Tri-City Raceway Park (formerly known as Tri-City Speedway and Franklin Speedway) is a 1/2-mile
dirt oval and a 3/8-mile track for
karts
Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on f ...
, located in
Oakland Township, Venango County, Pennsylvania
Oakland Township is a township in Venango County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,359 at the 2020 census, a decrease from 1,504 in 2010, which represented a decline from the 1,565 residents as of the 2000 census.
Geography
Acc ...
, near the city of
Franklin
Franklin may refer to:
People
* Franklin (given name)
* Franklin (surname)
* Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class
Places Australia
* Franklin, Tasmania, a township
* Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...
to the southwest. It lies even closer to the Borough of
Sugarcreek, which lies in between. Also lying at about the same distance as Franklin is
Oil City to the southeast. Tri-City has hosted several
World of Outlaws
The World of Outlaws (often abbreviated WoO) is an American motorsports sanctioning body. The body sanctions two major national touring series. It is best known for sanctioning the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Late ...
Late Models events; one (now defunct)
National Sprint Tour
The National Sprint Tour was a United States sprint car racing league. It formed in 2005 as a rival to the World of Outlaws. The series folded after one season. The series was started by Brownfield Promotions, Inc. of Snohomish, Washington. The s ...
race,
Super DIRTcar Series
The Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modifieds is a North American big block modified touring series currently promoted by World Racing Group. The series primarily races on dirt ovals in the Northeastern United States and Canada along with select d ...
and several All-Star Circuit of Champions races.
Tri City Raceway originally opened in 1954 as a 1/4 mile dirt oval, the track remained in this configuration until 1968.
In 1969, the track reopened as a 1/2 mile oval where it held races until it closed in 1981 after a fire destroyed the main concession stand and majority of the bleachers.
The track closed for a while in 1988 but reopened in 1996 with Roger Crick and Mike Graham as the owners and has seen success.
The speedway was purchased by H & H Motorsports in 2010. The new owners closed the auto racing program in July 2011.
Kart racing
Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on kart circuit, scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are als ...
and some special events continued through 2011. Mark Tatalovic brought the track back to life in 2016.
Drivers such as
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
,
Kenny Wallace
Kenneth Lee Wallace (born August 23, 1963) is an American race car driver and former reporter for Fox NASCAR. He retired from NASCAR in 2015 after driving in the national series since 1988. In a career spanning twenty-five years in NASCAR, Wallace ...
,
Steve Kinser
Steve "The King" Kinser (born June 2, 1954) is a former professional sprint car racing driver. He has won 20 championships in the World of Outlaws (WoO) series. Kinser left the World of Outlaws in 2006 to compete with the National Sprint Tour s ...
,
Ken Schrader
Kenneth Schrader (born May 29, 1955) is an American professional racing driver. He currently races on local dirt and asphalt tracks around the country while also competing part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 11 Ford for Fast Trac ...
and
Dave Blaney
David Louis Blaney (born October 24, 1962) is a semi-retired American professional stock car racing driver. Blaney was a successful sprint car driver before he started racing in NASCAR, competing in both the Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Serie ...
have raced at the track.
After a short run of the track, it was once again place up for sale. In the fall of 2019, the facility was purchased by Merle Black, of Mercer, PA. Track and facility improvements have already began with great anticipation, towards the 2020 racing season.
External links
Official site
Motorsport venues in Pennsylvania
Buildings and structures in Venango County, Pennsylvania
Tourist attractions in Venango County, Pennsylvania
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