Beltsville Speedway
The Beltsville Speedway, formerly the Baltimore-Washington Speedway was an asphalt oval track in Prince George's County, Maryland; it spanned 0.500 miles (0.805 km).
 Aerial photograph of Beltsville Speedway (1972) | |
| Location | 9200 Powder Mill Road Laurel, Maryland 20708 |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 39.04°N 76.84°W |
| Capacity | ~7,000 |
| Broke ground | 1964 |
| Opened | 1965 |
| Closed | 1978 |
| Major events | None (defunct) |
| Pavement oval track | |
| Length | 0.500 mi (0.805 km) |
Near Beltsville, it was on land now occupied by Capitol Technology University,[1] in the South Laurel census-designated place.[2][3]
Summary
The track was specially designed with banked turns for stock car racing. Originally known as the "Baltimore-Washington Speedway", the track received its final name in its 19th month of operation.[4] The track hosted modified stock car racing vehicles alongside the other NASCAR series.[4] Wednesday nights were the original night for racing but the schedule eventually added Friday night racing.[4] Ten Grand National races were raced there including the popular Beltsville 300 series of races.[5] Strict noise restrictions were given out in its final year of operation and the county (Prince George's County) started monitoring the events.[4] 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.[4] The track was eventually shut down, demolished, and replaced with a local university.[4]
Famous race car drivers like Richard Petty, Tiny Lund, and David Pearson participated in legendary races there.[5] The 1968 Beltsville 300 was an example of some of the classic NASCAR Grand National races that were run on the track.[5]
NASCAR Grand National Results
| Date | Winner |
|---|---|
| August 25, 1965 | Ned Jarrett |
| June 15, 1966 | Tiny Lund |
| August 24, 1966 | Bobby Allison |
| May 19, 1967 | Jim Paschal |
| September 15, 1967 | Richard Petty |
| May 17, 1968 | David Pearson |
| September 13, 1968 | Bobby Isaac |
| May 16, 1969 | Bobby Isaac |
| July 15, 1969 | Richard Petty |
| May 15, 1970 | Bobby Isaac |
Reference:[6]
References
- "Capitol History." Capitol Technology University. Retrieved on August 26, 2018. "In 1980 the college found its home in Laurel, Maryland. Within three years, Capitol purchased the 52-acre former site of the Beltsville Speedway, [...]"
- Campus map. Capitol Technology University. Retrieved on August 26, 2018. "Capitol Technology University 11301 Springfield Road Laurel, MD 20708"
- "2010 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP (INDEX): South Laurel CDP, MD." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on August 26, 2018. Pages: 1, 2, and 3. Note that the census-designated place was previously smaller: 2000 Index Map and pages 1 and 2. In the 1990 map of Prince George's County (see index), South Laurel is on pages 2 and 5.
- Complete history of the Beltsville Speedway Archived 2010-02-07 at the Wayback Machine at The Vintage Racer
- Beltsville Speedway event history Archived 2010-07-28 at the Wayback Machine at Everything Stock Car
- "NASCAR Race Results at Beltsville Speedway". www.racing-reference.info. Retrieved October 4, 2020.