for Ferrari, both in sports/racing cars and also in Grand Prix cars, after LeMans. Hoag was the only driver to win the National Open on both the dirt and pavement surfaces.[12]. As a result, no physical remnants of the track itself remain. pretty quick, too, with him doing the 6 laps in a time of 3:23.57. Langhorne That might have been the hardest pass I ever did in all of racing. Did the Horne scare Unser? headed pit side, with his gas tank empty. Amick was Almost immediately after Langhorne's closure, the property was razed in order to make way for a new shopping development. Magill and Thomson, and was challenging Musselman for Furr previously operated a dirt track which was sold. and Johnny Matera. AAA sprint car show was held on May 1, 1955, at the big, circular oiled dirt According to Riggs, nearly two dozen drivers were killed at the 'Horne, along with another dozen or so. While Land Speed Racer Memorial registers 20 fatalities as part of record attempts at El Mirage, though the timeline of lives lost at El Mirage does not align those at Bonneville, with the most recent listed fatal accident occurring in 1995, and most between 1940 and 1970. but did get in the race in the Leitenberger # 76. "The track was always kind to me," he says. could call the turn one area. Watch. What he hated, though, was the dust, which made it hard to see and got into everything, even after being thoroughly covered with a spray of Pennsylvania oil. Kenyon later returned to racing and placed third at the Indy 500 and won numerous national midget racing championships. Larry Crockett (born 23 Oct 1926 Cambridge City, Indiana; died 20 Mar 1955 Bristol, Pennsylvania). Reece and Pat Flaherty in row 2, Jimmy Bryan and George, Failing Among the drivers who perished at Langhorne were Jimmy Bryan (1960), one of the most talented drivers to ever sit in an Indy car, and Larry Mann (1952), the first driver to die of injuries suffered in a race in what is now the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. "I'd say their stand is due to an accumulation of fat," Fried complained. When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Since 1965, however, the track has not suffered a single known fatal accident. "That was a track that separated the men from the boys," he says. the most dangerous, most treacherous, most murderous track there ever was. Mike Magill was coming, and he went past Then came the 92nd lap, and Bryan headed pit side, again row 7, Ed Elisian and Jim McWithey 2022Recurrent Ventures. It received this moniker due to the fact that a driver might be inclined to "puke" as a result of the extreme jostling his car would experience when hitting the deep ruts which formed in this section of the track as a race progressed. Worry not, for the misery of Langhorne lives on; its grounds are occupied. Despite temperatures that reached 106 degrees, Bryan wasted no time getting back up to speed. In the following 11 years, four more were killed at the track, and in 1983, the 10th and final fatality at Riverside occurred, when ex-Formula 1 and Le Mans driver Rolf Stommelen's IMSA GTP Porsche lost its wing at 190 MPH. show. It was common to have over a hundred cars attempt to qualify for the National Open. LANGHORNE, Pa., Oct 11 (AP)Freddy Adam of kutztown, Pa., won the annual 100mile national open championship for modified stock cars at the Langhorne Speedway today. If you suddenly ran up on cars, it was hard to dodge them. the win, but fell about a car length short. White said Langhornes well-known history of death and dismemberment didnt faze him. It was another racetrack, another day at work, he said. weather was actually like. dont think that there was a worse year than 1955 as far as deaths in auto in row 5, Don Freeland and Mike Magill in row 6, Eddie Russo and Jack Turner in a time of 3:22.33 and an average speed of 106.930 MPH. The. rough track played havoc with both drivers and machines. Langhorne hosted the fourth-ever Cup race in that series first season -- on Sept. 11, 1949. With 10 deaths in its short 32 years of operation, it may be for the best that Riverside is gone. So when he heard that Roger Ward wanted no part of the Champ Car race there in 1960, Bryan agreed to a one-off ride in the vacant car, the A.J. You wanted more power.. Peters, Herman, Mussleman, Swiekert, You couldnt go fast enough. The unique layout meant that drivers drifted around virtually the entire circuit, usually with the throttle wide open, yet with perilously limited vision around the constant-radius corners -- a triple threat that demanded deft car control, immense reserves of strength and endurance, and, of course, those huge huevos. Sweikert and Pat OConnor were on hand, along with I wanted to be a race driver. Andretti raced for the first time at Langhorne in 1964 in an IndyCar race. IMCA stars, Bob Slater and Bobby Grim. I was at the Selinsgrove Speedway, last Saturday, March 20. The first Langhorne National Open was held in 1951, and Dutch Hoag raced in it; he was one of the last cars to get through the large wreck which blocked the track and burned driver Wally Campbell, who was that year's NASCAR National Modified Champion. Over the years, a total of 38 people would die of injuries sustained in accidents at the track, the most famous of whom was none other than Dale Earnhardt himself. Stock car drivers were killed in 2001 and 2002; the latter was T-boned at almost 170 MPH due to poor marshaling by the race's governing body. usually drew quite a few cars from the mid-west. L. Spencer Riggs, author of the definitive motorsport history, "Langhorne! (*) = Last race ever held at Langhorne Speedway. (Bill France raced there before helping establish NASCAR.) References: American Motorcycle Association Archives; Jack Vanino, motorcycle historian, Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}401042N 745305W / 40.178224N 74.884602W / 40.178224; -74.884602, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "St. Petersburg Times - Google News Archive Search", http://www.explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=994, http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?objID=442806&mode=2&open=514&markerId=666, "1949 Strictly Stock Standings and Statistics" page of Racing-Reference website, Langhorne Speedway page of Racing-Reference website, Langhorne National Open page of TheVintageRacer.com, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Langhorne_Speedway&oldid=1117476423, New Philadelphia/Philadelphia Speedway (1926c.1930), This page was last edited on 21 October 2022, at 22:53. Calling the Brickyard "the Graveyard" would be in poor taste, considering what has been reiterated so many times throughout this count: Unless it's Langhorne, the track is almost never at fault for the lives lost on its premises. "The whole place had deteriorated over the years -- the infield, the pits, everything.". He was found about 150 yards from where the What is undisputed is that the Milwaukee Mile's future looks grim. Worry not, for the misery of Langhorne lives on; its grounds are occupied today by a Sam's Club. To do well, you had to want to run fast, and you had to want to race. trials, with clockings of 33.06 and 33.45. High-profile American racing clubs like the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), American Automobile Association (AAA), and United States Auto Club (USAC) made Langhorne one of the stops on their national circuits. was a consolation race and Crockett won that, with OConnor and Jiggs Peters following him. George didnt qualify his normal ride, the HOW Offy, No credible source reports any deaths since. Nobody liked it, and the ones who said they did were lying.". The mid-'50s through the early '60s are often considered the golden years of American open-wheel racing, when homegrown Indianapolis roadsters and championship dirt cars reached their apotheosis. View photos of the Concord Speedway construction below. Harold got his wish, and Darlington held the first of its annual Southern 500 races in 1950, which continue to be held today. Then in 1951, Irv Fried and Al Gerber became promoters. Thomson, Russo, McWithey It was all over for Nazaruk, in an almost The National Open since 1972 has become the Race of Champions Modified race, raced exclusively on pavement and at various Northeastern tracks, and its history has been combined into the National Open. Indianapolis Motor Speedway was constructed in 1909, and originally paved with 32 million pounds of bricks, hence the name "Brickyard." A year later, Andretti got his own baptism by fire at the 'Horne. Peters, Hank Rogers, Hinnershitz, Bill Brown, Ernie Jimmy Reece A conservation effort has sprung up in support of the Mile, but petition signatures can do little about the unsteady fiscal situation in which the track finds itself, due to investments in facility upgrades (safety included) during the 1990s and 2000s. View NASCAR Cup Series driver stats at this track. Besides sprint cars and midgets, there were modifieds, late-models, and stock cars. They only want to race in the softer spots. you could say was in the fourth turn area. The newest track on this list of the 10 deadliest was constructed in 1964, and all of them were raced in the days before the introduction of fire retardant Nomex suits, HANS devices, and mandatory roll cages. Fried and Gerber announced the sale of the property to mall developers in 1967, but the speedway held on through five more seasons. Reports I had read said he lost part of a thumb, along with a glove, and Those ruts would send you up in the air, and the speed was so high., After several deaths and countless wrecks in that part of the track in the late 1950s, officials called in Indianapolis Motor Speedway superintendent Clarence Cagle, who was known far and wide for being able to solve surface and design problems at speedways. Countless more were maimed in crashes that entailed high-altitude barrel rolls and hellacious fires. His teammate, Charlie Musselman was next with They talk about Darlington, but I think Langhorne was probably as tough as any track because of no banking and alland you had to really drive it. Andretti won IndyCar races at Langhorne in 1966 and 1967, leading both races from wire to wire. When Mario Andretti made his debut at Langhorne in 1964 in a big, old Offy-powered Champ Car with no power steering, he recalls, "We put electric ape on my steering wheel so I could grip it better. Langhorne Speedway Langhorne, PA. Glossary Tweet. tremendous racing took place around the circular, oiled down, big dirt mile This is not Mann's fatal flip as you can see the #43 of Mann spinning into the wreckage at the end of the clip. [5][6], Langhorne was relocated to southern New Jersey and became Bridgeport Speedway in Bridgeport, New Jersey.[7]. Concord Speedway was built in 1982 by Henry Furr. In September 1949, Langhorne hosted the fourth race of NASCAR's first year of . Langhorne - March 20 and May 1, 1955 and June 24, 1956 While I was at the Selinsgrove Speedway, last Saturday, March 20th, I happened to mention to another race fan that on that date in 1955, I was in attendance at the Langhorne track to watch the sprint car races. Driver Don Thomas suffered leg injuries when his car careened into the infield. The Lady In Black, as some old-timers call Darlington, will never lighten up, and drivers will continue to earn their "Darlington Stripe" of paint lost to the walls for years to come. his goggles. completed. They still had horrendous wrecks on the pavement and people got hurt, but no one else was killed after the surface was paved. Paving removed some of the tracks fearsome nature, but those who ran its dirt surface had long memories. of 32.909, for an average speed of 109.392 MPH. He had not raced on dirt since 1957 although he won his early fame there. again he was hitting the fuel tank with his hand, signaling his crew that he consolation race was won by Musselman, and he was It the start, Mussleman and Thomson were one and two, Langhorne Speedway was a 1-mile circle that challenged even the toughest drivers. Bobby Grim raced directly underneath it. George didnt qualify his normal ride, the track was always kind to me, '' he says *! 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