Arizona

From the travels and adventures of the “World’s #1 Trackchaser”

All-Time Favorite Arizona Track:

Manzanita Speedway – Phoenix

Current lifetime trackchasing state rank: 1

Best Memories:

Did you know that we lived in Phoenix for a year back in 1974? Manzanita was our home track and is my all-time favorite in the state of Arizona. This was back when the Shumans (Ronnie and Billy) and Lealand McSpadden (above) were ruling the roost. I learned to eat “cheese crisps” aka quesadillas at Manzy.

It took me forever to see the Christmas special races at the Arizona Karting Association’s AKA Speedway (above) in Glendale. The Arizona Motorsports Park places a limit on the maximum amount of spectators that can be on the property at one time: 200. I’ve never heard of such a thing.

At the Canyon Raceway figure 8 track, the promoter drove into one car at the “X” hard enough to separate the engine from the rest of the car. He told the crowd he just wanted to liven up the show! At the Crazy Horse Campgrounds (above) track the UTVs raced within a foot or two of the water in Lake Havasu. At the Gila Bend Grand Prix Off-Road track, the racing was delayed by a funeral procession! I saw the first-ever weekend of wheel to wheel racing at the Inde Motorsports Ranch.

Sadly, I was at the Phoenix International Raceway the day Jim Haynes crashed. I’ve seen the Copper Classic many times at PIR even though I never really liked racing at the track because of the direction the sun went down. While attending our nephew’s college graduation from Northern Arizona University we slipped over later in the trip to see the racing at the Thunder Raceway in Show Low. Our son J.J. (above) flew us to the Yuma Speedway Park in a private plane during our 1998 visit. He’s now a captain for a major U.S. airline!  

If you see a track link in the above list simply click on it to be transferred to my Trackchaser Report. Here you will be able to read about my adventure at this particular track. Not only will you learn about my time at the track but you’ll hear about all of the interesting people, places and things I encountered during the entire trip, coming and going, to that speedway. Most of my Trackchaser Reports will also include a photo album and YouTube video. Check it all out. Don’t be afraid to use the “search” box in the upper right corner of my website’s home page. Just type in the track name or whatever and you’ll be directed to the place you want to be.

Below is a key to surface types and track configurations so you can understand the above list just a little bit easier.

Surface types:  D-dirt; P-paved; M-mixed

Configuration types:  O-oval; RC-road course; F8-figure 8 track