Beltsville Speedway
Location | Beltsville, Maryland, USA |
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Coordinates | 39°02′47″N 76°51′05″W / 39.046319°N 76.851296°W |
Capacity | ~7,000 |
Broke ground | 1964 |
Opened | 1965 |
Closed | 1978 |
Major events | None (demolished) |
Pavement oval track | |
Length | 0.500 mi (0.805 km) |
The Beltsville Speedway, formerly the Baltimore-Washington Speedway was an asphalt oval track in Prince George's County, Maryland; it spanned 0.500 miles (0.805 km).
Near Beltsville, it was on land now occupied by Capitol Technology University,[1] in the South Laurel census-designated place.[2][3]
Summary
It was specially designed with banked turns for stock car racing. Originally known as the Baltimore-Washington Speedway, this track received its final name in its 19th month of operation.[4] The track hosted modified stock car racing vehicles alongside the other NASCAR series.[4] Wednesday nights were the original night for racing but the schedule eventually added Friday night racing.[4] Ten Grand National races were raced there including the popular Beltsville 300 series of races.[5] Strict noise restrictions were given out in its final year of operation and the county (Prince George's County) starting monitoring the events.[4] Eventually, a sound wall was built surrounding the speedways. Cars had to begin running mufflers in order to stifle the noise from the increasing RPMs from the vehicles themselves.[4] The track was eventually shut down, demolished, and replaced with a local university.[4]
Famous race car drivers like Richard Petty, Tiny Lund, and David Pearson participated in legendary races there.[5] The 1968 Beltsville 300 was an example of some of the classic NASCAR Grand National races that were run on the track.[5]
References
- ↑ "Capitol History." Capitol Technology University. Retrieved on August 26, 2018. "In 1980 the college found its home in Laurel, Maryland. Within three years, Capitol purchased the 52-acre former site of the Beltsville Speedway, [...]"
- ↑ Campus map. Capitol Technology University. Retrieved on August 26, 2018. "Capitol Technology University 11301 Springfield Road Laurel, MD 20708"
- ↑ "2010 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP (INDEX): South Laurel CDP, MD." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on August 26, 2018. Pages: 1, 2, and 3. Note that the census-designated place was previously smaller: 2000 Index Map and pages 1 and 2. In the 1990 map of Prince George's County (see index), South Laurel is on pages 2 and 5.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Complete history of the Beltsville Speedway at The Vintage Racer
- 1 2 3 Beltsville Speedway event history at Everything Stock Car