Trenton Speedway
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Trenton Speedway was a racing facility located near
Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the federal capital, capital of the United States from November 1 until D ...
at the New Jersey State Fairgrounds. Races for the United States' premier open-wheel and full-bodied racing series of the times were held at Trenton Speedway.


Racing history

The first race at the Fairgrounds was held on September 24, 1900, but there was no further racing there until 1907. Regular racing began in 1912 and continued until 1941. A new dirt oval was opened in 1946. In 1957 the track was paved. It operated in that configuration until 1968 when the track was expanded to and a "
kidney bean The kidney bean is a variety of the common bean (''Phaseolus vulgaris'') named for its resemblance to a human kidney. Classification There are different classifications of kidney beans, such as: *Red kidney bean (also known as common kidney ...
" shape with a 20° right-hand dogleg on the back stretch and a wider turn 3 & 4 complex than turns 1 & 2. The track closed in 1980 and the Fairgrounds itself closed 3 years later. The former site of the speedway is now occupied by the
Grounds for Sculpture Grounds For Sculpture (GFS) is a Sculpture garden, sculpture park and museum located in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, Hamilton Township, New Jersey. It is located on the former site of Trenton Speedway. Founded in 1992 by John S ...
, a UPS shipping facility, and the housing development known as "Hamilton Lakes".


Championship cars

Trenton was a long-time stop for the AAA and USAC
Championship Car American open-wheel car racing, generally and commonly known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2025, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar a ...
series. Its first recognized Champ Car race was held in 1949 on the dirt mile. The series did not return until 1957 when the track was paved, but when it did, at least one Champ Car race was held every year until 1979. The final Champ Car races held in 1979 at the track were sanctioned by
CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs. A handcart ...
. During his career
A. J. Foyt Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (born January 16, 1935) is an American former racing driver who competed in numerous disciplines of motorsport. He is best known for his open wheel racing career, and for becoming the first four-time winner of the India ...
won twelve Indy Car races at Trenton Speedway. The May 1976 race was Janet Guthrie's first IndyCar appearance.


Stock cars

Trenton hosted many races sanctioned by AAA and USAC Stock Car divisions. In 1957,
Mike Klapak Michael Klapak (March 8, 1913 – March 13, 1997) was an American racing driver. Klapak won three championships of the NASCAR Sportsman division, in 1950, 1951, and 1952. He also competed in USAC Stock Cars, winning the 1957 Trenton 500. Rac ...
won the Trenton 500, intended to become the most prestigious race on the USAC calendar. Trenton hosted the
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 ...
Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...
and Winston Cup series 8 times: once each May in 1958 and 1959, and once each July from 1967 to 1972, a race known as the Northern 300.
Richard Petty Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed "the King", is an American former stock car racing driver who competed from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most nota ...
led all drivers with three Trenton Grand National victories. In July 1973 the Northern 300 ran time trials but rain washed out the race and it was never rescheduled. The Northern 300 was placed on NASCAR's 1974 Winston Cup Grand National schedule ( ''Stock Car Racing'' magazine listed it on the schedule in its early 1974 season issues) but was dropped early in the year and replaced by
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 ...
's Purolator 500.


Major races for NASCAR modifieds


National Championship races

From 1958 to 1971, a NASCAR National Championship race for
modified stock car racing Modified stock car racing, also known as modified racing and modified, is a type of auto racing that involves purpose-built cars simultaneously racing against each other on oval tracks. First established in the United States after World War II, t ...
was held annually at Trenton Speedway, promoted by Sam Nunis. Through 1962, these were hundred-lap races. In 1963, the race was expanded to 200 laps, making it one of the longest and highest-paying races for Modified and Sportsman racers in the country.
Ray Hendrick Ray Hendrick (April 1, 1929 – September 28, 1990) was an American race car driver. He was known as "Mr. Modified" during his 36-year career in motorsports, mainly in the modified stock car racing class. The Virginia native collected more than ...
from
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
was the leading winner of these races, driving the Jack Tant-owned number 11.


Race of Champions

From 1972 to 1976, Trenton Speedway hosted the
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 ...
modified race. Five different drivers won the five RoC events at Trenton. In 1977, the Race of Champions was moved to
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 ...
.


Race results

''All winning drivers were American.''


AAA/USAC/CART Championship Car


NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup


References


External links


Circuit map
{{Champ Car tracks Buildings and structures in Mercer County, New Jersey Champ Car circuits NASCAR tracks Motorsport venues in New Jersey Defunct motorsport venues in the United States NASCAR races at Trenton Speedway