WE FOUND 10 MORE ABANDONED RACE TRACKS ON GOOGLE EARTH
From road courses to small ovals and a superspeedway, some look ready for action while others are virtually unrecognizable.
Back in February, we asked for your help to find more race tracks lost to time. And boy did you answer—our email inboxes flooded with tips in the days that followed. Now, we have 10 more tracks to share, each with an interesting story.
Our latest finds cover sprawling road courses, small-town Saturday night circle tracks, and even a gigantic superspeedway that Google satellites caught before and during its destruction. It's one of the coolest (and perhaps saddest) Google Earth race track images so far.
We know more tracks are waiting to be rediscovered, so keep emailing and commenting with your tips! From the United States and Canada, to tracks all over the world, we want to hear from you. That said, let's get our third Google racetracks virtual road trip underway.
Track: Greenwood RoadwayLocation: Indianola, IowaCoordinates: 41°15'08"N 93°29'33"W
Motor1 reader Dennis sent us this tip, and at a glance, one might think it could still be an active track. Nestled in south-central Iowa, was a 3.0-mile, 16-turn road course in the middle of nowhere. According to Racingcircuts.info, it was active from 1963 through 1967 and the remote location was part of the reason for its downfall. Poor spectator attendance and maintenance issues also contributed to its demise and today, the site is used for heavy equipment training. But, Greenwood Roadway still exists in the gaming world with titles like rFactor and Assetto Corsa.
Track: Motordrome 70 SpeedwayLocation: Smithton, PennsylvaniaCoordinates: 40°10'30"N 79°43'30"W
This half-mile oval started life as a dirt track in 1972, then became a sanctioned NASCAR track in 1989. Speedway and Road Race History reports it was paved at that point, and according to Motor1 reader Tom who sent us the tip, spectator attendance dropped from that point forward. Google's imagery shows the track in decent condition, and jumping into street view, the entrance is still clearly marked. However, Tom tells us the track has been closed for several years and is currently used by a sound barrier company.
Track: Illiana Motor SpeedwayLocation: Schererville, IndianaCoordinates: 41°28'35"N 87°25'17"W
Just 35 miles from Chicago sits the half-mile remains of Illiana Motor Speedway, a track that was active for nearly 70 years as both a dirt and paved oval. Motor1 reader John shared his experiences at the track as a race car driver, competing there in the 1970s and 1980s. John's son also raced at Illiana, but it closed in 2016. According to the Associated Press, the town of Schererville purchased the track with plans to demolish it and repurpose the land; as of 2021, buildings and bleachers were removed but the asphalt was still there. Discussions on using the land were ongoing in 2023, but the current state of the track is unknown.
Track: Bridgehampton Race CircuitLocation: Sag Harbor, New YorkCoordinates: 40°58'41"N 72°20'03"W
Now the location of a golf course, Bridgehampton Race Circuit was once a bustling 12-turn, 2.8-mile track. It officially opened in 1957 and hosted everything from Can-Am to the World Sportscar Championship and NASCAR. A website dedicated to the track talks about Mario Andretti taking Paul Newman out for hot laps in a Mustang. It closed in 1999, and while the golf course offers a general outline of the old track, we've highlighted the original layout with our image compare tool. Slide left or right to see how the track used to look. Shout out to Michael for showing us this special piece of racing history.
Track: Bluegrass Motorsports ParkLocation: Napoleon, KentuckyCoordinates: 38°45'45"N 84°47'55"W
Can one say a track was abandoned if it was never officially completed? That's the story with Bluegrass Motorsports Park, which broke ground in 2008. There's still a Facebook page for the road course, which was designed by Derek Daly of Formula 1 fame. A video from GraySpeed Productions pegs the course at 2.5 miles, and though it looks pretty good from Google's eye in the sky, the final paving was never finished. Built just as the big recession of 2009-2010 hit, the project allegedly lost funding. According to tipster Dave, the track is currently in private ownership and not accessible to the public.
Track: Roseburg SpeedwayLocation: Green, OregonCoordinates: 43°09'34"N 123°21'41"W
Even a small quarter-mile oval track that was open only briefly deserves a moment in the light. That's what we have with Roseburg Speedway, nestled in southwest Oregon amid the trees. We got this tip from Hans, who visited the track as a child to watch the races. He tells us it was a dangerous place; there wasn't much protection for spectators and a car apparently went into the stands at one point. Hans mentions that happening in the late 1960s but a Facebook page claims the oval was only open from 1963-1964. However long it was there, its legacy lives on with the ghostly outline of trees where the track used to be.
Track: Dayton SpeedwayLocation: Dayton, OhioCoordinates: 39°43'19"N 84°15'14"W
It was a bit tricky finding information on this half-mile oval. A tip from Doug gave us an approximate location, and an article from the Dayton Daily News filled in the rest. Opened in 1934, it was actually a little over a half-mile (5/8) and was a very fast track. Famous drivers such as Richard Petty and A.J. Foyt turned laps there, but it closed periodically through the 1970s and shut down for good in 1982. Sadly it became a landfill, but sections where the old course used to be are still visible from the sky.
Track: Lynndale Farms RacewayLocation: Pewaukee, WisconsinCoordinates: 43°06'29"N 88°18'08"W
If you lived in a subdivision that used to be a 2.5-mile, 13-turn road course, could you resist the urge to stab the gas amid all the homes? Lynndale Farms is a lovely subdivision with roads that follow a good portion of the old track. And if you look closely at the upper right side of the image, a portion of that old pavement is still there. According to Barcboys.com, it was only open from 1963 through 1967 and closed due to a combination of bad Wisconsin weather and noise complaints from neighbors. Shout out to John for the tip on this neat track.
Track: Wilmot Hills Road Racing CourseLocation: Wilmot, WisconsinCoordinates: 42°29'54"N 88°11'03"W
We might have to make a trip to Wisconsin just to visit all the old tracks that used to exist. In the shadow of Wilmot Mountain ski resort is a short 1-mile road course that lived brightly through the 1950s and 1960s. Barcboys says it was heavily used during that time for everything from driver schools to SCCA racing. It closed in 1967, but Motor1 reader Joe tells us that very little has changed since then. Even the buildings are still in place.
Track: Texas World SpeedwayLocation: College Station, TexasCoordinates: 30°32'15"N 96°13'11"W
It's impossible to miss the remains of Texas World Speedway from above. At two miles in length, it was a proper superspeedway that hosted NASCAR, IMSA, and several other large-scale racing series. The site also had a 2.9-mile road course, but according to RacingCircuits, weather often hampered activity at the track. It fell into disrepair; NASCAR dropped it from the schedule in the 1980s but teams would occasionally use the track for testing purposes. Tipster Michael reminded us that the track closed for good in 2017.
The land is being repurposed for housing, and as of 2024, Texas World Speedway doesn't exist. However, a striking image from Google Earth captures the track from two different time periods, showing the bones of the old pavement mixed with piles of dirt from the renovation. It's a sad end for one of the few superspeedways ever built.
The Other Abandoned Tracks
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