Thought some of you would be interested in seeing this shot of the winter Drag Races held at the International Amphitheater in Chicago in the 60's. I seem to remember that there was a set of open doors at the end and the cars went out of the building into a parking lot.That's my story and I'm sticking to it, cause I know nothing more.
there is going to be an indoor nascar track built in Plainfield Ct.massive complex like an astro dome. Talk is that a drag strip will also be included.there was petitions going around to get the drag strip included .This will be a NEW indoor facility.any one on here in traveling distance of Plainfield Greyhound Park ?that is where this facility is planned for right next to the dog track.
During the 1940s, midget car racing was an indoor event at the International Amphitheater, they did go out the back ,arnie raced the grocery gettter there,http://www.grocerygetterwagon.com/history.htm
Thats the story... through the doors at the end. I think there was a divider inbetween... not like one big door. Its waay before my time. A buddy of mine brought in drag magazines from the late 50s early 60s and it had a bunch of photos of the action. I know my uncle used to race indoors there.
Found this through a google search: In the 1930s and later, indoor racing was quite popular with the nation?s race fans, and, as in many other racing ventures, Illinois led the way. The first indoor auto races in the U.S. took place at the Chicago Armory over a 1/10-mile dirt track on Sept. 29, 1934 and on Oct. 19, 1934. A 1/5-mile dirt track was constructed at the armory and was used from 1935 through 1940. Other indoor races took place at the Chicago Coliseum (1947-48), the old Chicago Stadium (1935), the Prairie Capital Convention Center in Springfield, the now demolished International Amphitheatre, near the site of the Union Stockyards, and at the former Chicago Riding Club in Chicago?s Streeterville neighborhood. The Coliseum is notable because it was once the site of the infamous Libby Prison during the Civil War. The International Amphitheatre, besides being the home for so many years of the Chicago Automobile Show, was also the site for indoor drag racing, on a 400-foot strip, from 1962 through 1964. The Chicago Riding Club, located at 33 E. Erie Street, is now the home of WBBM TV/Radio.
Sweet! This is what we need up here. Screw a new baseball stadium! The state should build a nascar track\drag strip with a removable top! Nice pics lets see some more!
Right you are! There was a set of doors for each lane. I don't recall that they actually went out into the the parking lot but into another "room". Think that they ran North to South. Would have been early 60's as I remember seeing the first of the MOPAR 413 torqueflites there. Impressive! Midgets ran into the late 50's. Went with my future father-in-law. Cool pic!
My Viper Brother John Hogan passed away last year. He used to work for Don Maynard (Engine Specialties, Chicago) and crew chiefed for Karamasenes back then (early to mid '60s). He also worked for Mr Norm, the Dodge guy, and he used to tell us about those races. John used to play with Amonnia Hydrazine and Nitromethane back then and he said that the indoor deal was the CRAZIEST, most dangerous thing he was ever involved in. I sure wish John was still around. I was just getting him to lurk on the HAMB when he died, I miss the heck out of him. I still talk to Frank Oglesby, I'll ask him next time I write to him. He seems to have done every crazy thing in drag racing in the sixties. Neat thread. This is why I love this place.
I won my first trophy there when I was 16 years old. Had a 1952 Plymouth Belveder running M/Stock class. Beat a 52 DeSota for the class win. What a thrill for a teenager to be in the midst of all the action that up until then I had only read about in Hot Rod magazines. I think they ran the races for only 2 years, always in the snowy winter months. THank you guys so much for posting the pictures, it brought back some great memories. John
They used to run a national invitational tracter pull indoors here in Indy. It was run at the State Fair Coliseum. You've never heard loud till you've heard a team of six blown alcohol burning Hemis, working hard, at full throttle....INDOORS! The sound made your eyeballs vibrate! They run a midget race annually at the RCA dome. They even ran a figure 8 stock car event at the dome one time. Legends cars are the perfect size for a dome.
Unbelievable!!! That's way cool man. What would they do it todays times? Can you imagine a fuel car running today inside a building? It woud blow the freakin roof off man! monkey
Hey Monkey! Maybe we should get the entire rod communnity together and get that McDonnel Douglas Building? 1 mile long, all under one roof!!! Of course Boeing and the school bus people are still squatting there.
Squatting is cool, long as they bring their own earplugs. Can you just imagine a nitro burning huffed altered in inside a building, talk about ear splitting, and oh those wonderful fumes, what we're talkin' is one ear ringing, eye waterin' nose burning day of fun and a lot of us there to remember it.
After years of hearing stories about drag racing at the international ampitheater , its cool to finaly see some pictures.
Imagine the smell of high octane fuel wafting through the air in there.and yeah the noise but that would be music to my ears
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