Canfield Speedway
| Canfield Fairgrounds Speedway | |
|---|---|
| Location | Canfield Township, Mahoning County, Ohio, at 7265 Columbiana-Canfield Road, Canfield Fairgrounds, Ohio 44406 |
| Time zone | GMT-5 |
| Capacity | 40,000+ |
| Owner | The Mahoning County Agricultural Society |
| Operator |
The Canfield Fairgrounds Promoter = Charles (Charlie) Findlay |
| Broke ground | 194? |
| Opened | 1949 |
| Closed | 1973 to autos |
| Construction cost | $? |
| Architect | Mahoning County Agricultural Society |
| Former names | Canfield Fairgrounds Speedway |
| Major events | NASCAR Grand National Series The Poor Man's 500 |
| Oval | |
| Surface | Dirt |
| Length | .5 mi (.805 km) |
| Turns | 4 |
| Banking | 15° Turns 8° Front Stretch 12° Back straightaway |
| Lap record | 58.102mph (time N/A) (Bill Rexford, Julian Buesink, 1951, NASCAR Grand National Series) |
| Oval | |
| Surface | Dirt |
| Length | .25 mi (.4025 km) |
| Turns | 4 |
| Banking | 5° in turns 0° in straights |
| Lap record | 0:15.210 (Iggy Katona, Iggy Katona, 1951, NASCAR Short Track Series) |
| Oval | |
| Surface | Asphalt |
| Length | .25 mi (.4025 km) |
| Turns | 4 |
| Banking | 8° in turns 5° in straights |
| Lap record | 0:14.046 (Mike Klapak, Mike Klapak, 1964, ARCA) |
| Oval | |
| Surface | Dirt |
| Length | .5 mi (.805 km) |
| Turns | 4 |
| Banking | 10° in turns 5° in straights |
| Lap record | 0:14.046 (Harold Smith, Harold Smith, 1961, ARCA) |
The Canfield Fairgrounds
Canfield Speedway is a half mile dirt oval racetrack that hosted (major) sanctioned auto racing from 1950 to 1964, but other associations ran until the late 1970s. There was also a 1/4 mile dirt racing surface that shared the front stretch with the 1/2 mile track. It was used until the track was closed to auto racing in 1973. Attendance varied from 30,000 people for larger events to 10,000 people for ones of less significance. The track is located at the Canfield Fairgrounds in Canfield, Ohio, and is still in use today, primarily during the Canfield Fair.
The original promoter of auto racing in Canfield was Charlie Findlay and then his nephew George C. Findlay in the early 1960s. It was Charlie that had close ties with Johnny Marcum, (MARC) Midwest Association of Racing Cars and Canfield Speedway was the priority track. In 1964 ARCA took over MARC as the desire for dirt tracks died out.
It was on the NASCAR Grand National Schedule for three years from 1950-1952 hosting one event annually over that time period. The NASCAR Grand National and Short Track series competed there as well as ARCA and USAC. The Grand National events were 200 laps and 100 miles (160 km) long. The Short Track Race was 100 laps and the track was 1/4-mile long making the race 25 miles (40 km). The ARCA races were either 100 laps on the 1/4-mile or 200, 250, or 300 laps on the 1/2-mile as the track had two different configurations. Some of the events used the inverted start with the pole qualifier starting last. Both USAC races were 100 laps on the quarter mile configuration.
The quickest laps recorded in sanctioned events were just under the 24 second mark with cars averaging 60 mph (97 km/h) around the speedway on the half mile configuration. On the quarter mile quick time was under 16 seconds and cars averaged 55 mph (89 km/h). The NASCAR pole record is 54.233 mph (87.280 km/h) and the race record is 48.057 mph 2:04:51. The record for cautions is 4 and smallest margin of victory 4 feet (1.2 m) and the largest 3 laps. The largest purse was $4350 and the most lead changes was 2.
Bill Rexford won the inaugural event (later known as the Poor Man's 500) and went on to take the Grand National Championship that year in 1950. He was the youngest diver to win the championship in what is now the Sprint Cup Series. He was aided to the championship when Lee Petty was stripped of some points for racing in non-NASCAR sanctioned events. His only lead lap finish in his career was at Canfield Speedway (when he won). His only career pole came at Canfield Speedway the following year in 1951. He was the 1st of 6 drivers to win a championship without winning a pole in that season. He is 1 of 4 drivers to win a championship with only 1 win that season (nobody has won with 0 wins). In the three grand national races only 4 cars combined finished on the lead lap.
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Wikipedia