The Columbus Motor Speedway (CMS) was a asphalt oval and figure-eight racing track located south of

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, within the town limits of

Obetz Obetz is a city located in Franklin County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 5,489. History The community (originally Obetz Junction, in honor of settler Charles Obetz) was formed in 1838 as a stagecoac ...

History

In 1945, John Nuckles and Robert Roseberry purchased of land for site of the future race track. The track opened in 1946 as a dirt track for motorcycles. In 1950 the track was given lighting and in 1957, the track was paved for the first time as car racing, specifically

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...

, became more popular. Robert Roseberry sold his portion to John Nuckles after the paving was complete. The track was run by the Nuckles for many years, and was owned and operated by the Nuckles family. Among the drivers to make their names at the CMS are

Neal Sceva Neal (Neil) is a given masculine, and sometimes feminine name and surname of the Gaelic origin. The name is an Anglicisation of Niall which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victor ...

, Dick Freeman,

Benny Parsons Benjamin Stewart Parsons (July 12, 1941 – January 16, 2007) was an American NASCAR driver, and later an announcer/analyst/pit reporter on SETN, TBS, ABC, ESPN, NBC, and TNT. He became famous as the 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion, an ...

, and

Ralph O'Day Ralph (pronounced or ) is a male name of English origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Old High German ''Radulf'', cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms are: * Ra ...

. Among those killed at Columbus Motor speedway is Bessie E. Amos. Columbus Motor Speedway - Track View

The track was one of three tracks in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

to be granted a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

sanctioning agreement. It hosted

Whelen All-American Series The NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series (formerly the Whelen All-American Series, Winston Racing Series and the Dodge Weekly Series) is a points championship for NASCAR-sanctioned local short-track motor racing in the United States and Canad ...

(formerly the Dodge Weekly Racing Series) races sanctioned by NASCAR. It also hosted many exhibition events, which were some of the most popular attractions, including trailer races, school bus figure-eight races, demolition derbies, "roll over" contests,

monster truck A monster truck is a specialized off-road vehicle with a heavy duty suspension, four-wheel steering, large-displacement V8 engines and oversized tires constructed for competition and entertainment uses. Originally created by modifying stock p ...

stunt rallies, "powder-puff" races, and NASCAR "legends" races which featured famous Cup Series drivers. Due to the relatively high compensation required to secure Cup driver participation in the NASCAR "legends" races, said events were discontinued before the track was closed. In late 2016, the Nuckles Family decided to sell the track to Obetz. The

Fortress Obetz Fortress Obetz is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment complex in Obetz, Ohio. Its bleacher system holds 6,500 people. Including standing room for events such as concerts, Fortress Obetz can hold nearly 20,000 people. It opened in 2017 on t ...

now sits where the speedway was. The speedway hosted a NASCAR K&N Pro Series East event (the NAPA 150) from 2011 through 2016. The winners of the races were notable

drivers, like

Bubba Wallace William Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr. (born October 8, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 23 Toyota Camry XSE for 23XI Racing. Wallace was previously a dev ...

, Cale Conley, Daniel Suárez, Sergio Peña, Rico Abreu and Justin Haley. Also at Columbus Motor Speedway, the NASCAR Midwest Series ran a race in 2004, which was won by

Justin Diercks Justin Diercks (born April 4, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He previously drove the No. 70 car for ML Motorsports. He made his Busch Series debut in 2006 in the Circuit City 250 at Richmond International Raceway. He ...

. The

ARCA Racing Series The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into the three nationa ...

also ran two races at the track, one in 1982 and the other in 1993. The track closed at the end of the 2016 season; the village of Obetz purchased the land from the Nuckles family in order to improve facilities for the

Columbus Crew SC The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 charter clubs of the league. ...

and a local rugby team.

2009 platform collapse

The race track made national headlines on April 11, 2009, when the concrete platform that supported the announcer's box collapsed shortly after the gate opened. One person was temporarily stuck in the rubble and six people suffered minor injuries at the season-opening event. Local rescue workers were called to the scene and the events were canceled for the evening. After the incident, the platform was repaired and reinforced.

Sources

Columbus Motor Speedway
at cityguide, Retrieved June 23, 2007

at na-motorsports.com, Retrieved June 23, 2007

External links

*
Columbus Motor Speedway race results
at Racing-Reference {{USAC National Sprint Car Series race venues Buildings and structures in Franklin County, Ohio Motorsport venues in Ohio NASCAR tracks ARCA Menards Series tracks Tourist attractions in Franklin County, Ohio Defunct motorsport venues in the United States 1946 establishments in Ohio 2016 disestablishments in Ohio Demolished sports venues in Ohio Figure 8 Motorsport venues