Over the last few years, researchers at the Mr. Local History Project here in New Jersey have been busy at work and have released several stories related to the motorsports racing history in New Jersey. We’ve even now branched out to a national story highlighting the history of racing on board tracks, yes, two-mile banked tracks made of wood, with banking steeper than Daytona International Motorspeedway. Daredevils traveling at speeds over 100 mph on wood, sand, and asphalt.
Cover:
The Free Library of Philadelphia has a notable collection of materials on motorsports racing from the early 20th century. Pictured here is Ralph Hepburn at Atlantic City Speedway in 1928. His car is on display at the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana.
Volume 6 – Motorsports History Special Edition:
- Help Map America’s Lost Motorsports Board Tracks – Interactive Map Project
- Looking Back: 1926 Atlantic City Speedway Greatest in the World
- Mapping ALL the Racetracks, Dragstrips, and Speedways in New Jersey (Active and Lost)
- The Race of Gentlemen (TROG) – Pure Jersey History Right In Front of Your Eyes
- Woodbridge Speedway 1928 – Fastest 1/2 mile in the World
- Wildwood, New Jersey’s Motorcycle Wall of Death
- Wearing Lost Jersey Motorsports Icons is Fun History
- Lost Racetrack Series: Auto Racing’s 10,000 Seat Track in Union, New Jersey
- Bring Auto Racing Back to Paterson’s Hinchliffe Stadium, Home of the New York Black Yankees of the Negro Leagues
- New Jersey’s Cape May Beach Racing Rivaled Florida’s Daytona Beach
and much, much more.
TROG – The Race of Gentlemen – Pure Jersey History Right in Front of Your Eyes
Views: 20,022 Known as The Race of Gentlemen, the event has been revived since the 1950s by a local club called the Oilers of New Jersey. For one weekend in early October, racers, gassers, and fans gather on the beach…
Bring Auto Racing Back to Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson New Jersey
Views: 8,772 The former mayor of Paterson, Joey Torres, had committed to seeing the restoration of the stadium by the end of his term in 2018. He left office in 2017 and accepted a plea deal in response to charges…
Mr. Local History Knows The Top 20 Daytona 500 Destinations to Hit During Speedweeks
Want to go to the #Daytona500 Speedweeks and feel like you know where to go? Here’s 20 years of experience all in one place where we’ve highlighted the top 15 Daytona spots to hit during Speedweeks. We’ve loaded THE BEST.
Newark New Jersey’s Incredible Velodrome and Motordrome Racing Venues
Views: 3,555 PREVIEW RELEASE:Our researchers continue to work with this story as there are several conflicting points of view we want to continue researching. We will update over the next few weeks, but we wanted to let people see this…
Lost Motorsport Board Tracks Across America – Mapping Them All
Views: 4,547 As a huge motorsports fan, this topic came up with a few of our researchers who can’t let it go! While the Mr. Local History Project normally focuses on New Jersey history, they had to discover more once…
Largest Antique Truck Collection in the World is in Basking Ridge, New Jersey
Views: 17,062 You wouldn’t think, but in a quiet suburb of New York City, a man has amassed what is often referred to as the largest collection of Mack and antique trucks in the world. We introduce you to the…
Wearing Lost Jersey Motorsports Icons is Fun History
Views: 2,857 Mr Local History loves history with a social twist. In fact, it’s our motto! So, we thought it would be fun to share some of the most beloved New Jersey businesses that have disappeared. We began researching and…
1928 – Woodbridge Speedway – World’s Fastest 1/2 Mile Track
Views: 4,423 This is a tale about auto racing legends of the early 1920s, known as daredevils and speed freaks, who traveled to a tiny new track built outside New York City in the small town of Woodbridge, New Jersey.…
1926: Atlantic City Opened One of the Greatest Speedways in the World
Views: 5,738 The year is 1926. Welcome to the “Board Bowl,” which had 80,000 fans and was one of the world’s greatest motorsport spectacles—and it was right here in New Jersey! It’s funny how history weaves in and out of…
Lost Racetrack Series: Auto Racing’s 10,000 Seat Track In Union, New Jersey
Views: 2,884 Jersey Lost Racetrack Series We found a story in the Paterson Call newspaper on April 22, 1936, stating that on May 15, 1936, after spending over $100,000, the Union (Township) Speedway would open with a 1/2-mile oval, including…
Retrospective: Auto Racing on Jersey’s Westfield-Clark Border
Views: 2,796 Jersey Lost Racetrack Series For a short period, racecar drivers from all over the tri-state area gathered just off Raritan Road on the Westfield/Clark border for the most exciting spectacles of the time, sanctioned midget dirt car racing.…
1905 – Cape May Auto Racing on the Beach Rivaled Daytona Beach
Views: 4,242 Yes, it’s true. While motorsports history has been very kind to the Daytona and Ormond Beaches in Florida, historians often overlook when Cape May, New Jersey, rivaled Florida for the title of the beach racing capital of the…
Wildwood’s Motorcycle Wall of Death is Back in New Jersey
Views: 3,807 Wildwood, New Jersey, drew summer tourists seeking respite from the Great Depression. Among the attractions on the boardwalk was the “Motordrome Wall of Death,” featuring motorcycles and race cars whirling around a wooden bowl-like enclosure. But the real…
The Soap Box Derby and Ties to New Jersey
Views: 7,911 The 15th annual High Bridge Soap Box Derby was a blast!History right in front of your eyes! Visions of custom-made and painted cars with young kids bearing helmets and a chance at fame, leveraging gravity in a non-motorized…
That Historic Sand Pit in Basking Ridge, New Jersey
Views: 5,618 It’s been discussed over the years in hushed circles at Brush’s Deli. It has been described as a racing playground, a car junkyard, and a playground for kids over the decades. Now it’s time to tell what happened…
Daytona 500 Ticket Price History – 2025 – Holding Tight in a Inflationary Economy
Views: 24,727 2025 Daytona 500 Update Glad you dropped in for a look. Daytona International Speedway has announced that the 2025 Daytona 500 grandstands and camping are predicted to sell out as they did in 2024. The race is set for…
Slot Cars and Motorsports History
Views: 6,950 Nominate your top 5 favorites for our American HO Greatest Slot List. Isn’t it great when you get to go back in time and do things you did as a kid? I remember the times when I would…
Lost New Jersey Racetracks Mapping Project
Views: 18,948 Boy, this has turned into an obsession. We keep digging and finding more racetracks that were once part of New Jersey motorsports history! The Mr. Local History Project is a non-profit organization that picks up on great local…
