Solving the Mystery of NASCAR's Ghost Track: Air Base Speedway
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- Опубликовано: 4 окт 2024
- After having put up a bounty for more evidence of Air Base Speedway, mostly as a joke, I was inundated with DM's containing articles, newspaper clippings, and photos. I sifted through the info and with some help from the people at Speed Sport Magazine, it all came together.
Thanks to Justin Nguyen and Matthew Ludwigson for finding the photos and claiming the bounty! Check them out here:
Justin: / zappaomatic
Mattew: / mattludv
And huge thanks to Speed Sport Magazine and all the people who work there, especially Adamn Fenwick, Tom Schmeh, and the master sleuth himself Jonathan Nelson. You can checkout the article in full for yourself at their website:
speedsport.com...
#NASCAR #AirBaseSpeedway #GhostTrack
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/ s1apsh0es
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ko-fi.com/s1ap...
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I have said this before, NASCAR should pay you for doing these videos.
VirtuellJo NASCAR cant even keep fans in the grandstands. And you expect them to care about their history?
@@LrulestheworldM8 thats the thing tho the history is what is paying the bills at this point
if they did it would turn into network TV crap....
Drunk Brian is to cheap
Well said 👍👍
Excellent work to everybody that helped.
Can't wait to see what's left of the real thing.
I see Daytona 500 I like your videos
Legend.
You are far from the first person I watch that I expected to be here.
legend
Pretty much every small town regional track we've ever raced at or a claimed they they were the fastest (insert track length here) speedway. The go kart track we built behind my dad's barn is "The world's fastest 1/10th mile dirt go kart track owned by an aging Canadian named farmer named Brendan" (although if my brother builds his it might lose that designation). Cheers,great video.
Jackson International Speedway in Clinton, Mississippi definitely was the fastest half mile asphalt oval at one point.
All I could hear in my head at the end was a new reporter reading a headline that says
Man kidnaps classroom and takes them for a field trip. When pressed for answers he responded "I don't need no damn permission slips to take these kids where I want."
Change the gender of the teacher and you have the entire plot of the Magic School Bus.
@@seannolan9857 hahahahahahahhahahahahaahhahaahhahahahahaahhahahahahahahahahahah
Dude, you're crushing it. Congrats on the exposure on other outlets, hope this means more race history I never knew I cared about
I dont even like NASCAR, yet ive watched all of his videos. I thinks that says something.
@Zachary Rugar Oh I still dont like nascar, I dont think I ever will. But these videos are so well made. You can tell how passionate he is, and that is fun to watch whether you like the subject or not. Also a great voice for narration.
I am so glad I ran into this channel. And I have never seen the internet racing community come together on a scale this large to hunt down a racing circuit that is likely little more than ancient history at this point...
To all of those madlads on Twitter who dedicated hours of research to this, and to you SlapShoes, I salute you.
So we are storming Air Base Speedway instead of Area 51.
Really great series, with tons of history. Keep it up!
The airbase has stories too. There are rumors of buried tanks & jeeps after the base was shut down in the 60s.
I'm down
@@xcergy9482 we should leave those there for when the government takes our guns and turns on us
@@duncanmcgee13 *tries to take our guns*
I live in Sc so I’m down😂
Thanks to you and your efforts S1ap, there is now a marker on google maps where the track used to be. It's amazing that you brought this much light onto something that would've just withered away into existence otherwise.
Not only a huge day for the channel, but a huge day within the whole community as a whole. I’m super happy with all of the support and glad we tracked all of this down.
Cleetus in a few years be like: WE BOUGHT ANOTHER TRACK
F that goon
@@scooterd5016 Lol why?
@@scooterd5016 well that's not nice
Flamingo lol
@@scooterd5016 F you too, ya loon
I am so satisfied that we know more about the speedway. Love your videos. (Edit was spelling mistake)
I don't even watch NASCAR...
jooger69 i’m so confused what’s going on lolll
I am from Poland, don't know a dang about the NASCAR, but i LOVE the whole story of restoring the knowledge about forgotten NASCAR race and racetrack. Those information should be published on the web site, that start this whole research ;).
I never imagined that the small town I stayed at my first time in the US would have a secret like this. It’s cool to discover historic stuff like this.
Greenville SC was the place I found out cars were really cool, went to the BMW factory in Spartanburg and a Corvette dealership cuz it was the first time I saw so many corvettes and thought they were cool af (I’m Spanish). Wish I went to a race
@Dportillo18 Greenville North Carolina and Greenville South Carolina are actually different places a few hundred miles apart.
Greenville, SC really isn't a small town. Granted it isn't Charlotte, but it's not really small, either.
You know where the biscuits and tea are, Hoss
Being Spanish isn’t a race
Greenville SC metro area is home to several million people. Not so much a small town as a medium sized metroplex, but yes, Greenville and nearby Spartanburg have a very long and very large history in automotives. At this point enough to rival and perhaps surpass Detroit
This is history that deserves to be remembered. Someone contact The History Guy, right now!
Needs more pirates first
It’s always a good day when SlapShoes uploads. If you’re ever over this side of the Pond, (England), it would be a pleasure to show you and your family around.
You know how youtube's sub box is a bit screwy and you need to hit the bell to make sure you get the vids? Slapshoes only shares that privilege with Bad Obsession Motorsport of being in my notification box.
Nice to know I'm not the only one on this side of the pond with an interest in this
Ethan Dean : I wonder if there’s more of us ? Tbh, if it’s got a V8 then I’m all in 😀
@@frazerguest2864 Maybe! Agreed, though.
@@frazerguest2864 I'm on the Isle of Wight. 👋
This is the beauty of the RUclips, and internet as a whole. A big television channel wouldn't have a community to work on something like this, but RUclips does, and it makes RUclips more entertaining than television.
This is mindblowing! Good job to all who helped
Amazing video as always
Taking a look at the Bob Flock image. The #128 with Charlie (Charles) Gattalia behind him is not listed on the Air Base Speedway results. Also Charlie's history in 1951 never shows him going south of New Jersey to run a Grand National race. Pretty sure that image is a no go.
It’s really cool to see the entire community come together just to find a picture of a random track from the 50s
It is so great to see a you-tube channel that not only talks about history, but helps uncover and document it. Historical archeology at it's best. The cars are great too (lol).
i swear this series is gonna get so big they're gonna have to rebuild air base speedway
edit: how did i get 40+ likes wtf thank you guys
Might as well
Make that 100 likes
Make that 230 likes buckaroo
make that 273 likes
Greenville can't even keep Greenville-Pickens open LOL. Anderson is about what's left for drag racing or circle tracks around Upstate SC unless you travel out of state
Easily one of my favorite episodes. Thanks to everyone who hunted for information, this is so amazing. Thanks SlapShoes for posting what could easily be the most complete information about this forgotten track. Cant wait for the on location video.
I'm glad I could help out with the news articles. Looking back at the old "Greenville Textile" version of the track really showed what that track did with its many motorcycle races, the track promoter mess, the big names that actually did race there and what was behind its demise. This was awesome to be a part of!
Man I got chills seeing that aerial shot of that track. What a gem! Good job to everyone who participated in unearthing this track!
I can't wait to see that..... this was such a cool story and it's got me more hooked than anything from Hollywood. I'm really glad people came through and got the pictures and stuff, I want to give them my thanks too, and especially thanks to slapshoes for starting the whole search in the first place
As a Brit who has never watched a Nascar race in it's entirety, I can still say that both of the videos on the airbase speedway were really interesting, guess I just love a good mystery. Watched some of your other vidoes as well, worst F1 and Nascar race, and loved them both too, great channel, subbed, cheers from across the pond.
Always nice to see someone from across the pond enjoying these types of videos. Even if you are an outsider to the sport, it's still nice to see involvement. Cheers to you. I hope you watch and enjoy more of his videos. They are really well made and researched.
I swear S1apSh0es is to the history of Nascar what Summoning Salt is to the history of Video Game Records (Hell they both even use epic music cues in-between clips to really hook you in). In regards to the unraveling story of mystery and discovery that is Air Base Speedway, it's just downright incredible how much information we were all able to uncover and put together to help this long gone track get some widespread recognition.
I live in kingsport, actually about 5 minutes from the the kingsport speedway, which hosted 2 cup races. This track is home to the weekly series now and is action packed and full of history
That's great but nobody cares. Not in _any_ way relevant except to let everyone know that you have something to say about this NASCAR thing, too.
To everyone who participated in this, S1apSh0es salutes you!
That I do
Yes he does
Also your growth over the past few days has been remarkable.
I still remember thinking "Damn, I hope he follows through and uploads the Tire Wars, he could go places with this editing and voice"
Thanks man! These last few months have been crazy
I suppose Air Base Speedway needs to be an NR2003 track now :D
Exactly what I was thinking
Are there any tracks that aren't in that game yet?
we need a 1951 mod too
I honestly couldn't care less about nascar but these are incredibly interesting. Cheers M8.
This video right here, this video is what got me into NASCAR, this video it's what got me into a sport that I have recently come to love, I think it's amazing what you do, I think it's amazing that you saw this random name of a track that you never heard of and refused to put it down, thank you for turning this type of thing into a series, and thank you for the videos you create in general what you're doing it's absolutely amazing!
As Steve Allen might have put it, this is the start of something big. Bravo, Slap.
I do research on old cycling records, and I know how unbelievably frustrating it is to find ANYTHING, this video is amazing.
What a wild ride! I honestly didn't think you'd ever find anything about it either, but I'm so glad you and everyone involved did!
Just discovered this channel through some of your other NASCAR videos and this level of research on a largely forgotten racetrack warms my heart.
Hell of an opener to a new adventure. Where do you go after Airbase Speedway?
I got stuff lined up; don't worry
@@S1apShoes Can't wait :)
@@S1apShoes I jokingly want to suggest 'We've started with 'A' on the defunct tracks list. What's the next one alphabetically? :D'
I wanna find action shots, or at least a photo of the track when it was open, of Tarheel Speedway. It hosted three races in 1963, but the only photo we have is an aerial shot long after it closed.
Texas motor speedway long forgotten track no race worth talkn about has been run in years there
It's a rare thing to see a video on RUclips that has so much significant content. This is beyond significant, this is epic!
Thank you for all the work you put into this, and thanks to all those who contributed!
Ohhh, I can't wait for the Field Trip. SlapShoes, combining two of my favourite past times, motor racing and history.
This is honestly the coolest project and discovery I think the online NASCAR community has ever seen. Fantastic work. Congratulations man. Looking forward to the future of this channel.
By far the best channel in the community in my opinion.
I never knew a lot of NASCAR history.........until I found this man. Props to you for everything you’ve put up on this channel, I absolutely love to watch your videos every day. This event has given your channel so much more hope and potential, and I can’t wait for more great content. Keep it up my dude!
Now this is the channel I look forward to the most these days. Worthwhile indulgence. Thanks for having the passion, diligence and dedication to not let this history slip into oblivion. Hunt it down and expose it while it's still somewhat 'fresh' in memory.
I can't wait for the next installment of this program.
Will you guys let me be triggered
@@demongamer_yt2919 for what reason
Have to say, great work!
Got here from the RUclips recommendations, and absolutely love the quality of this detective-like breakdown of the case of the lost racetrack!
This has been a fun trip! I would love to see more deep dives into abandoned and decommissioned tracks. I would really like to hear some history about Spanaway Speedway.
I've never seen a NASCAR race in my life, but holy Christ, your enthusiasm for the sport is unlike any I've seen for any motor discipline.
Thank you Slap for the great videos and for kick-starting this incredible collective manhunt that's allowed us to uncover some motoring history that might've otherwise been lost to time.
Your channel has brought more history to me than school has ever taught. Well, at least useful information. Keep up the great work.
Public or Sunday?
@I have fallen and i can't reach my keg
Public School
Dude this has all been so Cool.
Just watched the video you just posted of you walking what was.
Great pics in this episode.
You called it perfect , the Grandstands, flag stand, etc.
Thanks man.
Every time I saw Nascar content on this channel, the content even greater than the last. I'm gotta say this channel is the greatest NASCAR content on RUclips. Other just comments on a Driver and others just made a crash compilation of NASCAR. But step ahead from everyone by giving a history of what happened in the first Talladega Races, the boycott, one-season wonderkid, and more...
Can't wait on the first S1Ap road trip to the track that demolished and gone (it's fair to say that... There's nothing left in Air Base Speedway, it buried on the concrete where nothing left behind to see... Same fate like the Las Vegas Circuit, built for one season F1 only, and it gone, buried on the concrete wall of department store or the warehouse. I checked it on Google street view, and it's impossible to tell where are the exact remains of the Air Base Speedway)
Dude, your videos are legitimately the best NASCAR related videos on the internet.
I grabbed my backpack off the floor of my room for a to be continued
I am not a big NASCAR Fan at all but I have been totally captivated by these videos about this forgotten speedway. So often when people look for info on places like this nothing ever comes of it. Its so satisfying to see success in this case. Great detective work!
10:50
Me: please let this be a normal field Trip.
Everyone: With the Slaps no way!
This was lowkey absolutely comical. I got the reference
From a small anime channel averaging a couple hundred views per video, to now a channel with over 25k subscribers solving mysteries of ghost tracks. All in less than a year!! I'm so happy for you S1ap!
Thank you once again RUclips recommended god's, for delivering this succulent video to my inbox.
I love this style of video. It’d be really awesome to possibly see a series about discovering unknown race tracks
Go to the location mate
I cannot wait for this upcoming video man, thanks for all you do. This has been the most fascinating eye opening journey that I never knew I wanted to be on.
"bad track conditions"; do you have any idea how slippery calcium chloride is? Like, clay is slippery enough when groomed, but calcium chloride would make it stay wet longer, and a price of being even more slippery...Id imagine.
Yep. Calcium chloride is great for reducing dust, but it leaves you with a hard, slick surface.
A common procedure in road construction is lime (calcium oxide) stabilising the basecourse. This has also been done on dirt tracks in NZ to reduce tracks breaking up. This maybe is what they are refering too.
This is perhaps one of the coolest things I've got to be witness to in much of the internet.
I'm rather pedestrian when it comes to NASCAR and Racing in general, but this is still history. And history is one of my pleasures in life. This has been one heck of a ride and I'm so glad to be a part of it, even if I am simply a witness to it.
Quite an impressive group effort!
Well done everyone!
The racing pic looks legit, with what looks like a light pole, the sections of fence, the trees, along with flat grounds that all match the aerial pic. Great stuff!
You know, since the only documentation of it was one article, the could be another track that never had even one documentation and has literally been lost to time
Thanks so much for the video Slap, it was so cool to see some history and sleuthing to uncover a lost track. This inspired me to research my former local track, Powell Motor Speedway in Powell, Ohio. It was a .5 dirt oval that hosted one NASCAR race in 1953, with Herb Thomas winning in the Fabulous Hudson Hornet. Lee Petty, Tim Flock, Flonty Flock, and Curtis Turner all came to race. I drive by the site everyday! I'd love to see you research different lost tracks and see what's left. Cheers brother!
youtube: 0 Comments
8 Comments exists: *Are we a joke to you?*
MilkIsChill refresh your page. smh.
It’s not a view/comment conspiracy.
Statements like yours and “FIRST”....are ridiculous.
James Fornash it’s a joke chill
@@americanpatriot5764 how angry you are is ridiculous
69th like mate.
Pretty sure i’m not angry. 😂
Comments like that make me giggle.
Thicken your skin.😎👍🏼
Hopefully somebody at one of the networks picks you up and features you in a documentary on this track for one of the hours specials that air ahead of some race starts. Love NASCAR history. Keep this up!
I legit on subscribed for the track content like 1 hour ago lol
As a dude across the Atlantic, all the way in England, I always liked Nascar (more of a Fomrula 1 guy), but man, you really make nascar and its history sound amazing!
Keep up the good work :D
I love these videos and had no idea there was a lost track here in Greenville I've lived here my hole life and I think that's awesome
Your "hole" life? You must be Greenville's oldest resident. Or, youngest. Happy 100th./First Birthday, either way.
I will be honest, the first video about the raceway was the first video Id seen of yours, and it was a phenomenal piece of reporting and information. Im not surprised it took off the way it did, and Im glad you got some resolution. Brilliant work!
Dude I shared that bad boy to every group I was in lol. I knew I couldn't help but there's some folks with incredible knowledge out there
Thanks for getting the word out!
I've been watching you for a few weeks, but this just iron clad locked in the subscription. Awesome work, S1ap and community. History in motion. I look forward to future content!
You can see an old airstrip running through the Talladega speedway.
Found this channel a few weeks ago and have watched through every video. You deserve so many more subscribers, and I believe you’re on your way to the top. I’ve never really watched NASCAR but your videos are so entertaining and high quality you may have just created a new fan👍🏽
That action shot would be of the qualifying. According to the records neither the 99 or 77 cars took place in the main event
Pretty sure the action shot from Getty was of some random modified race at the track.
@@S1apShoes
Is there some kind of way to find it on Google Maps or Google Earth??
There is no evidence of the track on Google maps or in real life. I am from Spartanburg originally, grew up in Greenville and the only people I know of who would know anything about this place are deceased - one of them being Cotton Owens, who is on the entry list, the other being Marty Ward who passed away from a heart attack while racing at Anderson in August of 2023 - Marty wouldn't have been old enough to race there but would definitely know about the track if it indeed was ever worth knowing about
You gotta think, in the early days of NASCAR all the way up to the 1970's they even ran Grand National races at literally everything from the dog lot outside of a random junkyard to a high school football field. A lot of these tracks were thrown up as literal sideshow attractions to local fairs and stuff left and right and only a few really lasted... Greenville-Pickens being one until the Blackwells sold it
I love it when detail orientated people solve problems with details! Respect to all involved!
Really looking forward to the Slap on location video 👍🏁
When I was a kid me and the neighbor kids would race our bikes at mock NASCAR tracks and one of the tracks we would race on was air base speedway. It was always the mysterious final track because it didn't "exist" back then. The one kids family member had raced there or something, so its really cool to finally see this track getting the recognition it deserves
Can’t wait for the next part this was an awesome video we found Air Base Speedway
I swear I always leave a like for your vids when I first watch them and whenever I rewatch them for the whatever time I’ve watched them it’s always gone.
Gotta say I love seeing HOME everywhere
I thought I was playing it in another tab and couldn't hear this video over it
Wow!!! Don’t believe people actually found this info. I looked into it some with limited time I have available but come up empty for most part. These videos were actually interesting. Keep up the good work man. I love seeing forgotten history like this
found this channel today, so good omg this channel is so great. I subbed btw
I'll be real, I used to be a huge NASCAR fan when I was younger (say around 7 or 8 years old) and loved watching races up until I was about 14. This channel has honestly restarted my like of NASCAR and the history of it, because NASCAR has so many cool things in it's history and goes back a really far way. Thanks for the awesome content Slap. I really appreciate you restarting my interest in this awesome sport.
Bad record keeping is supprisingly not rare even at the top levels of motorsport. There is a missing Italian Grand Prix.
Which one?
Please elaborate?
That's not true. No Italian GP is missing from the records. It was not held in 1929, 1930 and from 1939 to 1946. It has always been held at Monza, aside from 1921 (Montichiari), 1937 (Livorno), 1947 (Milan), 1948 (Turin) and 1980 (Imola).
There's a few missing f1 tracks, link to just a few of them. the-race.com/formula-1/iconic-missing-pieces-of-f1-tracks-that-wed-revive/
This is the greatest history you have ever delivered. By far you are my favorite nascar channel and you fully earned that title with this alone. Keep up the great work. I really hope you expand this channel. Weekly reviews of each race!? I can dream. Thank you for all you do for this sport.
Everytime he says Charlie hicks all I can think of is chick hicks
The hicks of chicks.
I've never really had an interest in Nascar, but your videos on this lost race track have been super interesting! Really enjoyed this!
I LOVE THIS CHANNEL 100%. I ALSO LOVE HOW YOU ARE LOCAL TO ME!
I absolutely love your videos on old tracks, and this series takes the cake. I'm definitely not a historian but I love racing and racing history. I've had fun in the past combing through old newspaper articles about the dirt tracks around me in Iowa.
Anyone notice that the patch of woods directly to the right in the intro aerial photos had remained the same shape. Surely it is untouched and there could be some history in there.
your original video inspired me to look into racing archives for tacks around me. And to my shock there was actually a track in my home town of Rochester, NY. It held races in the early and mid 50's and I was actually able to see it in it's run down state on google earth, when I turned the time back. Wish it was still in operation, it would be a shorter drive than Watkins Glen
You should go exploring around that area and find it!!!!!
Trey Fort Stay tuned for next time
@@Romax-pg2is Oh boy I can't wait!!!
Man, there's a lot of guys making NASCAR videos these days, but this definitely stands out! Awesome videos, can't wait for the next one!
Sure hope you’ll be posting the next video soon. That one I really want to see!
wow, this is an awesome little dip in the power of the internet. Thanks to you for sparking this fire, and thanks to everyone who dug deep trying to find the history of this long forgotten track
I like the new series, but instead of S1ap on Location, you should call it S1ap on Site
Yo this is a pretty big deal! Props to you for preserving history.
On a semi-unrelated note, what are your thoughts on Matty D going to the Wood Bros.?
Maybe he can get that team a win like Trevor Bayne winning the Daytona 500
I mean, Ryan Blaney won at Pocono in 2017. We all know Jimmie Johnson did *not* win the Clash, so Paul is definitely capable as well. The evidence would suggest that the Wood Brothers have good equipment, just as long as they have the right driver (which I believe they have for a while now).
I am incredibly excited because he's my favorite driver and if Paul Menard isn't there tO WRECK HALF OF THE FIELD maybe matt will get a Daytona 500 win