Author Topic: Mcmurray Speedway (Read 5037 times)

N.O.S.F.M · « **on:** March 13, 2011, 12:53:25 PM »

Does anybody remember this place. it opened in 77 and ran for some time but has laid dormat for some time. located at the bottom of supertest hill just south of suncor beside wilson ashphalt plant. one guy recently tried to bring it back but had many personal problems and let the lease get suspended. we were able to save it from getting turned into a gravel pit and take responsibilty for it. We will succeed where the last failed but we have much to learn and alote of referbishing of the negleted track.

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CanadianRacingOnline.com · « **on:** March 13, 2011, 12:53:25 PM »

Wesley_Motorsports · « **Reply #1 on:** March 14, 2011, 07:41:51 PM »

Wow..........now this brings back ancient memories for me...

Back in the "first" oil boom days of the Alberta north. *chuckle*... gas was like 50 cents a GALLON and we all had Big Block Ford's and Chevy's in our trucks (all 4 x 4's with REAL WARN manual hubs, not today's crap auto junk) and mud stud High test tires (so named back in the day for Extra Old Stock 2/4's ($9 ea) cases of beer we'd pile box high out back) and head to McMurray Speedway to watch some really crazy dirt racing stuff happen... not that we would remember any of it - you try to remember anything after diving into 2/4's of the high test stuff @ 7.1% ... hell it's was a honky tonk kinda place back in the day. I swear, kids who picked up all the cans paid for their college tuition in full! And boy, that beer left one hell of an aftertaste.. it was worse than sticking yer nose up a tail pipe...I don't even know if it's even available anymore.

But don't ask me or anyone else that used to hang out there to remember anything, let alone how we drove out and back to Edmonton on a very late Sunday or if that far gone, Monday's at 4 AM :-)

I do recollect sometime during the summer of '78, one of my buddy's who just bought a brand new Lil'Dodge Ram Express Pickup with those Disco lookin exhaust stacks getting flipped upside down by all of us while he was passed out in the mud and then we put him under it, near the back. I remember the roar of him being freaked out when he woke up .. the stacks had of course collapsed and pile driven themselves into the mud while he was stuck inside the bed area of the box...

The track was a small clay oval (assuming it still is...) that always had a variety of events, demolishin derbies which were always the best part of going there and racing of course....

They used to say (at the time I didn't realize why) there was clay and then there was McMurray clay. The track could dry out real fast and there would be a A-Bomb plume of dust hanging over the speedway. That maybe exaggerated a wee bit, we were all kinda - you know - too busy drinkin the 'good' stuff.

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N.O.S.F.M · « **Reply #2 on:** March 14, 2011, 08:20:01 PM »

thats awsome to hear. kinda funny because i started a non-profit organization the "Norther Off Road Society" we have built some really nast machines up here to handle the muskeg. We went to this track for mudboggin when a guy by the name of Dan Church owend it, he didn't do a very good job. He received a ton of money from the community to rebuild it but took money and did nothing. We love all kinds of racing and didn't want to see it erased, so we went after it. we went and got our pwn peice of land (leased) and are developing this into a off road park. They finnaly went in and shut dan down after leaving the place in shambels, wrecked cars and campers everywhere. the garbage we have to clean up is gonna take a full weekend. You are right about the clay, does dry up fast and i did hear a rumor that this is why they stopped racing up here. here are some pics for ya that you might enjoy.

Here is the track as it looks today (took this on the 13th)

Here is what i have created, not finnished yet but 545 stroker 44" tires 105" wheel base

here is a friends jeep or Feeeep we like to call it. mild 460, 49" iroks, f-250 reg cab long box frame

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CanadianRacingOnline.com · « **Reply #2 on:** March 14, 2011, 08:20:01 PM »

ernie · « **Reply #3 on:** March 15, 2011, 05:04:47 PM »

So would this place be classified as a Ghost Track now or is someone going to bring it back to life?

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N.O.S.F.M · « **Reply #4 on:** March 15, 2011, 05:58:59 PM »

Quote from: ernie on March 15, 2011, 05:04:47 PM

So would this place be classified as a Ghost Track now or is someone going to bring it back to life?

We are gonna do our best to bring it back to life. We will do alote of the redneck racing stuff in summer along with our tuff truck events. we are letting the the mcmurray snow drifters use it for the winter for sno cross and flat track racing. we are definitly going to get into some amature racing. As for putting the place on any circuit maps, that would depend on the outside racer support and the amount of work needed to make the track enjoyable. hence why i'm on here, i thought i would look into it for posabilities. i would like to see more racing up here, gives something for most in town to enjoy. Where we are non-profit, we donate majority of money earned to local charities. now the only challenge is finding someone with the generosity to donate time to teaching me or pointing me in the right direction of the right people to talk to.

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ernie · « **Reply #5 on:** March 15, 2011, 06:09:07 PM »

I wish you good luck and good success! You would think with all the apartment bound roughnecks from all over Canada up there they would be looking for some non-standard entertainment.

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N.O.S.F.M · « **Reply #6 on:** March 15, 2011, 06:16:12 PM »

Quote from: ernie on March 15, 2011, 06:09:07 PM

I wish you good luck and good success! You would think with all the apartment bound roughnecks from all over Canada up there they would be looking for some non-standard entertainment.

i thank you very much for the wished luck, i'm gonna need it. I'm really confident that this will work but we will just need to let it grow on it's own, try not to get to much on the go at once.

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ernie · « **Reply #7 on:** March 15, 2011, 06:51:22 PM »

You should go to this site http://www.motorsportscentral.com/default.asp and give the web master there any info you have on the track. This site is a great collection of information regarding Canadian tracks active and closed.

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N.O.S.F.M · « **Reply #8 on:** March 16, 2011, 01:04:43 AM »

Quote from: ernie on March 15, 2011, 06:51:22 PM

You should go to this site http://www.motorsportscentral.com/default.asp and give the web master there any info you have on the track. This site is a great collection of information regarding Canadian tracks active and closed.

will do

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