CarTech® CT549 - Lost Road Courses: Ghosts of Riverside, Ontario, Bridgehampton and More

Road racing's enduring legacy is revealed and celebrated as author Martin Rudow recounts the sport's glorious past while visiting more than 16 classic tracks that are now defunct across North America.

Riverside International Raceway, Bridgehampton Race Circuit, Ontario Motor Speedway, Continental Divide Raceway, and many others were once major race venues that have since closed. The great race teams, legendary drivers, classic racing series that visited the tracks, and cars that turned laps are brought into full focus by Rudow, a road racer and road racing expert. The exploits of Chaparral, McLaren, Bud Moore, Lotus, Penske, and other race teams as well as racing greats Mario Andretti, Parnelli Jones, Jim Hall, A. J. Foyt, Al Unser, Jim Clark, and Dan Gurney are covered.

Rudow also digs beneath the surface to reveal the story behind the story. The visionaries and businessmen who saw potential and risked capital to build these palaces of speed come back to life. He recognizes the unsung heroes and regional racers who competed, staffed, and took on various roles at these tracks.

Many road courses were built in the 1950s and 1960s, the golden age of American road racing. These classic road courses built and hosted famous races for Trans-Am, Can-Am, IndyCar, Formula 1, and sports car racing, but did not survive the times. They fell victim to changing times, poor business decisions, urban sprawl, safety standards, and increasing real estate prices.

Table of contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Foreword

• by Bob Ashton, Managing Member, Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals

Chapter 1:

• Augusta International Speedway/Raceway The Legend of Alligator Hollow

Chapter 2:

• Bridgehampton Raceway America's Daunting Road Course

Chapter 3:

• Continental Divide Raceway Racing in the Rocky Mountains

Chapter 4:

• Edmonton International Speedway Racing's Far Northern Outpost

Chapter 5:

• Green Valley Raceway The Little Road Course of the Lone Star State

Chapter 6:

• Greenwood Roadway A Track Paved with Passion

Chapter 7:

• Hilltop Raceway Still Standing After All These Years

Chapter 8:

• Marlboro Motor Raceway The Grand Lady of the East

Chapter 9:

• Meadowdale International Raceway The Midwest Monster

Chapter 10:

• Bahamas Speed Weeks Party Central for the Racing Set

Chapter 11:

• Ontario Motor Speedway Where Hollywood Glitter Meets Motor Racing

Chapter 12:

• Riverside International Raceway Multi-Faceted Jewel in the Desert

Chapter 13:

• Roosevelt Raceway Too Good for Its Own Good

Chapter 14:

• Stardust International Raceway Dust and Drama in the Desert

Chapter 15:

• War Bonnet Raceway Park The Future Recreation, Vacation and Racing Destination

Chapter 16:

• Watkins Glen A Road Course History Not Forgotten

Chapter 17:

• Westwood Motorsports Park Wet, Wicked and Twisty

Epilogue

Martin Rudow
Martin Rudow is a lifelong road racing enthusiast, authority, and publisher of Vintage Drift, a vintage road racing magazine in the Pacific Northwest. He has authored two regional sports car racing history books, Weekends of Glory and Long Straights and Hairpin Turns, and has been awarded national and international recognition for them. Rudow has attended numerous regional sports car races in the latter half of the 1950s and first half of the 1960s.