DRACUT SPEEDWAY
Forever Marked By One Incident

     Years ago, when writing for the long - defunct SPEEDWAY SCENE paper, I realized that my column always got better reaction when I wrote about nostalgic topics. And, of these, the most popular by far was when I began to keep a list of dead speedways. Letters [and in those days it was snail mail] came in from everywhere. It was loads of fun.

     One of the tracks I heard about right away was Dracut Speedway, a Massachusetts track which ran from around 1948 to its fateful 1955 season. I find nothing about the track after 1955. On a June racing date around the 17th, a young female spectator was struck and killed by a flying part off a race car. Her fiance, a driver at the track, apparently witnessed the whole thing and never drove again in any race.

     The track never got much of any media attention from even local tracks except for the very stock car racing - friendly Nashua [NH] Telegraph which dutifully printed its ads and occasionally had a brief article. Dracut actually was closer to Nashua than any other community paper. However, when the terrible accident happened - it hit the news outlets and about every paper in the United States [and many in Canada as far away as British Columbia] had the story about the whole affair.

     It was apparently too much for Dracut Speedway to overcome. In those days [unlike today when there is only Seekonk] Massachusetts was full of race tracks ranging from the very prominent Riverside Park Speedway in Agawam to all kinds of podunck operations. So the gates at Dracut closed. It had survived the period of 1952 - 1954 when about 90% of stock car tracks died out, but it could not survive that tragedy.


Boston Globe
This June 17, 1955 Globe article was the short version, most seen in newspapers.


Boston Globe
This June 17, 1955 Globe article was the entire version


Boston Globe
This June 18, 1955 Globe followup article.

     Dracut Speedway had a few other entries in the Nashua Telegraph [mostly ads]. Here are a few of the items I found on the track, which began in 1948 running open wheel cars, like so m any other tracks.

 
 Nashua Telegraph
October,1946 ad. The
only indication it ran
that year.
  
Nashua Telegraph
Typical 1947 ad.
Nashua Telegraph
June 2, 1947 article.

 		  
Nashua Telegraph
June 2, 1947 article.		  
Nashua Telegraph
June 23, 1947 article. Offys
are upsetting the balance of
competition.


  
Nashua Telegraph
June 30, 1947 article.
Circus added to program.
 
Nashua Telegraph
May, 1948 article. New
sanctioning group.
  
Nashua Telegraph
September 23, 1947 article. Drivers invade from West
Coast.

  
Nashua Telegraph
May 13, 1948 article. Ready
for opener.

 		  
Nashua Telegraph
May 17, 1948 article. Ready
for opener again - rainouts.
 

   
Nashua Telegraph
May 26, 1948 article. Finally
get to have opener.
 		  
Nashua Telegraph
1949 ad.
 
Nashua Telegraph
June 15, 1949.
Article on Jimmy
fund at track.
     Nashua Telegraph
September, 1948 ad. 
     Nashua Telegraph
April 17, 1950 Track will be
run by Bay State Motor
Racing Association. Likely,
it's an offshoot of Baystate Midget Racing Assoc. 		  
Boston Globe
May 25, 1950. Jalopies will
be inspected by the
authorities.  		  
Nashua Telegraph
May, 1950 ad. 		  
Nashua Telegraph
May 29, 1950 article
describes upcoming
racing in very
skeptical terms.  
 
Nashua Telegraph
June,1951 ad.
Nothing comes up
for 1952. 		    
Nashua Telegraph
August,1953 ad. 
Not just jalopies.
 
Nashua Telegraph
September,1953 ad.  		   
Nashua Telegraph
1953 - driver injured in
demo derby. 		   
Nashua Telegraph
1954 - an actual race
result, the only thing
for that season. 

   
Nashua Telegraph
June,1955 a hopeful ad. 		   
Regina Sask Leader
June - then it hit the fan. 
           

  
Source Uncertain Maybe Bing Video
Aerial view - UNK year.

  
psstatic.com
1952 midget program cover.

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