Mud & Dust, 100 Years of Arizona Racing

There has been a lot of great racing in the Grand Canyon state over the last century.  To relive your favorite venue, click on any link to the left and get ready for a wild ride! 

or just scroll on down for news & views:

Racin' and Rockin'

Arizona Native Marty Robbins

Arizona's Marty Robbins loved racing stock cars as much as he loved music.  I don't think he ever smashed a guitar in victory lane, though.

MANZANITA

1951-2009

Manzanita Speedway, home to racing since 1951 will have its final races the weekend of April 11.   

Once a defunct dog racing track, Manzanita opened its gates to auto racing on August 23, 1951.  The dog track was built at 35^th Avenue and Broadway in 1949 but folded after only three months of competition with the more established tracks. 

 A driver’s revolt at South Mountain Speedway sparked the conversion of the dog track into a quarter-mile oval.  The drivers formed the Arizona Jalopy Racing Association for Manzanita’s first race.   

After South Mountain folded, the half-mile track was built in 1955.  That year, Tucson’s Bill Cheesbourg won ten straight Jalopy Main events.  Twenty years later, he won the state late Model Championships.   

It was, however, hard to make a go of it with bi-monthly competition, and bankruptcy loomed until Harry Redkey picked up the lease in 1961.  A guaranteed purse increased the field from 21 cars to 46 in just three months.  Redkey started the twice weekly racing trend with Early Model Stock cars during the week and Spring Cars on Saturday nights. 

 In 1966, Keith Hall purchased the track, and added increased purses and additional racing divisions.  Hall started the Western World Championship in 1968.  By 1977, it had grown to a $40,000 extravaganza. 

 Motorcycles were added in 1968, claimers in 1969 and Modified Stocks, Midgets and Sprint Buggies in 1973.  Indy 500 drivers who raced at Manzanita included Wayne Weiler, Don Davis, Art Bisch, Parnelli Jones, Bobby Unser, Roger McCluskey, Jim Hurtibise and AJ Foyt.  That’s why Manzy was called “the training camp of champions”. 

 Excepted from the Mike Garret article, Western Racing News, Oct. 13, 1977

For more information, see the Manzanita Speedway site.

Manzanita Speedway's Desert Thunder

For a detailed track history, order longtime track announcer Windy McDonald's latest book, Manzanita Speedway's Desert Thunder.  You can contact Windy at windymcd@cox.net or visit his website, http://www.windymcdonald.com/

National Speedway Directory

Speaking of books, Allan Brown's newest edition of his National Speedway Directory is now available.  This guide to active tracks and events will help you plan a more exciting vacation. Allan is also the author of The History of American's Speedways, Past and Present and helped me compile our list of Arizona racetracks.  For more information or to order a copy of either book, visit Allan's website http://speedwaysonline.com

c)2009 Jim & Nancy Schaut. Our mission is to preserve the rich history of automobile racing in the American West. We have done our best to credit the proper people for information contained on this site.  It is sometimes impossible to find the original source.  We welcome your comments & corrections. If you would like to submit items to the site, please send them  to Nancy. 

Thank you for your support of our website! Jim and Nancy