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BangShift Question Of The Day: If You Could Revive One Dying Or Dead Form Of Racing What Would It Be?


BangShift Question Of The Day: If You Could Revive One Dying Or Dead Form Of Racing What Would It Be?

You know me, ever pondering life’s big questions and always lamenting the stuff that I’ll never get to see in person. The second half of that sentence is largely based on the fact that history has pushed that stuff to the wayside or current environments render it impossible, so that’s why I dreamt up this question of the day. I am interested in hearing what form or racing or what particular event you would either like to see revived to former glory or brought back from the dead completely. This can be anything from Group B rally cars to whatever you can conjure up. Understand that I want to revive what was probably the most dangerous and deadly form of racing seen in the USA, but with some modern twists to make it more safe. I’d love to see board track racing make a comeback…and I know it NEVER will. Why?

I’d love to attend a board track race circa the turn of the 20th century because it was where the biggest stars of the day were competing in the fastest cars of the era. As you will see in the photos below, the tracks were massive things that used millions upon millons of board feet of lumber to get built. Imagine hundreds of thousands of 2x4s all stood up on edge and packed together to form a racing surface. Now picture that surface with incredible banking, so steep that special devices were needed for men to actually repair the track. There were board tracks all over the country and it was a booming form of entertainment….until cars and motorcycles kept developing this nasty habit of running up into the crowd. It was not uncommon to hear stories of people being messed up and maimed at the races when a car broke and lost control, sending it into the stands with no real explanation why. The truth is that the components used in those cars had no business trying to survive the heavy loads and speeds they saw on those courses and the results were often (literally) bloody.

So I want to revive board track racing but add catch nets and fencing to stop the cars from heading into the crowd. What about you?

BangShift Question Of The Day: If You Could Revive One Irrelevant Or Dead Race Or Form Of Racing What Would It Be? 

board track1 board track2 board track3 board track4 board track5 board track6


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20 thoughts on “BangShift Question Of The Day: If You Could Revive One Dying Or Dead Form Of Racing What Would It Be?

  1. John

    I’d love to see the old Indy cars circa 1950-1965 with the Offy’s & Novi’s, all 33 running for bear. The nostalgia races they have now are cool & all, but they don’t run them like they were meant to be run. I understand why. Every time I watch Indy now, I do so hoping it will turn out as cool as it used to be, but it never does.

  2. ColoradoKid

    Hillclimbs ! They used to be at the very pinnacle of racing and one of the best stepping stones available for an up and coming amateur . Allowing them to show their stuff against the factory pros and often leading to paid drives in other series . But of late other than Pikes Peak : Hillclimbs in general have been relegated to the back pages and are barely even covered by the automotive press as well as now leading up to nothing .

    I’ll also 2nd the Stock Car racing motion as well as add …. Drag Racing . Especially the Pro Stock class which … like Stock Car racing …. is anything but . Stock that is

    1. Scott

      Bangshift covered a pretty cool one a few months ago. Think it was also in Colorado. It was all traditional hotrods.

  3. Andamo

    Just about every form of racing has gone downhill. It’s not about the cars anymore, it’s about the drivers and all the bullshit drama attached to them.

  4. Ron Ward

    Please bring back Ascot. I know the same kind of racing exists in other venues, but Ascot was just plain cool.

  5. jimiclint

    board racing – but with motorcycles
    and on the subject of Ascot – Speedway racing was every Thursday night – what a shit load of great memories and smells – that was a really kool venue –

  6. Gregg68

    CanAm (Chaparrals and Shadows and the like) and/or Trans Am (Penske/Donahue/P.J./Posey etc. w. factory teams)

  7. cyclone03

    My Grandmother went to the board track races in the LA area as a child. When I was a kid she would tell how those races were an event with thousands of people coming out for full days. When I learned to drive I drove to here house and took her around , she showed me where some of the old tracks were , most are now shopping centers and malls. LAX also sits on an old site. I think that’s why I liked the Where They Raced series BS ran last year.

    The racing history in Southern California is amazing .

    As to the question today board track racing could be horrific when it went bad so being a wuss that’s out for me.

    Indy when it mattered , “A new track record” every year.

    Pretty much all older racing when despite the best limits the rule makers could come up with the cars and bikes set new records every year.

  8. Rocketeer Tuner

    Any form of racing where they allow individuality. Back when Chevys were Chevys, Fords were Fords and Mopars were Mopars. Tired of the parity crud. That in my opinion is why all forms of sports are suffering.

  9. Tanglefoot

    Bring back the the drag racing from the 60’s and 70’s and people will watch it again. Super mega buck racing teams have all but killed this sport, and are actually a victim of their own success – no one wants to watch 4 across, 3 second dragsters or 1/8th mile drags on TV because it’s boring, and thats where the money is.

  10. Patrick

    Real pro stock, real four or five speeds in an H pattern, no line lock, no clutch bs, big motors you have to shift

  11. Scott Liggett

    There are so many. These three top my list.

    NASCAR going back to cars built from actual production vehicles.
    Indy 500 going back to showcase innovation instead of 33 of the same car.
    Group B Rally cars.

    Brian, I am just amazed looking at these old board tracks from back in the day. The amount of lumber needed just to build a 1/2 mile seems incredible.

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