Davenport Speedway

Davenport Speedway is one of the tracks I visited before I began writing my Trackchaser Reports in mid-2000.  That means that I have no written documentation of roughly the first 400 tracks that I saw.  I didn’t start including pictures and then YouTube movies with my Trackchaser Reports until even later in my trackchasing career.

Nevertheless, I do remember a few things about my visit to the Davenport Speedway.  I first started going there in the late 60s.  Davenport’s two different sized ovals, quarter and half-mile, are officially credited as being my #3 and #4 lifetime tracks.  Davenport was the first out of state track I ever saw having grown up in Illinois.

Benny Hofer

I loved the racing at Davenport.  They had all the stars including Darrell Dake, Ronnie Weeden, John Connelly, Dean Montgomery and Benny Hofer just to name a few.  Most of the racing I remember was on the smaller track which sat a good distance from the grandstand.  On one trip to Davenport, with my parents, we arrived to find the track rained out.  However, a highlight of that night was seeing Verlin Eaker’s car and trailer sitting out front.

You might have remembrances about these tracks.  If so, please feel free to share in the comments section below.  If you have any photos from back in the day, send them to me at Ranlay@yahoo.com.  I’ll try to include them here.