I was 15 in 1970. Me and a couple buddies snuck into the track and watched from a tree track side. Mario was there and the Uncer Brothers. Awreck happened right below us.
Dad ran there once in a Modified in 1969. During his qualifying his car bounced so violently in turn 1, when it landed it was pointing towards the outside wall. when he began to correct, it bounced again & was pointing in the opposite direction. He let off, discontinued his qualifying attempt, loaded the car & came home. He didn't ever go back.
With the exception of the Indy 500, early auto racing was rarely reported in the newspapers. On my trips to the grocery store with mom, my first stop was at the magazine stand for ""Speed Age" which I was allowed at 35 cents. (A loaf of bread was 13 cents). I learned the tracks and drivers although race results were six weeks after the fact. My hero driver was Jimmy Bryan, master of the mile dirt tacks. Jimmy would always take the checker with both arms in the air!! He was always pictured with an unlit cigar . After winning Indy in 1958 he retired for a time. He returned for a one race appearance at Langhorne in 1960 where he unfortunately died. Langhorne was fascinating, imagine driving in a continuous broadslide at 100 mph for 100 miles. I would have liked to have seen this track.
During the off season Jimmy lived in my native Phoenix and was known very well. He raced there a lot during the 1950s such as at the fairs and won many. As busy as he was racing everywhere in the country and abroad he always had time to come home.
I grew up in Trenton NJ and had seen many races at the best of both worlds. Trenton's 1 mile oval and Langhorne circle of guts and grit..... imagine as well when sprints and midgets raced there too.... I was 9 when Bryan was killed... he was as many was not as AJ Foyt would say " one of the ferin mom ma's boy".... and Foyt would show how to win at Langhorne (4 times).... in 1964 Foyt covered the 100 miles in one hour and 14 seconds for a speed of 99.601 miles per hour...... to your point! BTW...title of the video should be AAA/USAC's most dangerous track.... 18 open wheel fatalities as noted and maybe one Nascar racer
Langhorn is an Indy track. I too would get results in Autoweek&Competition Press newpaper once a week with results two weeks old. But that's the best you had in the '60s for east coast and European racing stories and results. The only town out here for decades that carried the MRN radio network was Bakerfield and that station was out of reach for us in the north valley. But I recall a lot of Indy Champ Car races at Langhorn and Trenton were covered in Aw&CP
Play at minimum speed and at 2:03 you can see the Jaguar XK 120 Coupe that was the only foreign car ( pre modern era) to ever win a NASCAR race. That car won at Linden ,NJ in 1954 with Al Keller driving. Car owner was Paul Whiteman the big band leader.
@@oldschool1993 The airport, which is still there and operating for general aviation personal planes was originally built and used during WWII for new Grumman planes made across the street in the GM car plant. It was the last win in NASCAR for a non-US company car until Toyota in the 2000's. Part of the airport was reduced in size for creating a shopping center.
Al Keller was from Greenacres, Florida. When I was a kid I use to go to the Palm Beach Fairgrounds Speedway and watch all my heroes. One in particular drove the #89. He is the reason I started racing back in the 1970's. He was one of the very best. His Childhood hero was AL Keller. He knew him and use to hang out at his garage in Greenacres. Sadly, Al was killed in the Bobby Ball Memorial 100 in Arizona in a sprintcar. Al never got to see Jim become one of the absolute best stockcar racers to come out of Florida.
I just don't associate Langhorn with Nascar. More like AAA and USAC. Champ Dirt Cars is what Wide World of Sports always showed at Langhorn. I'm sure nascar ran there. But really Nascar in the '60s-'70s was all about the Super Speedways that started popping up everywhere and the fazing out of dirt tracks..
Around 1956 my folks bought a home in Levittown, Pa. Langhorne speedway was about 4 or 5 blocks from the house and when I heard the engines roaring I would walk over to the fence around the track and watch them race. I've loved cars ever since!
One of the most infamous stories involving Langhorne involved two racing giants of the late 1950s, Rodger Ward and Jimmy Bryan. By 1960, Ward was the top driver in USAC's championship car series and was driving for Leader Card Racers, the best team in the sport, a team Bobby Unser (who would win an Indianapolis 500 and a championship with Leader Card Racers himself) would later call the Penske Racing of it's day. But Langhorne was such a dangerous track that Ward had refused to race there for several years leading up to 1960. Meanwhile, Jimmy Bryan, who had stepped from championship racing in 1959, decided to return to the championship trail in 1960 and wanted to run the race at Langhorne a few weeks after the Indianapolis 500, and was entered for the race in which he was to lose his life in the car Ward had run most of the races when he won the championship in 1959. After Bryan lost his life, Ward was so upset that he had A.J. Watson build a new car, because he had grown to hate that car because it was the one in which Bryan, arguably the greatest championship driver of his era, was killed at Langhorne. However, Langhorne is a noteworthy track for another reason. Apparently, it was the inspiration behind the 17 degree tri-oval mini-turn at Daytona where the start-finish line is so more fans could see the start and finish of a race, something that was copied at many tracks that have been built since then, either with the tri-oval concept, the quad-oval first used at Charlotte and copied at places like the Texas Motor Speedway, Rockingham, and the 1997 Atlanta redesign, or just a sweeping turn, such as Michigan, Auto Club Speedway, and the old Texas World Speedway had.
To clarify, and documented nicely in this video by many pictures, Langhorn was NOT an old NASCAR track. NASCAR started running it long after the decades of open wheel racing was there. The "Coupes" and Late Models did put on great shows but, it was designed as an open wheel track, Championship (Indy) cars, Sprint Cars. Thanks for this historic documentation.
Slick Davis was the first fatality of a driver in a NASCAR race. July 25, 1948 - Greensboro Fairgrounds. There were actually two races sanctioned by NASCAR that day. Columbus Speedway in GA saw Red Byron lose control of his car, which ran into the crowd in turn 3. Some 16 people were injured in accident. A young boy was taken to the hospital where he later died due to his injuries. Two fatalities in one day, Two different tracks.
So my grandfather raced modifieds in the area, never Langhorne, but his employer sponsored a sprint car at Langhorne and he helped them out. Two stories I was always told: first, the track wasnt your typical clay, it was just plain old dirt, and they couldn't keep the dust down, so they would spray waste motor oil on the track (and knowing that, in some of the videos here the track looks awfully greasy). Also, Mario Andretti was considering driving the sprint car my grandfather helped with, and on the night Mario came to see the car/team in action, the driver of it that night was decapitated in a crash. And Mario Andretti never drove the car.
Being a Trenton boy I never made it to langhorne. I did get to see a race at the Trenton Speedway was one of the first when Jim Clark brought in his Lotus, still remember the high pitch that screaming V8 compared to the rumble those four cylinder Offys. Clark made those front engined cars look like they were just out for it quiet Sunday Cruise.
Thanks for this! I was born, raised and worked at my family shop not 2 miles from the old track. While I was born too late to have ever remembered it, as a young kid I always wondered why there were racing themes in the local small businesses, even plumbing services and electricians had the motif on their business cards, logo, and vehicles. It wasn't until my early teens did I learn about the track and that's when it's notoriety and infamy really piqued my interest. Unfortunately for my parents it was also the same time that I received my learner's permit/driving license!
Terrific story! It isn't the same now but early racing used to advertise the danger, proved by deaths. Even the Coney Island steeplechase ride was noted for injuries and deaths -- different times.
I went to this track every year in October from '64 to '70 for the modified open competition 100 lap race. When it was paved it became D shaped with a long straight backstretch.
i live just down the street from where it was a total of 5 minutes some walls are still there and some of the stands were moved to another dirt track called bridge port nj
Technically, the first track I ever went to - my Mother and Father went to the Champ car race in June of 1965 while my mom was pregnant with me. She told me that I would move around every lap the cars came by the stands. I've been a race fan before I was born.
Correct - Trenton was transformed from a true 1 mile oval to the 1 1/2 mile kidney bean shape with the right hand turn in the backstretch in the late 1968? Orig was a 1/2 m dirt track in the 30's that is why the stands were shaped that way. Then it was a 1 mile dirt oval, then in 58? It was paved 1 mile.
I grew up a few miles away from the track in Levittown. We would ride our bikes to the track and climb the billboard on the eastern side and watch the races.
...and then it became Levitz and that whole shopping area if I remember right? Trenton was my home track. People dont realize how much racing we had around here once upon a time.
This was cool to watch. I've heard stories from my dad nd uncles about it. I grew up 5 minutes from the track but I've only ever seen a shopping center nd car dealerships there. Track was gone before I was born
American dirt track racing is virtually an oval shaped rally course. I'd love to see rally cars, like WRC, do at least a demo on a dirt oval if not race it.
Along with a couple buddies used to make the pilgrimage from Upstate NY through the late '60s to watch the modifieds mostly following a friend, Pete Corey, one of our local racing heroes. Then kids happened and my wanders to distant race tracks ended. Thanks for the history lesson
Looking at Langhorn's round layout, it reminds me of the oval track from Flatout 1. All curves, no straights. Just near/fully constant turning each lap.
Was Doc Hudson based off of a blue version Larry Mann's car? The picture of his crash in the movie is almost exactly like the green hornet shown at 3:44
I'm wondering if the circle concept was copied from the circle race track that was in Corona, Ca in the 1916 to 1918 time I believe, or it may have been in the 1920s. The circle track in Corona is now Grand Blvd. and the City of Corona in referred to as the Circle City.
I think a figure-8 would be more fun as a superspeedway. Having T1 and T2 be left-handers while T3 and T4 turn right would make for interesting racing, and cars roaring through the underpass would sound real badass.
I was born in 1958 and lived in Levittown, PA which is about 15mins away from the track. I saw quite a few races there with my 'dad. I remember the track well and the fun we had. Thanks for the memories.
Marshall Teague and Herb Thomas drove the “Fabulous Hudson Hornet” cars. Thomas’ teach history most emulates the Doc Hudson story. The number 51 refers to the year the model was created. The car he was modeled after is a 51 owned by Dave Bonbright who consulted on the film. Road and Track did a feature on the car.
It was as popular for AAA open wheel. I lot of great drivers lost their lives there! Mike Nazaruk, Jimmy Bryan, and Bobby Marvin to name a few! Historic track.
Me while listening to the casualty report for Langhorne: "Yeesh, 18 drivers. One Hell of a track." "Five motorcycle riders? Why would you race a motorcycle there? That's vehicle-assisted suicide." "Three spectators... goddamn, I just hope it wasn't as bad as Le Mans in 1955." *"WAIT, THEY EVEN GOT THE FLAGMAN?! SHUT THE DAMN PLACE DOWN, NO ONE IS SAFE!"*
This video understates the current concern around the Next Gen car and safety. We've had the largest amount of drivers in modern history either voice concerns or exit their rides for a period of time in modern NASCAR history than ever before. It needs more attention.
Racing was a lot more dangerous back then. The amount of deaths at that track isn't as unusual as one might think for the time period. That is an amazing track. Would like to see it in action again. With safe barriers and modern tech of course.
Langhorne was also the town that had one of the first multbrand car/truck dealerships but especially Chevorlets, Reedman, now known as Reedman-Toll. I recall ads for then in the 1960's and into the 1970's in the NYC and NJ Sunday newspapers, including ads for used cars for less than $100. Many went in NYC, NJ, all over PA to them due to the large inventory they had. I do remember them racing USAC there around the time of the last races, seeing them on ABC's 'Wide World of Sports'.
The track was about 10mins or so down the road from me, unfortunately the only it has to show for is a little plaque saying it existed (which wasn't even put up until 2006) not many people in locally except for the people who were actually alive when it was around really seem to know it was ever there, it's currently an auto mall/sam's club, there's a little test track in one of the dealers complexes that I always thought would be cool to host autocross or drift events at but it's in pretty bad shape I don't think it's been used for a long time. I like to fantasize that if it was never torn down it would have been renovated and turned into a road course somehow
@@TheJerseyNinja nope, wrong side of Biz 1. Sam’s Club and Rest Depot are on the property. The track went back into what is the woods now, stopped shy of the Highland Park neighborhood.
@@swearyangler yeah I know. My original comment I meant to say it’s “by where Oxford valley mall is at now” and didn’t realize I forgot the word by lol
There is one not too far from Langhorne - Mahoning Valley Speedway - a 1/4 mile paved oval that is basically round when you arc the front straight. Been around since the late 50's/early 60's?
@@anonymouswhite352 Guess again. Very racey track with tons of passing. A couple of years ago they had a 100 lap Tour modified race - race ran flag to flag (no cautions) and the winner started 18th IIRC
i remember my dad and i driving past on one of the race days in 69 or 70. there's a ford dealership, a big box store and a restaurant supply there now. how about trenton fair grounds/speedway?
Was pretty young when i went, but recall a drag strip in the center of the track. Also recall a tunnel. You drve under the track to park in the infield.
Always considered Langhorn an sprint and indycar track. Never remember Nascar going there much in the '60s because all the races broadcast from Langhorn here on the west coast were Champ cars with Foyt and the Unsers along with the rest of the Indy crowd. I never realized it was a complete circle though. The start finish line straight was lets say less of a turn than the rest of the track so it appeared as a straight.
I started shooting NASCAR in 1989 for UPI, and safety was just beginning to be talked about. As with most things, however, it took the tragedy of Dale Earnhardt's death for racing in general - and NASCAR in particular - to get serious about driver safety. They mandated the HANS device, and began installing SAFER barriers at all the tracks. NASCAR put roof and hood flaps on the cars to lessen the chance of cars getting airborne, ordered restrictor plates be used at Daytona and Talladega, and have moved the driver's position more toward the center of the vehicle. NASCAR is light-years more safe than it was just 20 years ago.
@@dhart8451 I can't find anything on it. I know there was over 100 cars to start the race and I really think it was 150 but there is nothing I can find on the internet about it. So I could have been wrong with the car count and I could have been wrong about the track also. It was crazy to watch because there was an accident on one of the first few laps that took out about 40 cars. The video I watched was from my Pap who was in the race. I don't know if the video still exists. I did find that Darlington for the Southern 500 started 82 cars. So the maximum allowed to enter races back in the 50's was nuts. Don't forget this was a cup race with 82 cars starting.
@@dhart8451 106 cars started 1951 Langhorne National Open ruclips.net/video/Z3bvi4ZID4w/видео.html I'm still pretty sure they started more for one particular race I just can't remember which one. I know that both my Pap and Uncle were in it. Well before my time though.
Hard to believe they didn't just reconfigure the track since the attendance was so good. I love dover and Pocono but it would have been great to have a 1/2 mile or 3/4 mile track north of philly back in the 70s, 80s, 90s.
One problem was there were no local hospitals. Closest ones were Trenton, NJ, Nazareth (North Philly) and Abington which was West of Philly. Later a Hospital was built much closer.
I despise everything about the last 2 decades of nas-car. And yes I honestly built engines for the series. Thanks for this story, it was truly interesting. 🇺🇸💪🇺🇸
At one time the chance of fatality was the latent attraction to some types of motorsports ! Even today people scan through races on dvrs just to see the crashes ! Always the BIG ONE is what they watch for! Personally i do look for the incedents but i enjoy the competetion too! !
I went to numerous races (is was in walking distance to Levittown), but it was the introduction of Demolition Derby(!) that drew me and my buddies to the track.... we had a ball at those events at the track.
Apparently it was dangerous off the track as well.I was told that AAA driver Lou Johnson had an argument with an official and tossed him through a window.
Great video, I attended many events there,me & my father, on dirt & after it got paved , close friend, Nick Duino,'son. From New Brunswick NJ.was killed there in turn One,flipping very violently,after his son'death, they rebuilt it, & went on to race again , & winning, RED # 55driven by. Wally Dallenbach..Gig Stephens.,Tony Romit..
In regards to the green car superstition, it very much still exists. Some people don't believe it as much as others but it is still a very common thing at the short track scene. My family won't even wear green clothing on race day, and if the wrist bands are green we will tape over it with whatever color tape we can get
also no peanuts in the pits, do not have a $50 bill in your pocket and no white lighters. If I see a green car with the number 13 then that driver as a death wish
@@bigbearlife6642 you must of missed the part where i said "some people don't believe it". More power to them. Just won't catch any green on any of our cars
its interesting that from an early time there seemed to be concern in some quarters about fatalities in American racing. It seemed to be quite the opposite in European racing as when you read reports from the time death seemed to be embraced as part of the sport. Motorsport magazines report of the 1957 Mille Miglia doesn't even mention the death of spectators, and the readers letter in the following months edition actually blames the spectators for their own deaths for not having the sense to stand in a safe place.
Wish Langhorne was still around cause I could have worked there and I would only be 15 minutes from a race track instead of an hour and a half-two hours away.
Does anyone remember Nick Duino, from New Brunswick NJ, he got killed after one lap going in to turn one, hitting a rut sending him end over end & barrel rolling killing him , a broken back , a broken neck was his injuries, Nick"s father, Nick Sr. Had Ken Hickey rebuild the car & Nick Sr. Took several drivers put them in, & won many Features with the car til he sold it years later .
Could you imagine if roles were reversed in that altercation? My God it would be national news and somebody would prolly go to jail for a “hate crime” and never be allowed to race again.
In the early part of the 20th century New market speedway in Piscataway, New Jersey existed for 2 years and I was closed because they had eight deaths in 2 years. I think that exceeds langhorne's record on a per year basis.
surprised no one ever mention this at fox when it comes to dangerous tracks for they always hype of the restrictor plate tracks and Darlington as dangerous tracks!
Early days of NASCAR had little safety at tracks and it was exciting as cars were not "corporate" funded and big money they were shade tree mechanics. Some versions of this ran up to the late 1960's. I raced a a number of small tracks in the Sportsman's class. Today I could care less about the same mobiles that look nothing like the showroom cars.
I was 15 in 1970. Me and a couple buddies snuck into the track and watched from a tree track side. Mario was there and the Uncer Brothers. Awreck happened right below us.
✔️🏠🏠😆😆😆🏠✔️🏠✔️✔️✔️✔️🏠✔️✔️🏠✔️✔️🏠✔️✔️✔️🏠✔️✔️🏠✔️🏠✔️🏠🏠✔️🏠✔️✔️🏠🏠✔️🏠✔️🏠✔️✔️✔️🏠✔️🏠✔️🏠✔️🏠✔️🏠✔️🏠✔️✔️✔️🏠✔️✔️🏠✔️✔️✔️🏠✔️✔️✔️🏠🏠✔️🏠✔️🏠✔️✔️🏠✔️✔️✔️🏠✔️🏠✔️🏠✔️
@@chrisappold7037 Highland Park or Twin Oaks?
🤣👍…I was2 in 1970 !…5 years later my mom took me to a Drag Race 😉..been Hooked on Racing Ever Since 🤘
My dad told almost the exact same story. Dave Ruthrauff. Wonder if he was one of your buddies!
@@spanielmander one of my buddies name was Dave Powell.
Dad ran there once in a Modified in 1969. During his qualifying his car bounced so violently in turn 1, when it landed it was pointing towards the outside wall. when he began to correct, it bounced again & was pointing in the opposite direction. He let off, discontinued his qualifying attempt, loaded the car & came home. He didn't ever go back.
That’s intense
William Miller,
It sounds like your dad was the smartest one on the track.
I don't blame him. Imagine that happening mid-race, could easily be a fatal wreck getting t-boned by a car going full speed.
Wise man.
I don't blame him at all.
With the exception of the Indy 500, early auto racing was rarely reported in the newspapers. On my trips to the grocery store with mom, my first stop was at the magazine stand for ""Speed Age" which I was allowed at 35 cents. (A loaf of bread was 13 cents). I learned the tracks and drivers although race results were six weeks after the fact. My hero driver was Jimmy Bryan, master of the mile dirt tacks. Jimmy would always take the checker with both arms in the air!! He was always pictured with an unlit cigar . After winning Indy in 1958 he retired for a time. He returned for a one race appearance at Langhorne in 1960 where he unfortunately died. Langhorne was fascinating, imagine driving in a continuous broadslide at 100 mph for 100 miles. I would have liked to have seen this track.
During the off season Jimmy lived in my native Phoenix and was known very well. He raced there a lot during the 1950s such as at the fairs and won many. As busy as he was racing everywhere in the country and abroad he always had time to come home.
I grew up in Trenton NJ and had seen many races at the best of both worlds. Trenton's 1 mile oval and Langhorne circle of guts and grit..... imagine as well when sprints and midgets raced there too.... I was 9 when Bryan was killed... he was as many was not as AJ Foyt would say " one of the ferin mom ma's boy".... and Foyt would show how to win at Langhorne (4 times).... in 1964 Foyt covered the 100 miles in one hour and 14 seconds for a speed of 99.601 miles per hour...... to your point! BTW...title of the video should be AAA/USAC's most dangerous track.... 18 open wheel fatalities as noted and maybe one Nascar racer
More like sprint cars.
Loaf of bread during bid3nflation $6
Langhorn is an Indy track. I too would get results in Autoweek&Competition Press newpaper once a week with results two weeks old. But that's the best you had in the '60s for east coast and European racing stories and results. The only town out here for decades that carried the MRN radio network was Bakerfield and that station was out of reach for us in the north valley.
But I recall a lot of Indy Champ Car races at Langhorn and Trenton were covered in Aw&CP
Play at minimum speed and at 2:03 you can see the Jaguar XK 120 Coupe that was the only foreign car ( pre modern era) to ever win a NASCAR race. That car won at Linden ,NJ in 1954 with Al Keller driving. Car owner was Paul Whiteman the big band leader.
nice!
I'm from nj and never knew there was a track here back in the day
@@juansantiago6635 They raced on the airport.
@@oldschool1993 The airport, which is still there and operating for general aviation personal planes was originally built and used during WWII for new Grumman planes made across the street in the GM car plant. It was the last win in NASCAR for a non-US company car until Toyota in the 2000's. Part of the airport was reduced in size for creating a shopping center.
Al Keller was from Greenacres, Florida. When I was a kid I use to go to the Palm Beach Fairgrounds Speedway and watch all my heroes. One in particular drove the #89. He is the reason I started racing back in the 1970's. He was one of the very best. His Childhood hero was AL Keller. He knew him and use to hang out at his garage in Greenacres. Sadly, Al was killed in the Bobby Ball Memorial 100 in Arizona in a sprintcar. Al never got to see Jim become one of the absolute best stockcar racers to come out of Florida.
I've honestly been waiting to hear a full story about this track! Thanks for making a video about this infamous track!
nascar has a pretty eerie history and subjects like this is why it tops it off
Hello
Especially near the Great Lakes……..
how is it eerie? did you just find out today that motorsports are dangerous as fuck?
Well don’t watch the Isle of Man or any of the Irish road racing. You would prolly get sick, have nightmares and need a therapist.
I just don't associate Langhorn with Nascar. More like AAA and USAC. Champ Dirt Cars is what Wide World of Sports always showed at Langhorn. I'm sure nascar ran there. But really Nascar in the '60s-'70s was all about the Super Speedways that started popping up everywhere and the fazing out of dirt tracks..
Around 1956 my folks bought a home in Levittown, Pa. Langhorne speedway was about 4 or 5 blocks from the house and when I heard the engines roaring I would walk over to the fence around the track and watch them race. I've loved cars ever since!
I to, lived on Hybrid Rd
I live off Lincoln highway which is next to the old track. Between that Trenton, Flemington and Nazareth there was so much to watch back in the day.
One of the most infamous stories involving Langhorne involved two racing giants of the late 1950s, Rodger Ward and Jimmy Bryan. By 1960, Ward was the top driver in USAC's championship car series and was driving for Leader Card Racers, the best team in the sport, a team Bobby Unser (who would win an Indianapolis 500 and a championship with Leader Card Racers himself) would later call the Penske Racing of it's day. But Langhorne was such a dangerous track that Ward had refused to race there for several years leading up to 1960.
Meanwhile, Jimmy Bryan, who had stepped from championship racing in 1959, decided to return to the championship trail in 1960 and wanted to run the race at Langhorne a few weeks after the Indianapolis 500, and was entered for the race in which he was to lose his life in the car Ward had run most of the races when he won the championship in 1959. After Bryan lost his life, Ward was so upset that he had A.J. Watson build a new car, because he had grown to hate that car because it was the one in which Bryan, arguably the greatest championship driver of his era, was killed at Langhorne.
However, Langhorne is a noteworthy track for another reason. Apparently, it was the inspiration behind the 17 degree tri-oval mini-turn at Daytona where the start-finish line is so more fans could see the start and finish of a race, something that was copied at many tracks that have been built since then, either with the tri-oval concept, the quad-oval first used at Charlotte and copied at places like the Texas Motor Speedway, Rockingham, and the 1997 Atlanta redesign, or just a sweeping turn, such as Michigan, Auto Club Speedway, and the old Texas World Speedway had.
My grandfather only went 1 race at langhorn and it was the 1 Bryan was killed
Maybe because they didn't use their brakes and so the brakes didn't overheat and they never had to slow down.
To clarify, and documented nicely in this video by many pictures, Langhorn was NOT an old NASCAR track. NASCAR started running it long after the decades of open wheel racing was there. The "Coupes" and Late Models did put on great shows but, it was designed as an open wheel track, Championship (Indy) cars, Sprint Cars. Thanks for this historic documentation.
Slick Davis was the first fatality of a driver in a NASCAR race. July 25, 1948 - Greensboro Fairgrounds. There were actually two races sanctioned by NASCAR that day. Columbus Speedway in GA saw Red Byron lose control of his car, which ran into the crowd in turn 3. Some 16 people were injured in accident. A young boy was taken to the hospital where he later died due to his injuries. Two fatalities in one day, Two different tracks.
I believe he was referencing NASCAR stock car racing. Slick was a modified driver.
So my grandfather raced modifieds in the area, never Langhorne, but his employer sponsored a sprint car at Langhorne and he helped them out. Two stories I was always told: first, the track wasnt your typical clay, it was just plain old dirt, and they couldn't keep the dust down, so they would spray waste motor oil on the track (and knowing that, in some of the videos here the track looks awfully greasy). Also, Mario Andretti was considering driving the sprint car my grandfather helped with, and on the night Mario came to see the car/team in action, the driver of it that night was decapitated in a crash. And Mario Andretti never drove the car.
Wow
Did he race at Sanatoga or Reading
Being a Trenton boy I never made it to langhorne. I did get to see a race at the Trenton Speedway was one of the first when Jim Clark brought in his Lotus, still remember the high pitch that screaming V8 compared to the rumble those four cylinder Offys. Clark made those front engined cars look like they were just out for it quiet Sunday Cruise.
Met Nikki Lauda there in 78.
Thanks for this! I was born, raised and worked at my family shop not 2 miles from the old track. While I was born too late to have ever remembered it, as a young kid I always wondered why there were racing themes in the local small businesses, even plumbing services and electricians had the motif on their business cards, logo, and vehicles. It wasn't until my early teens did I learn about the track and that's when it's notoriety and infamy really piqued my interest. Unfortunately for my parents it was also the same time that I received my learner's permit/driving license!
Terrific story! It isn't the same now but early racing used to advertise the danger, proved by deaths. Even the Coney Island steeplechase ride was noted for injuries and deaths -- different times.
I went to this track every year in October from '64 to '70 for the modified open competition 100 lap race. When it was paved it became D shaped with a long straight backstretch.
Similar to places like Michigan or California?
Did you see the Jim Malone crash ?
i live just down the street from where it was a total of 5 minutes some walls are still there and some of the stands were moved to another dirt track called bridge port nj
Technically, the first track I ever went to - my Mother and Father went to the Champ car race in June of 1965 while my mom was pregnant with me. She told me that I would move around every lap the cars came by the stands. I've been a race fan before I was born.
Cool Brother. It's instilled in you
My father always spoke about going there and seeing a fatality once there, after Langhorn closed, we would see the USAC cars at Trenton speedway
That was the track (Trenton) that had the dogleg right about half way down the backstretch?
My great uncle Dick Linder lost his life at Trenton. He and my pap Gus Linder raced at Langhorne.
@@2themoon863 Yes, it had a dog leg
@@john_linder Sorry to hear about that. What was the event?
Correct - Trenton was transformed from a true 1 mile oval to the 1 1/2 mile kidney bean shape with the right hand turn in the backstretch in the late 1968? Orig was a 1/2 m dirt track in the 30's that is why the stands were shaped that way. Then it was a 1 mile dirt oval, then in 58? It was paved 1 mile.
I grew up a few miles away from the track in Levittown. We would ride our bikes to the track and climb the billboard on the eastern side and watch the races.
...and then it became Levitz and that whole shopping area if I remember right? Trenton was my home track. People dont realize how much racing we had around here once upon a time.
Anybody ever hear of British Racing green? Used to go there in late 60's for the race of champions in early October.
I always wondered why there weren't any circular ovals (that I knew of), as it seemed like a good idea to me. But Visibility is a good point
This was cool to watch. I've heard stories from my dad nd uncles about it. I grew up 5 minutes from the track but I've only ever seen a shopping center nd car dealerships there. Track was gone before I was born
Seeing the picture of the green hornet makes you realize how well Pixar did with docs race ending crash. Almost verbatim
With your next try with a Latin word, check the meaning.LMFAO
@@phuckpootube6231 With your next post, try to think. LMFAO
@@phuckpootube6231 there use of the word verbatim falls within the acceptable use of words
@@americankid7782 No it does not. Can you show how it does?
@@americankid7782 It should be their not there. Even your one sentence is crap.
Awesome stories you got. Best regards from Warsaw, POLAND
American dirt track racing is virtually an oval shaped rally course. I'd love to see rally cars, like WRC, do at least a demo on a dirt oval if not race it.
based Poland
Along with a couple buddies used to make the pilgrimage from Upstate NY through the late '60s to watch the modifieds mostly following a friend, Pete Corey, one of our local racing heroes. Then kids happened and my wanders to distant race tracks ended. Thanks for the history lesson
Take the kids to the races!😀
You showed Jim Reed in one of the pictures. His shop was in Peekskill NY. A mile from were I lived. Awesome
Looking at Langhorn's round layout, it reminds me of the oval track from Flatout 1. All curves, no straights. Just near/fully constant turning each lap.
There are several tracks that only really have a straight, the back stretch. But no straights is just insane.
Besides the Fatal Crashes😢…good Vid ! Thanks for Posting bud
Was Doc Hudson based off of a blue version Larry Mann's car? The picture of his crash in the movie is almost exactly like the green hornet shown at 3:44
he’s based off of Herb Thomas’ Fabulous Hudson Hornet
Slick Davis was actually the first NASCAR driver to die in a crash. But a great video nonetheless. Awesome work NFJJ
1948 - Greensboro Fairgrounds
I'm wondering if the circle concept was copied from the circle race track that was in Corona, Ca in the 1916 to 1918 time I believe, or it may have been in the 1920s. The circle track in Corona is now Grand Blvd. and the City of Corona in referred to as the Circle City.
First time viewer here. Nice job. Got a subscriber. Love the vintage pics. My father been to langhorne too
A full oval/circle flat track would be awesome these days… but nobody would ever build it!!
I was thinking exactly the same thing.
Why on earth would you think it would be awesome?
I think a figure-8 would be more fun as a superspeedway. Having T1 and T2 be left-handers while T3 and T4 turn right would make for interesting racing, and cars roaring through the underpass would sound real badass.
@@TwoAcresandaMule Just was thinking with updated cars would be sort of a perpetual drift thing. I was in no way advocating the dangerous side of it.
I wonder how a Speedway with left and right turn banking would fair or if that would be too dangerous
I was born in 1958 and lived in Levittown, PA which is about 15mins away from the track. I saw quite a few races there with my 'dad. I remember the track well and the fun we had. Thanks for the memories.
2:57 see a lot of doc hudson inspiration in there. From the crash to the decals on the car that bumps into the rollover vehicle.
Marshall Teague and Herb Thomas drove the “Fabulous Hudson Hornet” cars. Thomas’ teach history most emulates the Doc Hudson story. The number 51 refers to the year the model was created. The car he was modeled after is a 51 owned by Dave Bonbright who consulted on the film. Road and Track did a feature on the car.
It was as popular for AAA open wheel. I lot of great drivers lost their lives there! Mike Nazaruk, Jimmy Bryan, and Bobby Marvin to name a few! Historic track.
Me while listening to the casualty report for Langhorne:
"Yeesh, 18 drivers. One Hell of a track."
"Five motorcycle riders? Why would you race a motorcycle there? That's vehicle-assisted suicide."
"Three spectators... goddamn, I just hope it wasn't as bad as Le Mans in 1955."
*"WAIT, THEY EVEN GOT THE FLAGMAN?! SHUT THE DAMN PLACE DOWN, NO ONE IS SAFE!"*
I was 4 in 1969. I can still hear Mario Andretti doing practice laps there.
Whether it be NASCAR, USAC, or other forms of racing Drivers feared Langhorne.
Looks like it'd be a fun track to attend and race on. Thanks for the video.
This video understates the current concern around the Next Gen car and safety. We've had the largest amount of drivers in modern history either voice concerns or exit their rides for a period of time in modern NASCAR history than ever before. It needs more attention.
My dad used to take me here to watch nascar there .i remember Fireball Robert's racing when I was a kid WOW
Great History of Racing... Thanks for Sharing
Racing was a lot more dangerous back then. The amount of deaths at that track isn't as unusual as one might think for the time period. That is an amazing track. Would like to see it in action again. With safe barriers and modern tech of course.
Im 10 mins away from this and never knew it used to exist. Crazy how many cool things just fade away
Langhorne was also the town that had one of the first multbrand car/truck dealerships but especially Chevorlets, Reedman, now known as Reedman-Toll. I recall ads for then in the 1960's and into the 1970's in the NYC and NJ Sunday newspapers, including ads for used cars for less than $100. Many went in NYC, NJ, all over PA to them due to the large inventory they had.
I do remember them racing USAC there around the time of the last races, seeing them on ABC's 'Wide World of Sports'.
The track was about 10mins or so down the road from me, unfortunately the only it has to show for is a little plaque saying it existed (which wasn't even put up until 2006) not many people in locally except for the people who were actually alive when it was around really seem to know it was ever there, it's currently an auto mall/sam's club, there's a little test track in one of the dealers complexes that I always thought would be cool to host autocross or drift events at but it's in pretty bad shape I don't think it's been used for a long time. I like to fantasize that if it was never torn down it would have been renovated and turned into a road course somehow
Great content! Thanks for presenting this!
I live right over the river in NJ and I never knew Langhorne had a track. Granted, I was born in 96 so it was likely way before my time
Oh shit it’s where Oxford Valley Mall is at now. I never even knew it used to be a racetrack
@@TheJerseyNinja nope, wrong side of Biz 1. Sam’s Club and Rest Depot are on the property. The track went back into what is the woods now, stopped shy of the Highland Park neighborhood.
@@swearyangler yeah I know. My original comment I meant to say it’s “by where Oxford valley mall is at now” and didn’t realize I forgot the word by lol
@@swearyanglerIt extended from Carmax to Restaurant Depot.
Thanks for covering Langhorne. While nascar is a traditional southern sport NASCAR had a few stops in PA during the early years.
Arizona resident Jimmy Bryan who won the 1958 Indy 500 was killed here June 19, 1960 just three weeks after Indy.
I wonder if anyone would try to build a complete circle track like Langhorn but with modern safety barriers and the like.
Would be interesting.
Would be super boring no opportunity for over taking
There is one not too far from Langhorne - Mahoning Valley Speedway - a 1/4 mile paved oval that is basically round when you arc the front straight. Been around since the late 50's/early 60's?
@@anonymouswhite352 Guess again. Very racey track with tons of passing. A couple of years ago they had a 100 lap Tour modified race - race ran flag to flag (no cautions) and the winner started 18th IIRC
i remember my dad and i driving past on one of the race days in 69 or 70. there's a ford dealership, a big box store and a restaurant supply there now. how about trenton fair grounds/speedway?
What about the Reading (PA) Fairgrounds track?
Went to Trenton in 1972 to see my only NASCAR cup series race in 1972.
Excellent video. Thanks.
Fascinating and terrible part of auto racing history n US. Wasn't aware of this track. Thx for telling us about it.
Was pretty young when i went, but recall a drag strip in the center of the track. Also recall a tunnel. You drve under the track to park in the infield.
very interesting, i would LOVE to have watched a race there, from higher up in the stands.
Very tastefully done. Thanks for NOT including video of any fatalities, or images. Some of them were not pretty.
Great video thanks for sharing !!
Langhorne is what people who don't watch NASCAR think every track looks like
Now they think they all look like Martinsville.
Hey bro, you definitely have the voice and the delivery. You have alot of potential .
thanks for the video. I went to the last race there, and after it closed, I learned how to drive on the track
Always considered Langhorn an sprint and indycar track. Never remember Nascar going there much in the '60s because all the races broadcast from Langhorn here on the west coast were Champ cars with Foyt and the Unsers along with the rest of the Indy crowd.
I never realized it was a complete circle though. The start finish line straight was lets say less of a turn than the rest of the track so it appeared as a straight.
solid work, informative, loved it. Opt-for a better mic? suggestion, SM58, Another suggestion, mic shield to fix reverb.
Cool video! There is Ford dealership built on the location of this speedway today
I started shooting NASCAR in 1989 for UPI, and safety was just beginning to be talked about. As with most things, however, it took the tragedy of Dale Earnhardt's death for racing in general - and NASCAR in particular - to get serious about driver safety.
They mandated the HANS device, and began installing SAFER barriers at all the tracks. NASCAR put roof and hood flaps on the cars to lessen the chance of cars getting airborne, ordered restrictor plates be used at Daytona and Talladega, and have moved the driver's position more toward the center of the vehicle.
NASCAR is light-years more safe than it was just 20 years ago.
Strange how Green is a color that's been used by most of the field for the past 30 years now
Never knew it was bad luck
thats why my iracing career went to shit... i switched to a green car... never knew why until today...
@@acrock21 green cars look badass though, John Deere? Interstate? Quaker state?
@@nickyjames1985 thats why i made my car green =P
McDonald's is the Nascar livery that makes me superstitious. Usually takes them about a decade between each win.
@@nickyjames1985 Skoal Bandit
I went to IndyCar races there and Trenton growing up. The Big Left Turn.
My pap (Gus Linder) and his brother Dick Linder raced here where they started 150 cars in one race!
Sorry but until I see pictures I aint buying it.
@@dhart8451 I can't find anything on it. I know there was over 100 cars to start the race and I really think it was 150 but there is nothing I can find on the internet about it. So I could have been wrong with the car count and I could have been wrong about the track also.
It was crazy to watch because there was an accident on one of the first few laps that took out about 40 cars. The video I watched was from my Pap who was in the race. I don't know if the video still exists.
I did find that Darlington for the Southern 500 started 82 cars. So the maximum allowed to enter races back in the 50's was nuts. Don't forget this was a cup race with 82 cars starting.
@@dhart8451 106 cars started 1951 Langhorne National Open ruclips.net/video/Z3bvi4ZID4w/видео.html I'm still pretty sure they started more for one particular race I just can't remember which one. I know that both my Pap and Uncle were in it. Well before my time though.
My dad raced against your uncle at Morristown in 1951
I have the newspaper article on the race.Nelson Applegate won my dad finished 6th followed by your uncle Dick
Hard to believe they didn't just reconfigure the track since the attendance was so good. I love dover and Pocono but it would have been great to have a 1/2 mile or 3/4 mile track north of philly back in the 70s, 80s, 90s.
We drove down from Scranton to watch races in the late 60's. Reedman's was right across the street (rt 1)
One problem was there were no local hospitals. Closest ones were Trenton, NJ, Nazareth (North Philly) and Abington which was West of Philly. Later a Hospital was built much closer.
I despise everything about the last 2 decades of nas-car. And yes I honestly built engines for the series. Thanks for this story, it was truly interesting. 🇺🇸💪🇺🇸
Run the outside and be safer and slower or run the inside and get closer to death. Wild track. Cool video.
The last race was held in oct 71 with the modifiers. Won by Roger Treichler
In a green car I believe.
At one time the chance of fatality was the latent attraction to some types of motorsports ! Even today people scan through races on dvrs just to see the crashes ! Always the BIG ONE is what they watch for! Personally i do look for the incedents but i enjoy the competetion too! !
This makes today’s racing seem kind of sterile…maybe it’s nostalgia, but this just felt more real to me…even the accidents seem predictable today
I went to numerous races (is was in walking distance to Levittown), but it was the introduction of Demolition Derby(!) that drew me and my buddies to the track.... we had a ball at those events at the track.
Apparently it was dangerous off the track as well.I was told that AAA driver Lou Johnson had an argument with an official and tossed him through a window.
Thanks for the video. Interesting.
Great video, I attended many events there,me & my father, on dirt & after it got paved , close friend, Nick Duino,'son. From New Brunswick NJ.was killed there in turn One,flipping very violently,after his son'death, they rebuilt it, & went on to race again , & winning, RED # 55driven by. Wally Dallenbach..Gig Stephens.,Tony Romit..
Wow.. great program... never made it to Langhorne. but, I did go to reading fairgrounds.
And that's exactly why the Isle of Man TT is the pinnacle of motorsports.
In regards to the green car superstition, it very much still exists.
Some people don't believe it as much as others but it is still a very common thing at the short track scene.
My family won't even wear green clothing on race day, and if the wrist bands are green we will tape over it with whatever color tape we can get
also no peanuts in the pits, do not have a $50 bill in your pocket and no white lighters. If I see a green car with the number 13 then that driver as a death wish
@@TheTruth-on5zx I don't like peanuts anyway so I'm good there. I get anxiety when I get handed a $50. I've never heard the white lighter one.
@@TheTruth-on5zx my lucky number is 13 lol that was my soccer number but I still won't put that on a racecar. #78 for me
This is stupid as bobby labonte raced in the interstate battery car for years! Langhorne was a staple because it was a great small track !
@@bigbearlife6642 you must of missed the part where i said "some people don't believe it".
More power to them.
Just won't catch any green on any of our cars
Dad Raced Open Cockpit Cars.....several clubs and he Raced NASCAR 56-57 in the #756
its interesting that from an early time there seemed to be concern in some quarters about fatalities in American racing. It seemed to be quite the opposite in European racing as when you read reports from the time death seemed to be embraced as part of the sport. Motorsport magazines report of the 1957 Mille Miglia doesn't even mention the death of spectators, and the readers letter in the following months edition actually blames the spectators for their own deaths for not having the sense to stand in a safe place.
I believe one of those grandstands is still at Bridgeport, no longer in use. But don’t quote me on that.
It would be amazing to see a track like this in NASCAR today!
Brickyard ..... 😊
@@carlmorgan8452 ?
Very interesting history of a track I never knew about.
The crash of 29 had something to do with almost going bankrupt I'm sure
Wish Langhorne was still around cause I could have worked there and I would only be 15 minutes from a race track instead of an hour and a half-two hours away.
Thanks for the content
Does anyone remember Nick Duino, from New Brunswick NJ, he got killed after one lap going in to turn one, hitting a rut sending him end over end & barrel rolling killing him , a broken back , a broken neck was his injuries, Nick"s father, Nick Sr. Had Ken Hickey rebuild the car & Nick Sr. Took several drivers put them in, & won many Features with the car til he sold it years later .
nice work
And then there's bubba trying to put someone in the hospital and then trying to play it off like the punk he really is...
Could you imagine if roles were reversed in that altercation? My God it would be national news and somebody would prolly go to jail for a “hate crime” and never be allowed to race again.
I like the continuous oval but I can see the need for an empty infield for greater sight distance for the racers
I live in langhourne these stories are legends around here
In the early part of the 20th century New market speedway in Piscataway, New Jersey existed for 2 years and I was closed because they had eight deaths in 2 years. I think that exceeds langhorne's record on a per year basis.
surprised no one ever mention this at fox when it comes to dangerous tracks for they always hype of the restrictor plate tracks and Darlington as dangerous tracks!
Fox? What do you expect?
Early days of NASCAR had little safety at tracks and it was exciting as cars were not "corporate" funded and big money they were shade tree mechanics. Some versions of this ran up to the late 1960's. I raced a a number of small tracks in the Sportsman's class. Today I could care less about the same mobiles that look nothing like the showroom cars.