Meyer Speedway 2005

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While in Town in April, I went by the property Meyer Speedway sat on. This link goes to an aerial view of what the track looked like in 2003:

Meyer

 

The following images show the only the only remains of the track.

 

This is the only asphalt you would find out there; it is part of the infield roads that formed sort of an "X".

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This pic shows turn 1 and 2. If you look closely at the tree line, you can see a slight rise in the ground; this was the banking in turn 1 and 2.

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This was the backstretch of the track, looking from the entrance of turn 3 back to the exit of turn 2.

The tree line in the center of the picture is actually the outside edge of the backstretch.

From here, South Main is to my back. Hillcroft is to the right.

[Levi]

looks like the weeds at that track got out of hand

[Definitive]

A dead racetrack is so very morbid.There must be ghosts there.If you stand there at night can you hear open exhaust or screaming fans?Hmmm....

[Budman]

MAN there's a lot of lost history there. I think Richard Petty won the last NASCAR race there in '73. Wish we could get some pics from SOMEBODY in Houston on here!

[Definitive]

NASCAR ran there?What size track was it?It looks like it was almost flat.Did the housing next to it drive it to close ,or did the school?

[Budman]

It was a half mile asphalt track. Best I remember it wasn't banked as high as SAS.

 

Yeah, Nascar ran there '60s and early '70s. Don't know the reason it closed. Can only imagine Houston grew up around it. Seems no one in this part of the country wants an "intown" racetrack. Like Speed-o-rama/Longhorn it probably got taxed out of existance.

[Definitive]

That's too bad.Just think...if they built it up to Bristol levels...nevermind...I'm thinking out loud again.

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For the record, Meyer hosted a Grand National (as it was known then) race on 23 June, 1971. This was the only time that a Grand National race was held there. If NASCAR ran there any other time, it was weekly series racing similar to San Antonio.

Bobby Allison won the race by two laps, called the "Space City 300" in a race that had only 14 starters.

 

The race results:

1. Bobby Allison

2. James Hylton

3. Walter Ballard

4. Elmo Langley

5. Frank Warren

6. Cecil Gordon

7. Richard Petty

8. Henley Gray

9. Charlie Roberts

10. J.D. McDuffie

11. Ed Negre

12. Ronnie Chumley

13. Fred Hill

14. Pete Arnold

 

The last three were not running at the end.

[supertx]

Meyer also ran a USAC champ car race there. What I remenber it was the first time that a small block chevy beat the offy. Would love to see some old pictures from there spent alot of of younger years there. there was some great drivers from there M.J. Burton,Billy wade, ronnnie chumley, FYI MJ BURTON is the uncle of Denny Burton crew chief for T wade welch in USAR

[NeilTPS]

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I attended the Space City 300 at Meyer Speedway in Houston on Wednesday night, June 23, 1971. I don’t believe the event was a sanctioned NASCAR Grand National race (now called Nextel Cup). NASCAR did help conduct the race as a market research project to measure possible full sanctioned return races to Houston. NASCAR never returned to Meyer Speedway. Bobby Allison won the race. Richard Petty lost the lead when he had to pit for electrical system repair. Allison and Petty drove 427 CID Hemi Dodges.

 

The reason Meyer Speedway was able to attract the fourteen cars that it did, was because NASCAR had just held a sanctioned race on Sunday at Riverside Speedway in California. A Wednesday night race in Houston was selected because the teams who wished to compete would be returning home through Houston on I-10. A stop at the half mile Meyer Speedway would be convenient because in those days most NASCAR teams used short track cars for road races. They had the right type car with them on their open trailers, which most teams commonly used in those days. Several race teams opted to pass up the race because their car may have broken down in California or because the event was not a points race.

 

A note on the track configuration. Meyer Speedway was an half mile asphalt oval on east side of South Main Street in Houston. It was reasonably wide. The banking in the turns was progressive, that is, no bank on the inside of the turns which increased progressively to the steepest degree of banking at the guard rail. I don’t recall what the degree on banking was, but most drivers at speed ran the outside groove the entire lap. The track did use Armco guard rails for the entire outside length of the track as well as to protect the pit road, which couldn’t accommodate much more than a fourteen car field.

 

The electronic timing system was unique. Ed Hamblen developed a photo lab sweep hand clock that measured in tenths of a second. It was started and stopped by cars running over two pressure sensitive hoses (like those which rang the bell at full service gas stations). Ed’s system wouldn’t time but one lap at a time. The hoses were removed after time trials.

 

Race Control, PA Announcer and Press Box was the open air type on the start-finish line. The race office was located in the parking lot in a travel trailer. Ed Hamblen also had a side business in that parking lot which operated every day except race days. It was a golf driving range.

 

Neil Upchurch

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Neal

 

Do you remenber he also had a bicyle track i don't know what you call them speed dromes something like that the banked track it set of out side of turn 4 as you went in the grand stands

[NeilTPS]

supertx

 

Sorry, I missed seeing a bicycle track at Meyer Speedway.

 

I had a pit and press box pass because of my position with Texas World Speedway. I spent a good bit of time in the pits before the race with some of the guys with whom I had contact at TWS NASCAR races ie: Richard, Bobby and a genuinely good man, James Hylton from Spartanburg South Carolina.

 

Neil Upchurch

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Neil

Your right James is a good guy use to come to my shop in Greenville all the time. I still have a set of headers for my dyno that I got from James. Always raced on a very tight budget but was always trying to make it to the track.

[Budman]

Supertx,

 

For what it's worth .............

they are called velodromes (indoor) or veloways (outdoor).

[nightmoves 99]

i remember the 'liberty bell 300' when a lot of hotshoes from ala. fla.and miss. would come and put on a great show against the local guys [perrin,nash,mann, mcelreath,reynolds,richards, i'm sure i'm forgetting many more names]. for those who don't remember or know they ran 'supermodifieds' those 1300 lb. fuel injected beasts. just an old race fan remembering how much fun it was to be a fan!!

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nightmoves

about what years was that?

[NeilTPS]

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The Liberty Bell 300 at Meyer Speedway was an annual event on or near July 4th. I first attended the race in mid 60's and again in the early 70's.

 

It was the largest oval race in Houston for quite some time.

 

Meyer Speedway promoter Ed Hamblen was mainly responsible for the event. He bought advertisements in the Houston Chronicle and a sell out crowd usually attended the race.

 

A.J. Foyt Chevrolet supplied the pace car. Race sponsors were not very evident. Even the race title was patriotically oriented, not sponsor funded.

 

Neil Upchurch

[nightmoves 99]

the" liberty bell 300 "shows were as mr. upchurch said before any major sponsors were around in this area. most of the guys would tow in with an open trailer (of course)behind either an old station wagon or 1/2 ton pick -up. the cars were pretty much homemade jobs most of the real fast ones were from the mobile,pensacola,or jackson ms. area.i remember a couple of indy roadsters showing up.i also remember rat lane showing up driving one of (i believe)bill hites radical(for the time)supers,that thing was so low it was scary even from the stands. if i 'm not mistaken even some of the weekly shows may have had 20-24 cars, not to mention the late models,or the 'broncos' that were raced there on a normal weekend. there are some pictures on a website called 'retro rockets' if y'all can find it

[Budman]

Its retrorockets.org

 

 

Many photos. Look at those around Gallery 36. Ya gotta love those transporters (especially Perrin's). Noted names: Clyde Johnson, Gene Tapia, Ellis Palasini, Bill White, Billy Perrin, Wayne Niedecken, Others.

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If you look around retro rockets, you will also find Houston drivers Butch Harris (Vol 13),and John McLaren (Vol 5), and Chet Fillip of San Angelo (Vol 29)

 

Lots of great cars on this site.

Link

 

I don't know now, but that rear engine super of Chet Fillips was sitting in his Dad's shop in San Angelo only 10 years ago. (Fillip Automotive)

[Budman]

In looking around the retrorockets.org site, what I found quite interesting is the number of old indy roadsters that got converted to super-modifieds up in the midwest and northeast. I've always thought those were some of the most visually appealing race cars ever built.

[LEGACY]

I use to go to saturday night stock car races at Meyers Speedway,in 1969 @12yrs old i attended my 1st Liberty Bell 300. What amazed me most was this was the first time i ever seen a race car raise the front right wheel and carry it all th way down the straght away.This was the firt asphalt track i had ever been to,i was from the Beaumont area and grew up at dirt tracks in the area like H&B Seedway & Motorama Speedway.

 

LAC

[thumper]

I remember Meyerland Speedway.It was running hot and heavy when I was racing Almeda Speedway on Almeda-Genoa road.I saw a thrill show there once where they drove on the side on 2 wheels,jumps,etc.The scarest part to me was racing tward a man standing and doing a 180 deg stop and parking 1 foot from the man.Butch Harris was my bosses son at the time but he got hurt bad with an "A" sports racer converted to a super modified with a 426 Hemi with about 1000HP.It got down the straightaway but didnt turn.He did not race much after that.He now prepairs a class of Spec.cars for out of town racers to race at Houstons paved track.Does anyone remember Almeda Speedway and Cowboy Johnson?