Central Texas - Early 50s

[lesterculp]

During the years 1950-1953 nearly all commumities in Central Texas had .a dirt race track. Austin had 3, 1 in Rockdale, Belton, Round Rock and even Georgetown. Surely someone has some photo laying around that they would be willing to share.

[Nathan]

I have never heard of Austin or round rock or Belton having Dirt Tracks.  But I would love to see the pictures as well.   but that time period is well before my time.

[lesterculp]

This is one of the cars that raced on Austin track in the 1950s. 

[txtom]

Gonna edit here to mix a mixup in my notes----

 

There was a track in in Rockdale located at 274 CR 308A. About a half mile north of US 79 on the west side of Rockdale. On certain maps you can see the outline.  

Two possible tracks in Thorndale. One was located at 1090 Sandoval Road about a half mile west of North 3rd Street. Certain maps still show an outline. This first one may have been a horsetrack due to size. The other one which seems more promising was located at 498 CR 443 North of Town. On certain maps you can see the outline.

Track in Belton located at 9084 Prairie View Avenue. Just North of Prairie view and Just east of SR 317. You can see where it once was.

There was also a half mile dirt track in Taylor about 1910 to 1919, but I have not found a record on location

Nathan and Lester, There have been tracks in places I aint even heard of. I am slowly compiling stuff like this. There were a few dirt tracks in Austin also, and i am trying to compile some locations. Austin Speedway was one located at the corner of Ben White and South Lamar. Another one, name unknown, was two different size tracks located just south of HWY 183, and east of SR 1closer to Burnet Road. A street named Melshire was the basic location of it; The Austin Antique Mall and Playland Skate Center just off 183 is about the north end of the track.

Edited March 2, 2018 by txtom

[Nathan]

It wouldn't surprise me if there were a few around that far back.

[PontiacForever]

How many of those Central Texas venues from the Early 1950s still in active business?

[txtom]

Pontiac, none of them are around. Right now, Heart of Texas Speedway in Waco is probably the longest continually running track in the state, having started in it's current location in April, 1966. There was a previous Heart of Texas that ran for 10 years in a different location.

The only track I know of that was active in the 50's and is still around is the Corpus Christi Speedway that opened in 1946 and has been both dirt and asphalt, but it is currently been closed the past couple or three years. The property is currently being leased for non racing business, and the future of the track is still a little up in the air.

[RodneyRodriguez]

Wish we had one here now, I have nothing close!!! LOL

Anyone wanna build one up here with me?

[HiTech]

my neighbor  informed me the other day his dad was the first person to build a track  in corpus back in I think 1929 .he still has a flyer from that track and is going to try and find it .. he has a lot of old stuff through the early years of racing I was told ..I saw the program from cc speedway when terry labonte started racing . he misplaced it but when he finds it ill share it and others he said to have own. I just got to keep kicking the old mule to make him look ..

[lesterculp]

Another of the "old" pictures

 

[lesterculp]

My last old picture, I need more please?  Also notice the name of the track mentioned in the clipping.

[Budman]

I can't tell for sure from the pic, but that may be Don Fowler standing by the #12 car in the pic above.

There was a track named Austin Speedway located northeast of the intersection of Ben White Blvd (then Allred Lane) and South Lamar in Austin. I think it only operated a couple of years in the late '50s.

Also, don't forget about Oak Hill Downs, a 1/4 mile dirt oval, that operated where else? ……….. Oak Hill just southwest of Austin in the 1950's.  I'm going to post a clipping below from the Austin paper in 1955.  The clipping indicates they were racing midgets.  That is not accurate. They were all racing stock cars that night.

The clipping  repeatedly mentions Roy King of New Jersey.  That driver was actually Jud Larson driving under that assumed name.  He was racing OUTLAW that night, because he was signed on as a driver in AAA, which prohibited their drivers from participating in non-sanctioned events.  The most interesting part of this for me personally is that Jud had stopped by our house earlier that evening, before towing out to the track.  My dad reset the ignition timing for him on the #44 '38 Chevy, owned by Tubby Stewart that Jud drove that night.

Oakhillclip5501.0001 [640x480].bmp

   

 

 

 

 

Edited May 20, 2019 by Budman

[Bobby]

Fowler, Harper, Yantis - Good to see those names again.  In another decade they will be as obscure as the other names on that flyer.

[Budman]

Here is a pic of Jud three years later ----->  1958