Weedsport Speedway, formerly known as Cayuga County Fair Speedway, is a 3/8 mile oval dirt racetrack located on the Cayuga County Fairgrounds in Weedsport, New York.
| Location | Weedsport, New York |
|---|---|
| Owner | Al Heinke |
| Opened | 1955 |
| Former names | Cayuga County Fair Speedway |
| Website | www |
| Oval | |
| Surface | Clay |
| Length | .6 km (.375 miles) |
| Turns | 4 |
Auto racing
editIn the early 1950s Stanley Dudzinski carved a one-third mile oval into a berry patch to practice driving his race car. He and his wife Irene further developed the facility and in 1955 the gates were opened for the first competitive event. Glenn Donnelly (originally with Ken Ermiger) purchased the race track in 1970, increasing the clay oval to 3/8 mile, and creating the flagship for the Super DIRTcar Series.[1]
In 2004, Donnelly sold the race track to the World Racing Group for $4.3 million.[2] Since 2014, the speedway has been owned by Al Heinke, partner in Heinke Baldwin Racing, and previously a partner with Skip Barber at Lime Rock Park.[3][4]
Concerts
editIn the early-1980s the venue started hosting major concerts by some of the biggest bands in rock music, including Aerosmith, Santana, Stevie Nicks, The Beach Boys, Peter Frampton, Neil Young, Guns N' Roses, Kiss, Metallica, Bryan Adams, Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen, Heart, Alice Cooper, Foreigner, Mötley Crüe, and Def Leppard, REO Speedwagon. For concerts the track has attracted crowds as large as 12,000.[5][6][7][8]
References
edit- ^ "Fantastic 50th". The Citizen. Retrieved 2019-04-20.
- ^ "Race track owner pays back taxes". The Citizen. Retrieved 2019-04-20.
- ^ "Work continues on Weedsport Speedway facelift". Race Chaser Online. Retrieved 2019-04-20.
- ^ "Blaney & Motter Targeting 50-Race Slate". Speed Sport. Retrieved 2019-04-20.
- ^ "Cayuga Fairgrounds, Weedsport, NY, USA Concert Setlists". setlist.fm. Retrieved 2018-05-27.
- ^ "Track History – Weedsport Speedway". Weedsportspeedway.com. Retrieved 2018-05-27.
- ^ "Weedsport Speedway". Tourcayuga.com. Retrieved 2018-05-27.
- ^ Powerbomb Post (2014-05-11). "Wenzel: The music has stopped in Weedsport, but the memories remain | Lake Life". auburnpub.com. Retrieved 2018-05-27.