Edited by KPotter, 02 May 2013 - 04:52 PM.
Bully Hill Speedway
Started by KPotter, May 02 2013 04:51 PM
15 replies to this topic
#1
Posted 02 May 2013 - 04:51 PM
OK, I was exploring in Google earth today. Just a few years back the old Bully Hill Speedway in Franklin was clearly visible. Looking at today's image, actually taken last fall, the track is now completly gone. I never got to see a race on the track but remember my Dad and neighbors talking about it. Bully Hill, Tri-City (back in the old 1/4 mile days), and Mercer all within just over 1/2 of each other and all ran on Saturday night. I actually located the track back in the mid '70s while out exploring the area.
Another link to the past gone forever.
Why do I like racing ? Well the colors are bright and there is a lot of movement, so it holds my attention.
#2
Posted 02 May 2013 - 08:19 PM
OK, I was exploring in Google earth today. Just a few years back the old Bully Hill Speedway in Franklin was clearly visible. Looking at today's image, actually taken last fall, the track is now completly gone. I never got to see a race on the track but remember my Dad and neighbors talking about it. Bully Hill, Tri-City (back in the old 1/4 mile days), and Mercer all within just over 1/2 of each other and all ran on Saturday night. I actually located the track back in the mid '70s while out exploring the area.
Another link to the past gone forever.
I can remember my dad telling me about the track as well. He told me my grandfather (who passed before I was born) ran it. He showed me where you could still see turn four in the winter when the snow was melted. It's hard to imagine it being on bully hill today.
#3
Posted 02 May 2013 - 08:37 PM
Ah, the good old days. And they were the good old days. Adventures with our fathers. Many were the Saturday nights when we sped away from Franklin and down Route 62 to Mercer. And Mercer was usually running behind and we got to see some if not all the features. What a wonderful bygone world.OK, I was exploring in Google earth today. Just a few years back the old Bully Hill Speedway in Franklin was clearly visible. Looking at today's image, actually taken last fall, the track is now completly gone. I never got to see a race on the track but remember my Dad and neighbors talking about it. Bully Hill, Tri-City (back in the old 1/4 mile days), and Mercer all within just over 1/2 of each other and all ran on Saturday night. I actually located the track back in the mid '70s while out exploring the area.
Another link to the past gone forever.
#4
Posted 02 May 2013 - 08:43 PM
Seems to me Ken I rember Dick Hesselgesser telling me that he and Dick Gill owned their first race car together and they raced up there. I work with a guy that grew up on Bully Hill and he said that the track was over the hill a bit in an old oil field town called Smithtown. I remember the old high banked Tri City quarter mile track watching Gibb Orr and some of the oldtimers go around there. Steve Unger, Dick Bailey ,Jim Seese and many more. Buddy Martin actually had an offenhauser powered sprint I think his number was Circle 2.I can remember my dad telling me about the track as well. He told me my grandfather (who passed before I was born) ran it. He showed me where you could still see turn four in the winter when the snow was melted. It's hard to imagine it being on bully hill today.
#5
Posted 02 May 2013 - 09:06 PM
Ah, the good old days. And they were the good old days. Adventures with our fathers. Many were the Saturday nights when we sped away from Franklin and down Route 62 to Mercer. And Mercer was usually running behind and we got to see some if not all the features. What a wonderful bygone world.
Made that run many times as well. Best part was when you got to Mercer,lots of times they had stopped selling tickets and you just walked right in.
Why do I like racing ? Well the colors are bright and there is a lot of movement, so it holds my attention.
#6
Posted 02 May 2013 - 09:17 PM
Seems to me Ken I rember Dick Hesselgesser telling me that he and Dick Gill owned their first race car together and they raced up there. I work with a guy that grew up on Bully Hill and he said that the track was over the hill a bit in an old oil field town called Smithtown. I remember the old high banked Tri City quarter mile track watching Gibb Orr and some of the oldtimers go around there. Steve Unger, Dick Bailey ,Jim Seese and many more. Buddy Martin actually had an offenhauser powered sprint I think his number was Circle 2.
The Offy was definitely Circle 2. It wasn't the last Offy to run Tri-City. In '73, Fritz Myers from New York came down several times with his Offy. What a great sound it made.
Here it is:
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Why do I like racing ? Well the colors are bright and there is a lot of movement, so it holds my attention.
#7
Posted 02 May 2013 - 10:34 PM
Thanks for the photo and the history lesson and memories of the sound.The Offy was definitely Circle 2. It wasn't the last Offy to run Tri-City. In '73, Fritz Myers from New York came down several times with his Offy. What a great sound it made.
Here it is:
#8
Posted 03 May 2013 - 06:27 AM
WOW Ken i rmember that car have not seen a photo of it in 40 years. I seen it run at the Groves Also.....
#9
Posted 03 May 2013 - 09:08 AM
Where in Franklin was it located? Up by the High School?
#10
Posted 03 May 2013 - 11:13 AM
Where in Franklin was it located? Up by the High School?
You went past the high school to the end of Pone Lane. The track was along Pioneer Road, almost to Belmar Road intersection.
Why do I like racing ? Well the colors are bright and there is a lot of movement, so it holds my attention.
#11
Posted 03 May 2013 - 12:50 PM
Have you ever heard of Queen City Speedway? My father has mentioned it to me before. I'm thinking it was on the northeast side of Titusville.
#12
Posted 03 May 2013 - 01:45 PM
Have you ever heard of Queen City Speedway? My father has mentioned it to me before. I'm thinking it was on the northeast side of Titusville.
Doesn't ring a bell.
Why do I like racing ? Well the colors are bright and there is a lot of movement, so it holds my attention.
#13
Posted 03 May 2013 - 02:22 PM
Have you ever heard of Queen City Speedway? My father has mentioned it to me before. I'm thinking it was on the northeast side of Titusville.
Would that be the one that the Ruth family had?
#14
Posted 03 May 2013 - 02:25 PM
you can still see Shippenville Speedway in this pic. http://www.geody.com...r...554&alc=shp
Lee Petty raced there.
Lee Petty raced there.
#15
Posted 03 May 2013 - 07:34 PM
Not the one the Ruths had. theirs was in Pleasantville. The one dad talked about was right near Titusville. I'm gonna have to say early 50's it ran. No longevity with it though.
#16
Posted 03 May 2013 - 08:33 PM
Ken do you or anyone else remember a track that was up between Punxy and Brookville that was called Pine Valley or Pine City? I can remember years ago we went up there and raced at a track that wasn't too far from Hummingbird somewhere up in that area.You went past the high school to the end of Pone Lane. The track was along Pioneer Road, almost to Belmar Road intersection.
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