Abandoned Deadly Race Track! (FOUND RACE CAR)

Abandoned Race Track!
This track is a half-mile oval with a quarter-mile oval in its infield, was one of the premier speedways in the Midwest in the early 20th century. It was a proving ground for some of the top American race drivers. Eight veterans went on to win the Indianapolis 500, including one of Indy's all-time greats, Wilbur Shaw, who won the 500 in 1937, 1939 and 1940.

The track closed in 1960 after one more in a long line of horrific accidents. Nature has been reclaiming the grounds ever since. Sycamore trees stand 40 feet tall in the middle of the first turn. Honeysuckle grows thick in what once was the pits.

[2018 edit]The grounds were open to the public in 2016 but are closed now. It is now trespassing to enter these grounds and I strongly suggest not to. Pull over and read their historic sign on your way and view from the road. I would also like to note that I strongly CONDEM vandalism of any kind and only pulled over to take pictures and did not touch anything aside from the ground I waled on.

Song: LAKEY INSPIRED - Electric (Vlog No Copyright Music)
Music provided by Vlog No Copyright Music.

[TPACFILMS]

Made this video almost a year ago.. I never stopped making videos! Feel free to check out some of my new ones!

[williamselzer]

my grandfather and his best friend used to pull from North Chicago and Waukegan to race at this track. his last race, his friend was killed during one the races that afternoon when he left the track and was decapitated. my grandfather never raced again. more information about this racetrack can be found by reading the book, "The Ghosts Of Jungle Park", by Tom W Williams. great reading....i have my own signed copy

[BillMeyerComm]

That sprint car is pretty neat and has some history for sure. It still carries the original leaf-spring rear end suspension dating the frame back to the 50's, possibly into the 60's. But no later. It still carries the hoop roll bar behind the seat and over the tail tank which really dates this original frame. But you can see that hoop was made of more current "thick" pipe material somewhere along the way, so someone tried to restore it. But not for competition. The instrument cowling looks almost original as you can see some of the holes that would have held the original hand oil pump and right below on the solid 2x4 frame rail holes for the hand brake. As far as the motor, it originally probably carried a inline 6 flathead or maybe a v8-80. But with the covers for a v8 showing now it appears this was made for pure show, or possibly old-timers days at the track to turn a few laps. I've seen frames like this modernized with coil-over suspensions and roll cages, but that would get you into the early 60's maybe... it would be a fun project though researching the history of the car to try and find the original frame designer. That alone would get the ball rolling on a project like this...

[prowelder]

Dude, asphalt straight, dirt corners ...I'm in, NASCAR needs to step it up

[Romeo_GR]

What a video! I understand that it was made a couple of years ago. So, during that time, has anything been done with that race car?

[barneymiller]

LOL that buick powered sprint car could probably be worth more than the property it sits on if someone established its history and restored it

[austinash]

That was cool, love the new intro, that old race car was awesome...just slow down when you pan with the camera, each video is better and better, nice job!!

[Circuitsofthepast]

A cool site. I visited some abandoned race tracks by myself, but never found old race cars. Only a few parts of cars.

[ToyCarCase]

You are ROCKING the Car world! Great job! Your one person closer!

[waynemetevia]

Interesting video. Enjoyed watching it. It's a shame that it wasn't maintained properly. Might have been a good attraction for visitors even if there was no longer any racing there. Maybe even a local historical site?

[christianwebb]

The current owners opened it up just a few months before you got there! I live twenty minutes away and been there twice. I get goosebumps every time. I sat for a looong time in the grandstand one time. Did you see the old surface roller in the trees off of turn 1?

[davidfrost]

Cool. I love how you sling the camera around so quickly it's like being in one of the cars!

[doughopkinsjr]

Hey great video! One bit of advise make your camera movements slower and more precise. This will help viewers not feel I'll watching them. Keep up the good work!

[onesadtech]

Great documentation of a cool piece of motorsports history! Well done! 🙌

[brianjoslin]

There is an abandoned race track in Vineland N.J.
Across from the C.C. College, , , it's over grown now of course, however if you look hard enough you can still find some of the old oval blacktop, , ,

Every time this pops up in my recommended I always rewatch

[D...Charger]

In the UK there's a whole list of tracks that are no more.The most famous I guess was Brooklands huge banked oval.There is a museum there and part of the old track still remains.worth a visit if your ever in the UK.

[jeffrielly]

"Went to put out the fire with their beer" I assume they were drunk at the time? it was well known even back then that alcohol is a flammable liquid

[MrFinality]

The area now looks like it is used as a start/end point for a kayak guide service or a storage area for one.

[indybobthis]

My great grand father raced there. He owned a coal mine right across the highway from there.