Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines! It’s time to race back in time for another trip down Memory Lane.
In the previous two columns (found here and here), we took a look back at drive-in theatres, a pastime that appeared almost immediately on the heels of the expansion of car culture in North America. Now, let’s buckle up and take a ride in our Delorean (sorry Doc and Marty) to take a look at the stock car racing scene that existed in the Sudbury region for more than 50 years in the middle of the 20th century.
Of course, before we narrow in on the Sudbury scene, we’re going to hit the brakes, turn the wheel and take a slight detour (how many driving puns do you think I can fit in this article?), and take a quick look at what exactly are stock cars and stock car racing.
Stock cars have their roots in the political decisions made after the First World War. With the beginning of the American Prohibition era (1919-1933), bootleggers hired wheelmen to transport booze from Canada into the United States — alcohol might have been illegal but folks couldn’t get enough of it.
In order to assist them in eluding the authorities, these drivers started to make changes to their vehicles. This would be especially necessary since they would be using winding, wooded backroads that at times included hairpin curves.
It was a fairly simple idea: Get a car that looked as ordinary as possible on the outside, modify the engine for breakneck speeds, strip the interior down to the bare bones and add extra suspension as a way of handling the poor road conditions and weight of the liquor.
These souped-up roadsters were the perfect tool for bootleggers to outsmart and outrun “the Feds” and the local police (especially under cover of darkness) and transport the illegal Canadian whiskey to their customers.
Of course, the car was not the only important part in this. In order to elude the authorities out on the road, these daring “runners” required sharp driving skills to speed along and maneuver through dirt, gravel, single-lane, rarely paved roads after dark and, at times, even with their headlights turned off.
Even before American Prohibition came to an end in 1933, racing these high-performance cars became a popular pastime among those “runners” in Canada and the United States. They raced each other on weekend afternoons out in the country, far from the prying eyes of the Law, on makeshift dirt tracks. Such was the bootlegging roots of the stock car.
In the post-Second World War Baby Boomer economy, leisure activities came of age and people began to utilize the technical skills they had acquired during the war to enhance this new hobby. Individual vehicle ownership was rising within the middle-class population, and self-repairs for the purpose of improving performance while saving on costs became the norm.
With the various amounts of auto tinkering that was occurring, naturally those early “gear heads” wanted to test their mettle (and metal) against one another. This led to amateur racing events becoming a growing sport within communities of auto enthusiasts.
During the first half of the 20th Century, oval track racing occurred almost exclusively on modified horse racing tracks of a half-mile or longer, usually located at a fairground such as the Canadian National Exhibition (in Toronto) and the Western Fairgrounds (in London). During this period, smaller clubs, who were interested in the auto racing industry and inspired by what they saw in these larger venues began to form across Canada.
Racing on fairground horse tracks began to die out in the late 1940s and early 1950s as it became clear that the horse tracks were not suitable for cars. The dust was known to be horrendous at times and the lack of fencing was especially dangerous to drivers and spectators alike. Of course, the horse racers weren’t happy with their track being ripped up by automobiles.
Instead, purpose-built ovals began popping up all over Canada. They were mostly dirt at first, but many became paved as the years went on. With these ovals, it became more feasible to run both regularly scheduled races for local drivers and more competitive races involving racers from all across North America.
Over a span of approximately 55 years, the Sudbury sport racing scene was graced with the appearance (and unfortunately, disappearance) of four racing tracks. They satisfied both the racing enthusiasts’ need for speed, but also the spectators desire for fast-paced spectacle.
In the 1920s, the Sudbury Racing and Driving Track was established at the Southeast corner of Notre Dame Avenue and Garson Road (now Lasalle Boulevard). This track was used as a venue for both horse trotting (like Sudbury Downs) and motorcycle races.
Attending the races at the Sudbury Racing and Driving Track became an important summertime ritual for many area residents with the local newspaper advertising 50-cent admission for all (children under 12 free with an accompanying adult).
Unfortunately, it did not last for very long and a part of the Sudbury Racing and Driving Track property was eventually repurposed to become a baseball field, the Sudbury Stadium. In 1953, the most southerly portion of the racetrack property became the home of Pioneer Manor.
By 1962, the city put the stadium land up for sale and The Sudbury Star of the day wrote that a Toronto firm was eyeing the land for a shopping centre. In the end, 20 years later, the racetrack land became the site of a different type of race, the “Rat Race”, with the federal government having purchased the land and built the Sudbury Tax Data Centre.
A much more well-known automobile racing track (at least insofar as the Sudbury historical record is concerned) appeared on the scene at the east end of New Sudbury, nearly immediately after the demise of the Sudbury Racing and Driving Track at the opposite end.
The Sudbury Speedway, a half-mile oval track, was built in 1952 by Bruce Fletcher on the south side of Maley Drive, around the current location of Lansing Avenue and stretching to the west. With the advent of the NASCAR racing circuit in the United States just five years earlier, in 1947, stock car racing became a very popular pastime.
A Sudbury Star article dated from Aug. 11, 1952, announced that 7,000 spectators attended the stock car races that Sunday to watch racers go through 40 gruelling laps attempting to capture the Sudbury Speedway Trophy.
Some of the local stock car legends of the day who participated included Jack Chapman, Andy Kanerva, Cubby Cuthbertson, Whitey Richards and Elmer Tuuri.
Such was the popularity and level of skill achieved at the time that Greater Sudbury Museums have even honoured one of the racers, Elmer Tuuri, with a small display at the Anderson Farm Museum. The display includes one of his helmets and trophies, around a half-dozen great photos and even a letter inviting him to compete in the 1952 World’s Fair Race.
The Sudbury Speedway held weekly Friday evening 'Eight Race' shows that were known to be well-attended. The Sudbury Star noted at the time an “attendance of 2,000 fans at the 20-lap features of the Sudbury Speedway.” Another event known as “Hot Rod Races” drew 4,000 spectators. Races of 30-40 laps were often held with stock cars coming from all over Canada and even the U.S. with matchups occurring as much as twice weekly.
At times, 10,000 fans crowded the stadium. Unfortunately, the track hit a rough patch in the road and closed down in 1967.
As the Sudbury Speedway was coming to the end of its road, tucked away on a piece of land at the end of a trail off of Mountain Street, and sandwiched between the CN tracks and the mountain side, existed for a time a racing track known as Mountain View Park Speedway. This racetrack was built in 1964 by Bill and Joe Zaitz. Unlike the previous two half-mile racetracks built in the city, this one was only 1/4 mile long.
A photo from back in the day that was taken at the Mountain View Park Speedway shows that not only was it a location for racing, but it was also the place to go if you were looking to witness death-defying stunts. Racers jumped their vehicles from ramps not unlike Danny Zuko in that final race in the movie “Grease” (sorry, I thought I got all of those movie references out of the way last time). And, I’m sure more than a few landed in the same way; popping the hood and denting the fenders and rims.
I was unable to find a date of the speedway’s closure (that’s where your memories come in) but the Mountain View Speedway is, in fact, still visible to this day (unlike its contemporaries) and some of it is even still put to use as a part of the Rotary Trail which winds its way towards New Sudbury.
In August 1970, not only did a tornado hit Nickel Belt, but so did a Hurricane. This hurricane was not of the natural disaster variety though; its name denoted intense speeds instead.
Hurricane Park Speedway was located on a farm around a mile north of Blezard Valley. For just four short years, it was owned and operated by John Verhoeven. The track was an oval, three-eights of a mile long, and included a 35-foot-wide paved track. Three different styles of stock cars (super stocks, hobby stocks and mini stocks) battled it out for trophies at this speedway.
Although the track was a popular spot, the fact its attendance numbers only reached the 2,000 mark (at most) betrayed the drop in interest for the sport in the Sudbury area (unlike the 4,000-7,000 spectators who were a regular sight at the Sudbury Speedway back in the 1950s).
In its final season of 1974, and as a way of attempting to extend the life of the track, the speedway ownership branched out beyond stock cars by hosting motorcycle and snowmachine races as well.
As with its predecessor, the Mountain View Speedway, the Hurricane Speedway and its paved track is still visible to this day for those who know where to look for it. Unfortunately, that is where its story (and the totality of the story of the Sudbury racing scene) ends.
Well dear readers, the checkered flag has dropped on this week’s column, and now it’s your turn to share your memories with us. Were you a spectator at one (or many) races? Or maybe you (or a family member) were a participant racing around the oval? Let us know what you remember of the sights, sounds and smells of the stock car racing scene in Sudbury.
Share your memories and photos by emailing Jason Marcon at [email protected] or the editor at [email protected]
Sources
- “New Sudbury Not As New as You Think” by Arthemise Camirand-Peterson
- “Valley East 1850-2002” by Wayne F. Lebelle
Jason Marcon is a writer and history enthusiast in Greater Sudbury. He runs the Coniston Historical Group and the Sudbury Then and Now Facebook page. Memory Lane is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
