Bridgehampton Race Circuit was a race track located near

Sag Harbor, New York Sag Harbor is an incorporated village in Suffolk County, New York, United States, in the towns of Southampton and East Hampton on eastern Long Island. The village developed as a working port on Gardiner's Bay. The population was 2,772 at the 2 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The circuit opened in 1957, following a series of road races held from 1949 until 1953. It was one of the first permanent road racing venues in the United States, opening after

Thompson Speedway Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (TSMP), formerly Thompson Speedway and Thompson International Speedway, is a motorsports park in Thompson, Connecticut, featuring a asphalt oval racetrack and a road racing course. Once known as the "Indianap ...

, two years after Road America, the year after

Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen International, nicknamed "The Glen", is an automobile race track located in the town of Dix just southwest of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. It was long known around the world as the hom ...

, and the same year as

Lime Rock Park Lime Rock Park is a natural-terrain motorsport road racing venue located in Lakeville, Connecticut, United States, a hamlet in the town of Salisbury, in the state's northwest corner. Built in 1956, it is the nation's third oldest continuously op ...

and

Laguna Seca Raceway Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 near both Salinas and ...

. In its early years, Bridgehampton was host to major international series, including the

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and ...

, Can-Am, and NASCAR Grand National. By the early 1970s, the track was used mostly for amateur events. The track closed permanently in 1999. Bridgehampton was renowned as a fearsome course, requiring the utmost of driver skill.

Lap Records

The official race lap records at Bridgehampton Race Circuit are listed as:

History

Early road races

The first road races in Bridgehampton were held on public roads around the hamlet of Bridgehampton from 1915 until 1921. The course ran counterclockwise on an approximately 3-mile (4.8-km) rectangle, beginning on

Montauk Highway Montauk Highway is an east–west road extending for across the southern shore of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York, in the United States. It extends from the Nassau County line in Amityville, where it connects to Merrick Road, to Montauk ...

, then turning left onto Halsey Lane, left onto Pauls Lane, left onto Ocean Boulevard, and left back onto Montauk Highway. The races were revived in 1949, utilizing a 4-mile (6.4-km) circuit adjacent to the pre-war circuit in Bridgehampton and Sagaponack. It ran clockwise beginning on Ocean Road, turning right onto Sagaponack Road, right onto Sagaponack Main Street, right onto Bridge Lane, and right back onto Ocean Road. The races proved successful, and joined the

SCCA National Sports Car Championship The SCCA National Sports Car Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Sports Car Club of America from 1951 until 1964. It was the first post-World War II sports car series organized in the United States The United Stat ...

when it was created in 1951. The road races came to an end in 1953, after a driver was killed in practice and three spectators injured during the race. These events, combined with a spectator death in a crash at Watkins Glen in 1952, led the

State of New York New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. state ...

to ban racing on public roads.

Permanent circuit

Local racing enthusiasts formed the Bridgehampton Road Races Corporation in 1953 to finance the construction of a permanent race circuit in the area. The corporation purchased a parcel known as Noyack Hills in 1956, and constructed a , 13-turn road course. Although construction was not completed, the first races were held in 1957. The headline event, the Bridgehampton Sports Car Races, were a part of the SCCA National Championship; Regional races would be added in 1958. The race would shift to the professional

United States Road Racing Championship The United States Road Racing Championship (USRRC) was created by the Sports Car Club of America in 1962. It was the first SCCA series for professional racing drivers. SCCA Executive Director John Bishop helped to create the series to recover rac ...

in 1965, and resurrected the

Vanderbilt Cup The Vanderbilt Cup was the first major trophy in American auto racing. History An international event, it was founded by William Kissam Vanderbilt II in 1904 and first held on October 8 on a course set out in Nassau County on Long Island, ...

, which had been run on Long Island from 1904 until 1910. A second National event was added in 1961. This event would shift to the

for 1962, marking Bridgehampton's biggest event. The WSC gave way to Can-Am from 1966 until 1969. Can-Am was scheduled to return in 1970, but the race was moved to the newly opened

Road Atlanta Road Atlanta (known for sponsorship reasons as Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta) is a road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, United States. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur spo ...

after heavy storms damaged the track. A 1971

IMSA GT Championship IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States, and occasionally in Canada. History The series was founded in 1969 by John and Peggy Bishop, and Bill ...

event was the last major event at the track.

Decline and demise

Bridgehampton's included a small media and scoring building and a small grandstand. The Bridgehampton Road Races Corporation did not have the money to upgrade and maintain the tracks infrastructure to world-class standards. The track's land had appreciated to several million dollars in a few decades. Locals began complaining about noise in the mid-1970s, and in 1983 the town passed an ordinance limiting noise and effectively ending any chance of big-league racing returning. Plans were announced in 1994 to turn the property into a golf course. Races continued until 1997, and a racing school and club meets lingered until 1998. A portion of the course, including the Chevron Bridge, are preserved on the grounds of the golf course.

Events

* Bridgehampton Sports Car Races;

* Bridgehampton Grand Prix; Can-Am,

NASCAR Grand National results

Trans-Am results

References

{{Authority control Motorsport venues in New York (state) Defunct motorsport venues in the United States 1957 establishments in New York (state) 1998 disestablishments in New York (state) Sports venues in Suffolk County, New York IMSA GT Championship circuits Sports venues completed in 1957