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Hillcrest Speedway to
Miramichi City Speedway
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In the Beginning there were two dirt racetracks built on the Miramichi. One being in Douglastown and other in Douglasfield across the river. The Track in Douglastown was first named “HILLCREST SPEEDWAY” and built in 1966. After the opening day it didn’t take long for a number of old cars to get piped, and on the track for the second race. In those days all a person needed was an old car, some water pipe welded in for a cage and on the outside..just enough to protect them.
The spectators would come and stand on the bank of the track to watch the race. The dust was so bad at times the people wouldn’t see the track or the cars for a few minutes until it drifted with the wind. When it rained sometimes the races had to be cancelled because the track was either too slippery or a large mud hole became evident between turn one and two. Cars would get stuck in the mud
It was wild and wacky racing and anything could happen. It was a sure thing that when you got home after a day at the track it was another race to the shower or tub to get the sand out of your teeth, hair, and ears. Powder Puff races were held for the women and they would have their turn at the wheel, and with accidents and mishaps that were the talk of the town.
In June 1968 “MIRAMICHI SPEEDWAY” opened for the first time in Douglastown with a newly built and paved ¼ mile oval. Now the cars would be coming in from Bathurst, Moncton and surrounding areas. Two classes were running called Hobby class and Stock class. In 1970 the modified cars coming in on special occasions. With Alelard Cormier, Caleb Dunn, Paul Lewis and others from Moncton who would give all an exciting day of racing. The Late Model class cars at this time were built with a lot more thought and calculations. Running “slicks” those 13 inch tires, which cost more than a weeks groceries. It was surely hair raising to pay $ 120 for a new tire when the wages for a week were usually less than that.
To keep the women happy they had Powder Puff races during the summer in which the wives, or friends would drive their husband or friends car in a race. Sometimes the women were just as aggressive than the men.
Miramichi Speedway was the place to be and was well run in its earlier years. Due to Circumstances it closed and was taken over by new management about 1980 and the name changed to Douglastown Speedway, then sold to Williston Speedway, Miramichi City Speedway, McKay Speedway and so on.. It is now called Miramichi City Speedway and runs a few races each summer as well as demolition derbys
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Nostalgia is one of man's greatest gifts. When you look back at how things were done years ago, and compare it with how things are done today, you get a much greater appreciation of what it takes to develop something.
The sport of Stock Car racing is indeed one of those things. From the early days when cars looked more like something out of a " Mad Max " movie, to todays sleek fast machines, we have come a long way. The pioneers of the sport deserve a lot of credit for the time, money and ingenuity that went into the development of this endeavour.
Indeed, many of the great technological advances in automobile design and safety are the direct result of adventures on the old quarter mile dirt and paved tracks of bygone years.
There was a time not so long ago when stock car racing meant going out to the local quarter mile dirt or asphalt oval and watch the local gas jockey race the local body man or the local school teacher in a car that looked more like it belonged in the local salvage yard ( actually many of the cars came from there ) for ten or twenty laps.
The tracks were small and narrow and it took as much luck as it did skill to win a race. If a car hit something and bent a body part, it was removed and the race went on.
In the Maritimes, that meant names like Bobby Allen, Danny Campbell, Joey Baker, Doug McNeil, Terry Clattenburg, Frank Fraser, Junior Henley, Harry Atwater and his brothers and Adelaide Cormier ( to name a few that I can remember) racing on tracks like Riverglades, Drag City, Atlantic Speedway, Frasers Mountain Raceway, Delmars Onslow Speedway and Havre Boucher Speedway
Many of the names are still the same today, living on through sons and even grandsons, of local heroes of that time.
However, most of the tracks have disappeared, their properties reclaimed by time and Mother Nature, to the point where most people wouldn't even know where to look for them.
Here are stories, events, and pictures of some of this:
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Havre Boucher Speedway
revisited in 2001
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Last weekend my wife and I were on the road heading to Cape Breton and the big Sportsman Tour race at Island Speedway when I caught the name on a raod sign and the bells went off.
The sign said "Frankville Road "and my mind went back to my youth. I said to my wife ( the driver)" take this exit - I want to check something out. " Here started the adventure that will stay with me for a lifetime.
The directions came rushing back. Turn right- about two miles (yes miles) on the left, can't see anything but trees - wait - big post with a piece of old chain on it. I wonder. There it was, a narrow road between two big posts. We hoped against hope and proceeded to enter the lane.
The trees had grown to about the same height so maybe - look on the left - a piece of retaining wall that used to adorn the front straight ( at least I seem to remember it as the front straight )
We stopped the car and walked over to have a closer look.
What's this - asphalt! We looked to the right - it was still intact. We looked left - it was all there. There was just no question about it - GET THE CAR!!! We eased the car down onto the track and carefully began to drive around the oval.
The pavement was still relatively smooth and not broken up at any point. Oh, maybe some seams where grass was growing up through but I have seen many roads in as bad a shape or worse. After a couple of slow laps to check it out, I just had to do it.
Shift into low, hit the gas, into turn 1 and out of 2. That was quick. Up to second, turn 3 already. Hold on, too fast but we can make it - yes, the home straight. What a rush! Not only were these old time racers using inferior cars to our modern Sportsman and Pro Stocks, but these tracks were tough.
After some pictures of the car on the track and of the wall, we resumed our journey. But for a few minutes, it was the 60's and 20 cars or so were rumbling and racing at Havre Boucher Speedway
I'll bet there are many tracks out there just waiting for the chance to come alive again - even if only for a few minutes.
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Can Fan Race Tours
Sportsman Series Photos
Maritime Motorsports.com 100
Aulac Irving Big Stop 100
Pizza Twice 100
Brunswick Pontiac 100
Snap on Tools Sportsman
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PHOTOS FROM ALL OVER
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’Walking Tour of Frasers Mountain Raceway
’Frasers Mountain Raceway cars
Old Photos from Amherst Raceway
Pinecrest Memoirs
Hillcrest and Miramichi Memoirs
’Dannys Speedbowl Memoirs
Pro Stock 2003
AOW 2003
Sportsman 2001-03
Hobby Stock 2002-03
Street Stock 2002-03
Thunder and 4 cylinders 2002-03
PASS Tour 2002-03
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Fraser’s Mountain Raceway
revisited in 2001
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On a warm, sunny, Fall afternoon, what is there to do? There's no race this week and winter will soon be here. I know what to do. Since there is no race, let's go to an old track I used to frequent as a teenager and see if its still there. Where are we off to and should I pack a lunch, my loving wife said. The old Frasers' Mountain Raceway in New Glasgow and no, we'll eat on the way.
It's about an hour and a half drive from Amherst to New Glasgow, but the time went quickly as I filled her head with stories of the local legends of that time - the Danny Campbells, Bobby Allens and Joey Bakers.
When we arrived in New Glasgow, I knew where Frasers' Mountain and the track were, so location wasn't a problem. The problem was - There wasn't anything but woods. "This can't be" I said as we started off towards the wooded area that now covered my beloved track. The edge of the treeline was thick and bushy but quickly we began to climb a steep bank and just as quickly started steeply back down. My brain raced for the answer, and then it hit me. We had just climbed over the base of the grandstand on the homestretch. "Track dead ahead " I hollered. " I know - I'm standing on it" she replied
Within moments, we were both standing in the middle of the pavement, at the start/finish line, which is still visable after all these years. Trees had grown in over the track and a few had broken through the pavement, but it has been many years since the death of Frasers' Mountain Raceway( somewhere around 1970 I think ).
As we started to walk around the track, we realized that nature reclaims her earth and in a few more years, there won't be any trace of this proud old establishment for future generations to remember. We explored the area that once housed the pit, but found little of note. Halfway down the backstretch we found an old gas tank and part of a bumper. Further on we found an old hubcap and a couple of old tires but nothing to get excited about. After completing our walking lap, we took a few more pictures and headed back out.
At this point we discovered what may well be the most lasting proof that something existed on this spot. Around a large tree we saw an old biased belted tire. It's funny how the tree grew up and expanded with the lone band of rubber tying it off at its trunk in an hourglass shape. We tried to take pictures of it but the light just wasn't sufficient to capture it successfully.
Once back out of the woods, I stopped and looked back one last time and yes I could still hear the cheers and the roar of the motors and the smell of fuel and hotdogs and ....
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Danny’s Speedbowl Recalled
by Joan Somers
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DANNY’S SPEED BOWL” in BATHURST, NB was up and running and drawing large crowds in the late 60’s. It was situated on the north side of Bathurst at Bearsford and operated for many years by Bob Degrace. Many of the Miramichi Drivers went to Bathurst to race on the weekend. With their families and fans with them.
One evening after the big accident and trucks and cars broken up when a stock car left the track and hit the fence of the pits where trucks were parked and people sitting on them. It looked like a caravan coming to Newcastle on the highway late at night. With two Trucks that had to be towed home as well as 3 stock cars on trailers, the line of succession was a Tow Truck pulling one half ton truck with stock car on trailer behind, then another able truck coming behind with the second wrecked truck and stock car on trailer behind that and with that another truck pulling two stock car trailers.
On that night some of the spectators in the pits were injured with Brent Jay of Newcastle breaking both ankles while he was sitting on the hood of a truck when the stock car came through the fence and his feet got pined between the two vehicles.
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Harold Burke Remembers the
“Good old Days” At Amherst Raceway
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From June 1952 till September 1955 will be remembered as the heyday of stock car racing in Amherst, NS. The quarter mile dirt track was situated on the inside of the horse race track out on Race Track Road. It was a quarter mile dirt track with flat straightaways and slight banking on the turns. Every Friday afternoon, the town grader would smooth out the bumps and ruts as Friday night was race night in Amherst.
Come race time the bleachers were always full of fans ( not much has changed that way) and lots of local guys were down in the pits helping their favourite driver or looking and dreaming of the day they too would race.
Six local boys would bring out their machines and race with drivers from Shediac, Moncton, and Charlottetown. Those local boys; Harold Burke, Gus Van Snick, Ronnie Tattrie, Toler Coates, Ches Lockhart and Russell Harkness would more than hold their own against any and all competition. The lone survivors of those days are Toler Coates and Harold Burke.
Harold Burke was only nineteen years old in 1952, when he first climbed behind the wheel of his " 0 " car; a 1936 Ford coupe with a V8 motor and a three speed stick. The cars would reach speeds of 60 mph on the straights which wasn't bad on a quarter mile track.
Russell Harkness drove a 36 Plymouth with a Ford powerplant under the hood. His car was " J8 " Ronnie Tattrie was " 55 " and Ches Lockhart was "22". All the cars were set up with double heavy duty shocks on the right front wheel and steel cages that looked like they belonged in a " Mad Max " movie protected the motor.
Harold was sponsored by the local Texaco garage while the others were sponsored by other local businesses. The one sponsor they all had in common was Jack Ripley, who ran the local " Junk Yard " better known as Ripley's Used Car Parts up on Acadia Street.
Harold says that the racing was a " lot rougher in those days" and when asked what the worst crash he had been in, he said " Over in Charlottetown I rolled 16 times - so they tell me. " When asked if he was hurt or scared when it happened, he replied " Nah, I walked away and I was too young and crazy to be scared."
The prizes in those days ranged from $40.00 to $100.00 depending on the size of the crowd that night. Harold claims that he ran well in Charlottetown as it was a half mile track but not well in Amherst. " I was the entertainer here " he says.
It cost $25-$50 to build a car in those days ( thanks to Jack Ripley ) and the boys travelled to Moncton or Charlottetown on Saturday and to Shediac on Monday. The rest of the week was spent beating out the bumps and replacing parts. "We were in it for fun " Harold commented.
When asked if he would do it today if he were nineteen again Harold answered "Yes - Definately but he'd have to have a lot better car. Harold watches the races on TV now but you could tell he knows the game well
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River Glade Speedway Program
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