Flemington Speedway
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Flemington Speedway was a
motor racing An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...
circuit in Flemington,
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which operated from 1915 to 2002. The track was once known for being the fastest 5/8-mile dirt track in the United States.


Early history

Flemington Speedway was created as a mid-nineteenth century fairgrounds horse track hosting horse racing events during the Hunterdon County 4-H Agricultural Fair starting in 1848. It was a half mile, four-cornered dirt oval. Motorcycles first raced on this horse track in 1911, and the "Speedway" hosted its first automobile race in 1915 as a half mile
dirt Dirt is any matter considered unclean, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debris: scattered pieces of waste or remains * Du ...
oval. The first race was promoted and won by Ira Vail. The track's grandstand opened in 1917 and remained standing until the track was demolished in January 2005. Auto races were a nearly annual event at Flemington Fair. Stock Car Races became the weekly Saturday night featured attraction when lights were added in 1955. The track was reconfigured over the 1966-1967 off-season into a (nearly) 5/8 mile, semi-banked rounded rectangle, nicknamed "The Square." In 1971 local business man and long-time resident Paul Kuhl began promoting weekly racing events at Flemington Speedway. Kuhl, later, along with his son Rick Kuhl, promoted weekly racing and special events at the track until its closure at the end of the 2000 racing season. Until the end of the 2000 racing season, Flemington Fairgrounds Speedway stood as the oldest operating race track to hold weekly racing events (title now held by the Orange County Fair Speedway). The track remained dirt until the end of the 1990 season when the decision was made to pave the track due to local resident / business complaints and EPA standards.


Life as a paved track

After being paved, speeds at the track dramatically increased. The higher speeds led to "a series of horrible crashes," leaving drivers, such as future
NASCAR Sprint Cup The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...
team owner
Ray Evernham Raymond Donald Evernham Jr. (born August 26, 1957) is an American consultant for Rick Hendrick, Hendrick Companies, formerly an auto racing crew chief for Bill Davis Racing and Hendrick Motorsports, owner of his own team Evernham Motorsports fr ...
, severely injured. After talking to crew chiefs and drivers, track officials decided to add foam blocks to lessen the impact of crashes. The foam bricks allowed crashes at up to leaving no serious injuries. The track hosted the modified
Race of Champions The Race of Champions (ROC) is an international motorsport event held at the start or end of each year, featuring some of the world's best racing and rally drivers from Formula One, World Rally Championship, IndyCar, NASCAR, sports car racin ...
from 1992 to 1995, taking over from
Pocono Raceway Pocono Raceway (formerly known as the Pocono International Raceway in early years) is a tri-oval track in Blakeslee, Pennsylvania. The track has held a variety of events since its opening in 1969, including NASCAR, IndyCar Series, and IMSA GT ...
. The race moved to
Oswego Speedway The Oswego Speedway is a 5/8 mile race track in Oswego, New York. It was built in 1951 and was paved with asphalt since the 1952. The track has held dates on several national tours - the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, ASA National Tour, and USAC ...
in
Oswego, New York Oswego () is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 16,921 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Oswego is situated at the mouth of the Oswego River (New York), Osw ...
from 1996 to 2014, 2016. In 2015 at Chemung Speedrome. The track also hosted the
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock car racing, s ...
for four races, from 1995 to 1998. All four races were won by Chevrolet, with
Ron Hornaday Jr. Ronald Lee Hornaday Jr. (born June 20, 1958) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and businessman. He currently owns Team Hornaday Development, a driver development program, as well as Hornaday Race Cars, a Modified racing, D ...
winning two. The last
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series to race at the speedway was the then ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series (now ARCA Menards Series) "Flemington ARCA 150". The winner was
Frank Kimmel Francis James Kimmel (born April 30, 1962) is an American former stock car racing driver. He competed primarily in the ARCA Racing Series, from 1990 through 2016. Kimmel is the most successful driver in ARCA history. He has won the ARCA championsh ...
, who would go on to win his first series title that season. The race was to be run on August 14, 1999, but due to a severe thunderstorm that hit the track after qualifying, the race was run the next day before a nearly empty house. It was the only ARCA race at the Speedway. Flemington Speedway hosted one NASCAR Busch North Series race in 1991 which was won by
Ricky Craven Richard Allen Craven (born May 24, 1966) is an American stock car racing analyst and former driver. Prior to his broadcasting duties, he was a NASCAR driver who won in four different series—the ARCA Menards Series, and the three national series. ...
. The facility also hosted six
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) (previously the NASCAR Winston Modified Tour and NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series from 1985 until 2005) is a modified stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR in the Modified Division. The Mod ...
races between 1991 and 1998. The track continuously lost money after being paved, and closed on November 8, 2002. The track was sold off to developers and demolished in early January 2005.Flemington speedway history
/ref> A multi-use development called Raritan Town Center now occupies the surrounding area, and a
Lowe's Lowe's Companies, Inc. ( ) is an American retail company specializing in home improvement. Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, the company operates a chain of retail stores in the United States. As of October 28, 2022, Lowe's and i ...
store sits on the defunct speedway property.Courier News Online - Shopping: DOWNTOWNS, MALLS, OUTLETS AND MORE
/ref>


Special Events

The speedway hosted one of a handful of public appearances by 1992 presidential candidate
H. Ross Perot H is the eighth letter of the Latin alphabet. H may also refer to: Musical symbols * H number, Harry Halbreich reference mechanism for music by Honegger and Martinů * H, B (musical note) * H, B major People * H. (noble) (died after 12 ...
. More than 25,000 people attended and tied up local roads for hours.


Post-Racing Existence

In 1999, the Flemington Fair ceased its annual operation soon followed by the closing of the speedway. In 2002, teen vandals set fire to the fairgrounds office building causing damage to several structures on the property. The track was sold off to developers and demolished in early January 2005. A multi-use development called Raritan Town Center now occupies the surrounding area, and a
Lowe's Lowe's Companies, Inc. ( ) is an American retail company specializing in home improvement. Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, the company operates a chain of retail stores in the United States. As of October 28, 2022, Lowe's and i ...
store sits on the defunct speedway property.


NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series history

Race Results at Flemington Speedway - Racing-Reference.info
/ref>


References


External links




NJ Auto Racing HistoryFlemington Speedway archive
at Racing-Reference {{coord, 40, 31, 35, N, 74, 51, 10, W, type:landmark, display=title Flemington, New Jersey NASCAR tracks ARCA Menards Series tracks Motorsport venues in New Jersey Defunct motorsport venues in the United States Buildings and structures in Hunterdon County, New Jersey