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I can remember waiting all week for Saturday night. Sunday through Friday I dreamed of the sounds, sights and smells. Burning rubber. Hot motor oil. Racing fuel. Roaring engines. The concession stand. Old cars battling it out in the big feature race. It meant so much just to be there. Sunday through Friday seemed like a month, but Saturday always rolled around.

It was the only day of the week when I willingly got out of bed early. Saturday evening would finally come and my friends and I would pile into my father's old Falcon and Dad would drive us to the race track. I remember watching the '57 Chevys of the Limited and Street divisions, and the Chevelles that dominated the Late Model division. I loved to see an old '57 swing out of turn four and brush that outside wall at my favorite track. Dents and dings all over the old car, donut marks on the door panel. Real men drove those cars. Men who weren't afraid to take a chance. Men got hurt, and some were even killed, but others kept coming for the excitement and adrenalin of stock car racing.

Those were the glory days, the 60's and 70's. Stock car racing was popular on the local level in many places, and NASCAR was doing all right, although nothing compared to the corporate giant that it is today. Times have changed. They don't build cars like those any more. People are different now.

I was raised around paved tracks most of my youth, and I will always love racing on asphalt short tracks. In later years, I started frequenting the dirt tracks and I quickly learned to love dirt track racing. In essence, I love local short tracks. There is just something about these places with their characteristic smells and old buildings and fences that is very charming.

The glory days of local short track racing are fading away. Local tracks are closing all over the country. Even some of the big name NASCAR tracks have closed, and others appear to be on their way out. Local asphalt tracks are struggling for the most part. Many have already gone under. Noise ordinances and zoning laws don't help the situation. Dirt tracks are faring a little better. But how long can some of them hold out? A few of the big name tracks with good financial backing will probably survive, but I believe that most of the local short tracks will become history in the coming years.

Therein lies the inspiration for this website. This site will be one place where interested parties can find information on local short tracks in the United States. I will compile information on as many tracks as possible here, but it will take time. This is a labor of love, and I am the only person who loves the old local short tracks enough to put in this much labor. So read what's here, and check back later for more. This is a WORK IN PROGRESS.