Comments on: Belaro Speedway

By: Randy Lewis

Randy Lewis — Tue, 14 May 2024 23:38:32 +0000

In reply to John Bracy. John, Thanks for sharing that! At the age of 21 I flew on my first ever plane to see the racing at Belaro Speedway. That was 54 years ago!!

By: John Bracy

John Bracy — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 23:14:05 +0000

Remember it well , flat tracked in 75 then sponsored a stock car owned by John George 75x won a lot of races with my engines and clean sweep wasn’t outta the norm. This was in the early 80’s . If I recall he won a track championship as well.

By: Randy Lewis

Randy Lewis — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 22:59:23 +0000

In reply to Rob Burns. Hi Rob, Thanks for sharing your history with the Belaro Speedway. The southeast is a long way from Montana. It's time for you to come back if just for a visit. Take good care, Randy

By: Rob Burns

Rob Burns — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 20:58:33 +0000

I came across this website, doing a search for Belaro Speedway as I was a young attendee in and around 1977. At the time my family had a thing for racing and so did I. As I recall, I believe that my dad might had tried to run Belaro, but all is a little fuzzy since I was probably 12 at the time.
The track ran modifieds and flattrack dirt bikes. The driver who always stuck in my mind was the one who drove the #57 coors light sponsor camaro. Not really sure of his name but I think it was Eddie Barger. I could be wrong. I really enjoyed the racing and the time that I spent with my father back then. One day I wanted to return but life took me to the southern eastern United States and never got back out west.

By: Guy

Guy — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 20:00:14 +0000

I lived in Billings from 1976 to 1985. I attended almost every summer time Saturday night stock car race from around 1978 to 1981. Those were my 7 years to 10 years of age and were some of the greatest days of my youth. I was a huge fan of Clark Elliot. He raced the top modified class in a mid 70’s Chevy Nova. His rival was Jesse “Motate” Mota and his Chevy Camaro. I remember how clean their cars were with the “big time” sponsorship. Elliot’s main sponsor was Mountain Dew. They always ran the last race of the night. The fans were always split between those two and they could get a little rowdy as the beer had had time to soak in! I actually participated in a bicycle race there one summer day. They had different age groups and you simply pedaled one lap around. I was surprised at how rough that dirt track was when my bike tires kept getting caught in the ruts. 4th of July celebrations were a blast after the races. Very fond memories indeed. The only other race track i had ever been to at that time besides Belaro Speedway was a hardball track in Kalispell, MT. My uncle raced there for years. I remember that I didn’t like the Kalispell track because the stock cars didn’t drift like the cars did on the Belaro dirt track. I always thought it was cool to watch the back end of the car drift through the turns. I moved away from Montana and later let a decade of military service carry me away from that part of the country for good. I settled down in Kentucky and haven’t set foot in Billings in over 21 years. I actually did a GoogleEarth search of Billings recently and found what remains of Belaro Speedway. The memories just flooded in. NASCAR is king here in the south but I would take a late 1970’s Saturday night stock car race at Belaro Speedway any time over a NASCAR event! Guy M.

By: Steve Matz

Steve Matz — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 00:24:38 +0000

I have very fond memories of Belaro Speedway. Prior to me racing Motorcycles there in the late 60’s; I remember my Dad taking me there in the 50’s when it was a Greyhound Dog Race Track. It was a beautiful Facility back then. Had a Roofed Grandstands(blew off in the early 60’s from a windstorm) Box Seating area and was a very sanitary Facility.

Motorcycle and Car Races began around 1960-61. The Bikes would run on Friday Nights and Cars on Saturday through out the season. Mostly Night Racing; but a Few times in the Daylight. The Motorcycle Racing pretty much fizzled out in the 80’s; in fact I recall doing a Fireworks Display for what I’m sure was the last Flattrack Race held there in the summer of 1984. I was almost a permanent Fixture there in the Pits from 1965=73 either Wrenching on Bikes that Our Motorcycle Shop sponsored or Racing myself. The Grandstands were demolished in 2003 and The Track overrun with weeds from a few years before. The Cars always Filled the Grandstands; The Bikes always seem to have a limited audience and maybe filled half of what the Car Audience attracted. The Track had 2 Car Racing Fatalities in it’s History. No one was ever seriously injured or killed in the Bike Racing though. It was a very fun place to be back in the day;I miss the action and the old Racers; many of them gone now; it was a Big Part of My Life……Steve Matz-BSP