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.
Daytona 500 Ticket Price History – 2026 – Holding Tight in a Less Inflationary Economy
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TROG – The Race of Gentlemen – Pure Jersey History Right in Front of Your Eyes
Views: 25,903 💬 Leave a Comment | View 0 CommentsKnown 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,…
Bring Auto Racing Back to Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson New Jersey
Views: 11,728 💬 Leave a Comment | View 2 CommentsThe 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…
Mr. Local History Knows The Top 18 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: 7,790 💬 Leave a Comment | View 2 CommentsOur researchers continue to work on this story, as there are several conflicting points of view we want to explore further. We will update over the next few weeks, but we…
Lost Motorsport Board Tracks Across America – Mapping Them All
Views: 9,950 💬 Leave a Comment | View 3 CommentsAs 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…
Largest Antique Truck Collection in the World is in Basking Ridge, New Jersey
Views: 23,258 💬 Leave a Comment | View 5 CommentsYou wouldn’t think it, but in a quiet suburb of New York City, a man has amassed what is often called the world’s largest collection of Mack and antique trucks. We…
Wearing Lost Jersey Motorsports Icons is Fun History
Views: 5,894 💬 Leave a Comment | View 0 CommentsMr 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…
1928 – Woodbridge Speedway – World’s Fastest 1/2 Mile Track
Views: 8,330 💬 Leave a Comment | View 0 CommentsThis 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…
1926: Atlantic City Opened One of the Greatest Speedways in the World
Views: 11,060 💬 Leave a Comment | View 0 CommentsThe year is 1926, and MLH welcomes you 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…
Lost Racetrack Series: Auto Racing’s 10,000 Seat Track In Union, New Jersey
Views: 5,160 💬 Leave a Comment | View 4 CommentsJersey 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…
Retrospective: Auto Racing on Jersey’s Westfield-Clark Border
Views: 5,546 💬 Leave a Comment | View 2 CommentsJersey 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…
1905 – Cape May Auto Racing on the Beach Rivaled Daytona Beach
Views: 8,210 💬 Leave a Comment | View 0 CommentsYes, 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…
Wildwood’s Motorcycle Wall of Death is Back in New Jersey
Views: 7,221 💬 Leave a Comment | View 0 CommentsWildwood, 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…
The Soap Box Derby and Ties to New Jersey
Views: 11,260 💬 Leave a Comment | View 1 CommentThe 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…
That Historic Sand Pit in Basking Ridge, New Jersey
Views: 8,215 💬 Leave a Comment | View 9 CommentsIt’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 kids’ playground over the decades. Now…
Slot Cars and Motorsports History
Views: 8,787 💬 Leave a Comment | View 0 CommentsNominate 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?…
Lost New Jersey Racetracks Mapping Project
Views: 26,209 💬 Leave a Comment | View 14 CommentsBoy, 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…
