So take a moment to salute Langhorne Speedway. Ive Iron Mike Nazaruk won that day, and a short Johnny Boyd had a bad day at the office in a champ car at Langhorne Speedway when his car's fuel tank was knocked off during a race there in 1958. 4 cut-down 1932 Ford coupe. The proposal will have to go through the land development process. In September 1949, Langhorne hosted the fourth race of NASCAR's first year of . Driver Don Thomas suffered leg injuries when his car careened into the infield. Hemmings Motor News' 2007 remembrance of Langhorne bore a similar and equally disturbing title - "Death's Corner." "The formula for driving assumed you would ignore the chasm-like ruts, incredible speed, and storm of dirt being hurled by the cars that you lapped," wrote Hemmings' Jim Donnelly. Calling the Brickyard "the Graveyard" would be in poor taste, considering what has been reiterated so many times throughout this count: Unless it's Langhorne, the track is almost never at fault for the lives lost on its premises. Sweikert and Pat OConnor were on hand, along with He really began to make his presence known in the Forry Brothers No. Photographer is unknown. The next June, they ran a Champ Car race. The driver who eventually became one of the worlds best was standing in the Langhorne infield April 7, 1963, when Bobby Marvin lost control of his sprint car and slammed into the outside rail. See Race of Champions for a history of this race since 1972. ". There were two accidents, but . Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com. In the following 11 years, four more were killed at the track, and in 1983, the 10th and final fatality at Riverside occurred, when ex-Formula 1 and Le Mans driver Rolf Stommelen's IMSA GTP Porsche lost its wing at 190 MPH. 6:00 on that Sunday evening. Countless more were maimed in crashes that entailed high-altitude barrel rolls and hellacious fires. [5][6], Langhorne was relocated to southern New Jersey and became Bridgeport Speedway in Bridgeport, New Jersey.[7]. before the race ended, Sostilio dropped out. "The whole place had deteriorated over the years -- the infield, the pits, everything.". He qualified on the outside of the front row and took the lead at the start. However, Before these lifesavers were common in racing, deaths of both amateurs and pros were far more common, regardless of how well-prepped the tracks were for crashes. Nelson Applegate suffered an apparent skull fracture when he reportedly bounced his car over the guardrail. Joe Mattera, Dick Mealy, Harold Bechtol most every occasion when I went to Langhorne, I sat in the stands in what you pace. The speedway has enjoyed a packed racing schedule for decades, and with its popularity has come an unfortunate number of accidents. Worry not, for the misery of Langhorne lives on; its grounds are occupied today by a Sam's Club. been thrown out after one or two barrel rolls. Despite temperatures that reached 106 degrees, Bryan wasted no time getting back up to speed. in row 3, Gene Hartley and Andy Linden in row 4, Johnny Thomson and Al Keller only 40 laps. Custom Search . Hankinson brought in AAA Championship 100-lap races and continued to stage shorter sprint car racing events on the circular track. The one-mile circular track had minimal banking, making it a challenge at high speeds. Thomson, Russo, McWithey As a result, no physical remnants of the track itself remain. went after Musselman. his 11th lap, Engle wrote down the letters E-Z on his blackboard, ", Another Langhorne devotee was three-time Indy winner Johnny Rutherford, who qualified on the pole in 1964 -- just ahead of Foyt -- in the last Champ Car race before the track was paved. The promoters were understandably livid. Track ownership responded to that with an expansion to the facility's catch fencing, raised from 15 to 21 feet, and with overhangs doubled from 3 to 6 feet. Background it three in a row, caught Hartley, and passed him on the 81st Tinglestad being lead away from the wreck by a track official. The track's most recent fatal accident occurred in 2013, when a student and tutor of a performance biking school collided fatally on track. March 20, 1955, was no exception. UPDATE 6:55 p.m.: Crews have cleared the scene of an earlier crash in the 2000 block of Langhorne Road in Lynchburg. langhorne speedway diner - CLOSED. hed be out of sight, with the stands blocking the view of the track, On lap 43, Veith lap. "The track was sort of like Darlington, Allen said. dont think that there was a worse year than 1955 as far as deaths in auto happened to mention to another race fan that on that date in 1955, I was in They called Jimmy Bryan "Cowboy" because he'd bucked broncos before going racing. Little A strapping, charismatic figure often seen with a hearty smile and his signature stogie, he was a three-time national champion and dirt-track colossus who semi-retired after winning Indy in 1958. Credit: C**rt*sy of L Spencer Riggs over to the race track next door (the Langhorne Speedway, now gone). All the drivers would get together and take a vote, recalled IndyCar driver Bobby Unser, who raced 12 times at the track, winning twice. It was another track to conquer. thumb had to be amputated in the hospital. Furr previously operated a dirt track which was sold. race, a small piece of solder was found in the fuels return line, which, in They just don't name corners like they used to. The track is located in Midland, North Carolina, southeast of Concord. Langhorne was a long, continuous left turn with a constantly varying radius. Even today, 40-odd years since the track was razed to make way for a shopping center, the men who raced there still speak about the place with respect and awe. a relief driver on his 55th lap, and Rodger Ward took over for him. It might as well have been called the Killing Field. But on the first lap his car got crossed up diving into Puke Hollow, hooked a rut, and launched an estimated 55 feet into the air. NASCAR Cup Series Race Recaps. Title Langhorne Sprint Car Crash Source Bruce R. Craig Photograph Collection Years 1963 Date 1963-04-07 City Langhorne State Pennsylvania Country United States People Marvin, Bobby Venue Langhorne Speedway Identifier 2004-100CRAI-b67_53.0_0002 Original Format black-and-white negatives Rights Copyright has been assigned to The Revs Institute. They built that racetrack upside down, White said. It received this moniker due to the fact that a driver might be inclined to "puke" as a result of the extreme jostling his car would experience when hitting the deep ruts which formed in this section of the track as a race progressed. And tragedy also. "Billy" Foster was classified last in the Motor Trend 500 at the Riverside International Raceway after he lost his life in a practice crash two days earlier in his #22 Dodge. Langhorne Speedway hosted its final race in October 1971, six months after drivers voted to boycott the track because it was so treacherous. The rate of fatalities saw a dramatic slowdown following 1973, however, and only eight people (one of whom was a trespasser) have been killed by crashes in the following 45 years, down from 64 in its first 64 years. Then again, they no longer build racetracks like Langhorne Speedway, where the scary-fast downhill stretch of rudely rutted purgatory between Turns 1 and 2 was immortalized with that infamous moniker. victory something he couldnt do in 1955, when he had to ask for relief after Built in 1926 in the southeastern corner of Pennsylvania, "the 'Horne" was a 1-mile dirt track shaped like a perfect circle. could say was the fourth turn area. Drivers said Puke Hollow was softer and forever changing during a race, in part because underground springs made the ground beneath the racing surface swampy. for Ferrari, both in sports/racing cars and also in Grand Prix cars, after LeMans. Save. but did get in the race in the Leitenberger # 76. All Rights Reserved. usually drew quite a few cars from the mid-west. Many drivers flat refused to go to Langhorne. Autoweek.com takes a look at the history of Langhorne Speedway, a track that opened in 1926 and closed in '71, and in between was notorious for death and destruction. (*) = Last race ever held at Langhorne Speedway. The track was very fast. Indy car ace Paul Russo, whose brother was killed at the track, told Riggs that Langhorne "gave me butterflies the size of B-29s." the lead if he could make up that lap before Bryan got back onto the track, but The track was razed soon thereafter. was a consolation race and Crockett won that, with OConnor and , Pat Once he caught him, they battled it out for about 15 laps, at a torrid The newest track on this list of the 10 deadliest was constructed in 1964, and all of them were raced in the days before the introduction of fire retardant Nomex suits, HANS devices, and mandatory roll cages. Jack Turner was the last car Of course, slicing through those ruts required a lot of sawing at the wheel, which took a toll on the drivers. But my right hand was like hamburger when I got finished. Langhorne Speedway was an automobile racetrack in Middletown Township, Bucks County, near the borough of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, a northern suburb of Philadelphia . A crowd of about 15,000 was on hand for this second sprint car show. Tinglestad escaped injury. Probably the most notorious area of the original dirt race course, which earned the nickname "Puke Hollow", was located at turn two. 2029 E Lincoln Hwy, Langhorne, PA 19047-0000 +1 215-949-3533 Website. Reports I had read said he lost part of a thumb, along with a glove, and most every occasion when I went to Langhorne, I sat in the stands in what you His average speed was 95.212 MPH. never been to Langhorne previous to this day, and was making his initial run in And naked fear. Tinglestad being lead away from the wreck by a track official. The facility features a 1/2-mile tri-oval as well as a 1/4-mile oval. The NMRA operated Langhorne from its inception through the 1929 season, staging 100-lap events on Labor Days and occasional shorter races. A conservation effort has sprung up in support of the Mile, but petition signatures can do little about the unsteady fiscal situation in which the track finds itself, due to investments in facility upgrades (safety included) during the 1990s and 2000s. by Hartley, with Bryan, feature race would be over a distance of 30 laps 30 miles. ventured out to Indianapolis, miles. During the prewar years, the lap record was already a few ticks above 100 mph -- an astonishing speed considering it was a dirt track with no straightaway. And, of course, the graphic memories of those who raced there -- and came out the other side. But if I'd gone 10 feet past that pole, I would have gone straight over the guardrail.". I Another According to a count by Autoweek, Langhorne Speedway took the lives of 27 people in its short 45 years of operation. track that day, as the racing usually was at the , Here The unique layout meant that drivers drifted around virtually the entire circuit, usually with the throttle wide open, yet with perilously limited vision around the constant-radius corners -- a triple threat that demanded deft car control, immense reserves of strength and endurance, and, of course, those huge huevos. Another popular misconception is that, when the rear wheels bounced in the air, drivers inadvertently overrevved their engines, causing them to blow up, aka puke. As there is a tie on this list, tracks with equal casualty counts will be ordered by their years of operation (shorter histories push them up the list). mile track at Langhorne. But he missed the challenge of racing at Langhorne. On However, Teter's tenure only lasted until July 5, 1942, when he was killed while attempting his rocket car leap stunt at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Nicknamed Crash for his early drives, he settled down and became a very smooth driver. Considering the risk of speed record attempts and the 104 years of doing so at Bonneville, we can hope that this count stays low, if not static. Daytona opened in 1959, and within the steep, 2.5-mile tri-oval, which reaches 31 degree banking in some spots, a 3.56-mile road course exists, where the 24 Hours of Daytona are raced, as well as a short oval, a dirt oval, a karting tack, and a motorcycle circuit. He was five laps behind race winner Gwyn Staley. In the first national open, in 1951, a large wreck blocked the track and burned driver Wally Campbell, that year's NASCAR National Modified champion. "If it had been another crew chief, I probably wouldn't have listened. on one of those flips with Crockett being found about 300 feet from where the Here took Amick 1:03:01.463 to go 100 miles. never been to Langhorne previous to this day, and was making his initial run in LANGHORNE, Pa., July 1 Hugh Randall, a 29-year-old driver from Louisville, was killed today in an end-over-end flip during the 100-mile Indianapolis car race on the one-mile Langhorne Speedway . go alone, so he asked me. The final race was held in 1971. racing goes. As with most tracks on the list, most of these deaths are the results of underdeveloped safety regulations, not due to inherent track flaws. Both cars caught fire. NR2003 name NR2003 year NR2003 sky Date of .ptf Date of race.lp Author Real name Length (mi) Ban king Location State Country Region Racing started Racing ended Next June, they ran a Champ car race chief, I would have gone straight over the.! 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