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  *Comments on Trenton Speedway:*
  View the most recent comment <#14> | Post a comment <#post>


  1.   Cooper posted:
  03.25.2010 - 6:33 pm
   Rate this comment:      (2)      (0)

The first race at the Fairgrounds was held on September 24, 1900 but
racing wouldn't return 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 4° 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 the Grounds
for Sculpture.
Banking:
Turns 1 & 2: 10°
Dogleg: 4°
Turns 3 & 4: 15°


  2.   RaceFanX posted:
  06.09.2010 - 9:58 pm
   Rate this comment:      (2)      (0)

Thanks to the dogleg this is basically the only "oval" track that had a
right-hand turn on its standard layout.


  3.   art 18 posted:
  05.11.2013 - 2:59 pm
   Rate this comment:      (1)      (10)

i grew up with my back yard right up against the dog leg.they destroyed
an american icon.there were two big lakes in the middle with large mouth
bass.they destroyed the track and built the shabbiest houses.ican go on
but ive had it!!!!!


screwit my name is arthur devlin nothing to hide fron not to mention ive
always loved roger Penske until he had us work our asses off and left
town when he was supposed to pay.needless to say I HATE THAT BRAD kESLOW
SKI WHAT A CREEP!!!!!!!!!


  4.   RaceFanX posted:
  07.31.2019 - 12:54 pm
   Rate this comment:      (0)      (0)

The Cup series planned to continue racing here after 1972 but it just
never came together. In 1973 everyone came for the race and time trials
took place, Bobby Allison qualified on the pole, but on race day the
event was rained out and ultimately cancelled without being run. The
series initially planned to return again in 1974 but ultimately dropped
Trenton from the schedule to replace it with Pocono instead. This track
was always more of an IndyCar staple than a NASCAR one.


  5.   Timothy_Eklund posted:
  04.11.2020 - 10:45 pm
   Rate this comment:      (1)      (0)

As far as I know this is the only 5 turn oval in the US.


  6.   Timothy_Eklund posted:
  04.11.2020 - 10:45 pm
   Rate this comment:      (0)      (0)

*was


  7.   RaceFanX posted:
  04.11.2020 - 10:55 pm
   Rate this comment:      (2)      (0)

I think it was for a superspeedway, especially with that ultra unique
right-hand swing. The "Trick Track" Tri-City Motor Speedway short track
in Michigan that ASA used to run at famously had five mismatched left
turns in its pavement configuration. The temporary Caesar's Palace Grand
Prix course also used a five-turn "Distorted Oval" layout during its two
years as a CART race but that track was still basically a road course. I
can't think of an active five-turn oval though.


  8.   Canadianfan posted:
  04.11.2020 - 11:13 pm
   Rate this comment:      (1)      (0)

The reason for the unusual shape was the State Fair Park wanted to
create a 1.5 mile long course, but was presented with a major headache
when an elderly woman whose property they needed to buy behind the back
straight refused to sell. The solution was to divert the backstretch
into the infield to bypass the offending property, creating the rather
unique situation of having a right-hand turn on an oval course. This
signature quirk was to be the bane of race engineers over the years as
they struggled to find setups that would allow tyres to last.


  9.   Mr.Victory posted:
  05.19.2020 - 3:24 pm
   Rate this comment:      (0)      (0)

Would love to see a track like this. It's like Pocono, but inside out
and 1.5 miles.


  10.   RaceFanX posted:
  05.19.2020 - 3:59 pm
   Rate this comment:      (1)      (0)

@9
Ironically Turn 1 at Pocono actually was modeled after the track here at
Trenton (All three turns at Pocono were based on IndyCar hotbeds of the
era, Turn 2 was Indianapolis and Turn 3 was Milwaukee).


  11.   possum posted:
  05.19.2020 - 7:10 pm
   Rate this comment:      (0)      (0)

@7 - well, I suspose tracks like Daytona that have a single bend in the
trioval (as opposed to those with 2 bends, like Charlotte) could count
as a 5 left-turn oval.

@8 - the elderly woman was presumably Art18's mother (or grandmother).
See post 3 in this thread.


  12.   Mile501 posted:
  05.19.2020 - 8:05 pm
   Rate this comment:      (0)      (0)

@9 - I think it would be great if multiple uniquely-shaped tracks were
built and added to the schedule. Unfortunately, that's not very
realistic. It would have been great if some of the tracks that were
built in the 1990s had been different shapes and lengths.


  13.   A posted:
  07.07.2020 - 9:17 pm
   Rate this comment:      (0)      (0)

If you look up the "Grounds for Sculpture" on Google Maps, the lake to
the north and west of it is the same lake that was in the infield of
this speedway, though in racing days it was two lakes with a path
crossing between them.

However, the current lake is in the same place and gives some sense of
the track location.

Hamilton Lakes Drive to the east of the lake pretty closely follows the
old track layout for a ways


  14.   A posted:
  07.07.2020 - 9:35 pm
   Rate this comment:      (0)      (0)

There's some footage on YouTube from one of the last CART races here in
1979. Some houses are quite close to the backstretch. What an
interesting former track.


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