The Michigan State Fairgrounds Speedway was a
dirt oval racing track located in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...
. The track was built in 1899 for horse racing, and it was part of the ground purchased to provide a permanent venue for the
Michigan State Fair.
Joseph Lowthian Hudson donated the land, at
Woodward Avenue
A woodward is a warden of a wood. Woodward may also refer to:
Places
;United States
* Woodward, Iowa
* Woodward, Oklahoma
* Woodward, Pennsylvania, a census-designated place
* Woodward Avenue, a street in Tallahassee, Florida, which bisects th ...
and what is now
8 Mile Road, to the Michigan State Agricultural Society.
By 1908, the racetrack, at the east end of the fairground, had a 5,000-seat capacity grandstand. The track originally hosted Thoroughbred flat racing as well as Standardbred harness racing. Later, it was used for
auto racing
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition.
Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...
, after the growth of that industry.
In 1971 the grandstand was declared unsafe; it was demolished in 2001.
Race winners
AAA/USAC Champ Car race winners
NASCAR Grand National race winners
See also
*
*
References
{{NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racetracks
Defunct motorsport venues in the United States
Dirt oval race tracks in the United States
Motorsport venues in Michigan