing and rally drivers. It is the only competition in the world where stars from Formula One, World Ral ...
modified race. Five different drivers won the five RoC events at Trenton. In 1977, the Race of Champions was moved to Pocono Raceway.
Other National Championship races for NASCAR Modifieds
From 1958 to 1971, a NASCAR National Championship race for Sportsman-Modified Stock Cars was held annually at Trenton Speedway, promoted by Sam Nunis. Through 1962, these were hundred-lap races. In 1963, the race was expanded to 200 laps, making it one of the longest and highest-paying races for Modified and Sportsman racers in the country. Ray Hendrick
Ray Hendrick (April 1, 1929 – September 28, 1990) was an American race car driver. He was known as "Mr. Modified" during his 36-year career in motorsports, mainly in the modified stock car racing class.
The Virginia native collected more tha ...
from Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
was the leading winner of these races, driving the Jack Tant-owned number 11.
State Fair "Triple Headers"
During the mid-1960s, at the time of the State Fair in September, the speedway hosted a special "Triple Header" event. A 50 lap modified-sportsman race and two 25 lap races, one for URC Sprint Cars
Sprint may refer to:
Aerospace
*Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design
*Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile
Automotive and motorcycle
*Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989
* Chevrolet Sprint ...
and one for ARDC Midgets was staged. These were some of the most exciting races for local drivers to compete on the 1 mile asphalt track. The likes of the colorful drivers of the era were named "Jiggs" Peters, "Gig" Stephens, "Wiggles" Johnson and "Pee Wee" Griffin.
A 100-mile Super-Modified race was also held in 1968 and many racers from the Oswego Speedway
The Oswego Speedway is a 5/8 mile race track in Oswego, New York. It was built in 1951 and was paved with asphalt since the 1952. The track has held dates on several national tours - the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, ASA National Tour, and USAC ...
competed. Steve Krisiloff
Steve Krisiloff (born July 7, 1946 in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey), is a former driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. He raced in the 1969–1979, 1981 and 1983 seasons, with 111 combined career starts, and started in the I ...
, aged 21 (later to become an Indy Car driver) won the race to the surprise of many.
Race results
''All winning drivers were American.''
AAA/USAC/CART Championship Car
NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup
Lap Records
The official race lap records at Trenton Speedway are listed as:
References
External links
Circuit map
{{coord, 40, 14, 20.5, N, 74, 43, 01.5, W, scale:10000, display=title
Buildings and structures in Mercer County, New Jersey
Champ Car circuits
NASCAR tracks
Motorsport venues in New Jersey
Defunct motorsport venues in the United States
NASCAR races at Trenton Speedway