If you travel to the northeastern suburbs of Trenton, between I-295 and the Trenton Freeway in Hamilton Township, NJ. You will notice some businesses like the UPS Customer Center, a Sculpture Garden, Trane Residential Systems, and houses known as the Hamilton Lakes. However, if you look closely take a look at the lake, it resembles Trenton Speedway.
Trenton Speedway opened on September 24th, 1900, but no racing took place until 1907. Regular races began in 1912, and over the years, a one-mile dirt oval was added to the track in 1946. During that time, the racing season was paused due to World War Two. After World War Two ended in 1945, the races resumed. On June 19th, 1949, the AAA Champ Car Series made its debut in the Trenton 100. Myron Fohr won the first race, leading all 100 laps.
After the track was paved in 1957, the AAA Champ Car Series, now known as the USAC Champ Car Series, returned on September 29th. The race was won by Pat O’Connor, beating Johnny Thomas by .99 seconds. Other notable winners in AAA/USAC/CART were Mario Andretti (7-wins), A.J. Foyt (12-wins), Bobby Unser (6-wins), Johnny Rutherford (1-win), and Rick Mears (1-win).
A year later, on May 30th, 1958, NASCAR made its debut. Fireball Roberts won by two laps over Junior Johnson. Other notable winners were Richard Petty (3-win), LeeRoy Yarbrough (1-win), David Pearson (1-win), and Bobby Allison (1-win).
In 1968, the race expanded to a 1.5-mile and became known as the “kidney bean” with its odd shape twenty-degree dogleg on the backstretch with a wider turn at three and four that had fifteen-degree banking, four-degree dogleg, and ten-degree banking in turns one and two. But, despite the look, it didn’t bring the crowds to the races.
In 1972, Bobby Allison won the final NASCAR race beating Bobby Isaac by 1.4 seconds. USAC continued to race in Trenton until the final race on August 19th, 1979, now known as the CART Series, was won by Rick Mears beating Bobby Unser.
In 1980, CART dropped Trenton from the schedule. The final race at Trenton Speedway happened in June 1980, featuring the Modified stock cars won by Geoff Bodine in a rain-shortened 79 laps. Modified legend Richie Evans finished second several times, beating Jersey native John Blewett Jr. With profits dwindling, the track closed in 1980.
The land was auctioned off for development, and demolition of the track took place a short time later. Unfortunately, nothing was saved to preserve the history of the track. However, there is one track that honored Trenton.
Pocono Raceway, known as “The Tricky Triangle,” opened in 1971, and turn one is dedicated to Trenton Speedway with its fourteen-degree banking. Trenton Speedway may be gone, but it won’t be forgotten.
