| Track: Defunct - 2 mile Board Track |
| Track Location:
Sharonville,
Ohio, the track was proposed and construction
begun in 1914. Local businessmen who where the financial bakers
included
Albert Lackman, R.K. LeBlond, George Wiedemann, William Welbon, L.J.
Cooper,
and Harry Shockly, the track was built by Harry Hake. The 2 mile Board
Track opened September 4, 1916, and shut down in December of 1919. The
staightaways were 70 ft. wide with turns that were banked 17 degrees,
33
degrees at the very top. The track was a near exact copy of the Chicago
board track, and after closing and being abandoned in the early 1020's,
was dismantled and the lumber was shipped to Chillicothe, Ohio to be
used
in the construction of Camp Sherman during World War I. The site is
currently
ocupied by the U.S. Post office and other businesses. |
| The first race,
September 4,
1916 was won by Johnny Aitken, who ran a 300 mile AAA sanctioned race
at
an average speed of 97.059 miles an hour, before a crowd estimated
somewhere
between 27,000 and 30,000. The winning car was a French Peugeot. |
| With the 1917 Indianapolis 500
being cancelled due to the war, the Decoration Day (Memorial Day)
classic
was held at the Cincinnati Motor Speedway May 30, 1917. Fast time in
qualifying
was set by Ralph DePalma at 109 miles an hour. The race winner was
Louis
Chevrolet who averaged 102.18 miles an hour, finishing in 2 hours 26
minutes
47 seconds. The crowd was rumored to be 65,000, one of the largest
sporting
event crowds in Cincinnati history. |
| The last auto racing
event was a 48 hour endurance race for Essex
Automobiles held in December of 1919. |
| In August of 1919,
discussions were held by several Cincinnati men who were both Stock
Holders in the Cincinnati Reds and the Cincinnati Speedway, to possibly
move the Reds home World Series games to the Cincinnati Speedway in
Sharonville. The games, provided the Reds won the pennant, could be
played in front of 100,000 people after the Speedway's seating was
arranged. The Reds eventually did win the World Series over the Chicago
White Sox, but played all home games at Redland Field in Cincinnati. |
