Trenton Speedway was built as a permanent fixture on the Trenton State Fairgrounds, and existed as a home to a variety of racing series (especially National Championship racing) from about 1900 to 1979. The track went through several expansions from half-mile, to one-mile, to it’s most famous incarnation as a kidney-shaped 1.5 mile track with a unique right-turn. This dogleg as it was called, required a unique car setup as well as increased driver bravery as the turn was “blind” – a driver’s forward view was partially blocked by the outside concrete retaining wall.
Eventually Trenton Speedway hosted it’s last Champ car race in 1979, before it was demolished in 1983 to make way for the NJ Grounds for Sculpture. The concrete pad in front of the T1 grandstand is still there, and Hamilton Lake Drive now sits (and somewhat follows) where the backstrech and dogleg turn once stood.
Specifications
Track size: 1.5 mile kidney-shaped oval
Width: 65′ on turns, 55′ on straights, 80′ wide apron
Banking: T1+T2:10° dogleg:4° T3+T4:15°
Radius of dogleg turn: 20°
Front straight length: 2200′
Timeline History
1888: NJ State Fairgrounds built
1900-1945: half-mile dirt oval
1946-1956: one-mile dirt oval
1957-1968: one mile paved oval
1969-1980: 1.5 mile kidney oval
1983: Demolished. Now the NJ Grounds for Sculpture.
Pace lap formation along the backstretch Sept 1971
For Champ car and NASCAR stats, see: Wikipedia Trenton Speedway
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