Beltsville Speedway

Beltsville Speedway
Baltimore-Washington Speedway
Location Beltsville, Maryland, USA
Coordinates 39°02′47″N 76°51′05″W / 39.046319°N 76.851296°W / 39.046319; -76.851296
Capacity ~7,000
Broke ground 1964
Opened 1965
Closed 1978
Major events None (defunct)
Pavement oval track
Length 0.500 mi (0.805 km)

The Beltsville Speedway was an asphalt oval track in the American community of Beltsville, Maryland; it spanned 0.500 miles (0.805 km).

Summary

It was specially designed with banked turns for stock car racing. Originally known as the Baltimore-Washington Speedway, this track would receive its final name in its 19th month of operation.[1] The track has hosted modified stock car racing vehicles alongside the other NASCAR series.[1] Wednesday nights were the original night for racing but the schedule eventually added Friday night racing.[1] Ten Grand National races were raced here including the popular Beltsville 300 series of races.[2] Strict noise restrictions were given out in its final year of racing and the county (Prince George's County) starting monitoring the events.[1] Eventually, a sound wall was built surrounding the speedways. Cars had to begin running mufflers in order to stifle the noise from the increasing RPMs from the vehicles themselves.[1] The track was eventually shut down, demolished, and replaced with a local community college.[1]

Famous race car drivers like Richard Petty, Tiny Lund, and David Pearson have participated in legendary races here.[2] The 1968 Beltsville 300 was an example of some of the classic NASCAR Grand National races that went on in this track.[2]

References


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