Route 66 Speedway?

[BearsBomber]

I grew up in Amarillo as a little tike(been in C.C. the last 15yrs) and remember my dad drag raced alot and did a little circle track racing. I believe the race track was called "Route 66 Speedway" and was a dirt track if i remember correctly. anyways, can anyone confirm a) the name, is it still open or what happen to it? thanks.

 

Nick T.

[txtom]

Here is a link to the website, although it has not been updated in awhile.

 

Route66

 

Have heard that it is running this year.

[BearsBomber]

Here is a link to the website, although it has not been updated in awhile.

 

Route66

 

Have heard that it is running this year.

 

ah thanks tom.

wrong forum then i suppose. actually thought i did it in general TX racing.

[97car]

I don't think this track is 15 years old though. There was a couple of other tracks up there tht he is probably thinking of.

[txtom]

Route 66 opened in 1994; not sure, but I think it is the only one active in Amarillo right now.

There was another track, at Grand and Hastings, called at times Amarillo Speedbowl or Dirt Track Speedway, that was open from the 40's; not sure if it is still open.

 

A long gone track that was really fun up there was Southwest Speedway which was open from around 1974 to 1988. Was also called Airport Speedway due to its proximity to the airport. It was just North of it. It was a 3/8 mile asphalt track that featured 18 degree turns. Don't know how long it lasted, but Austin's Glen Schwabe set a track record up there in July, 1978, at a 13.89.

[zoom]

I grew up in Amarillo and raced both these tracks.

The first time I raced was a 1967 impala 2 door in the "cyclone" class which was a basic bomber. I raced at Southwest. Didn't make it far that year only raced 3 times. Our tow vehicle got totalled in the pits by the moron who drove around in the push truck. Wish I remebered his name so I could give him some "publicity". this was in 1979.

 

Then the next year I built a bomber for Amarillo Speedbowl, which was known as the "silver dollar " track because when old man Elkins ran the track he paid off in silver dollars. Anyway, I ran 2 seasons on the dirt. Much fun had by all. Even tested out the structural stability of the roof one race which happened to be the first and only time I convinced my Mom to come watch me race. Joined the Air Force and that ended my racing career for about 20 years. Loved those Amarillo tracks.