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E-mail StorySixty years of racing action at Bakersfield Speedway
| Friday, Apr 21 2006 12:16 PM
Last Updated: Friday, Apr 21 2006 12:16 PM
Bakersfield race fans eagerly awaited the new racetrack on North Chester to be finished in early April, 1946, but delays pushed the inaugural midget auto race back to May 4.
Photos:
Bill Vukovich, winner of the first main event at Bakersfield Speedway on May 4, 1946, autographed this photo for George Gilbert Lynch. Vukovich went on to win back-to-back Indianapolis 500s in the 1950s.
Local driver Rosie Rousell (131) prepares to race on opening night at Bakersfield Speedway — May 4, 1946.
Two cars tangle on the north turn at Bakersfield Speedway on the first night of racing action at the Oildale track — May 4, 1946.
An aerial view of the Bakersfield Speedway track as it nears completion in May 1946.
The previous week, two friends and I rode our bikes from east Bakersfield to the new racetrack hoping to earn free passes by doing any job available. The promoter hired us to walk the freshly graded track and throw all the rocks outside the crashwalls. The quarter-mile adobe track contained more rocks than adobe, so our job lasted four afternoons.
I, my dad and 6,000 other cheering race fans arrived early that first Saturday night to ensure we’d get good seats for this first full-midget racing program since World War II permanently put Sportland Park Raceway out of business after July 31, 1942.
Many famous drivers from the pre-war era were present, including Sam Hanks, Johnnie Parsons and Bill Vukovich, three drivers who went on to four Indianapolis 500s between them during the 1950s. Local drivers Rosie Rousell and Burton Spickler were also on hand to try out the new track.
I visited Rousell — who still calls Bakersfield home — recently and found he’d just celebrated his 83rd birthday. He tells me he’s in pretty good condition for the shape he’s in. He says his fuel pump has a new timer installed (a pacemaker), and it only takes eight prescriptions per day to lubricate the old chassis (his body).
But when I look at the twinkle in his eye, I know he’d buckle up in a NASCAR Late Model tomorrow if someone asked him to. Rousell is a legend in sprint-car, roadster and midget racing and competed for many years in places from England to California. He also promoted races at the Speedway in the 1960s.
Opening-night hitches abounded at the Speedway on May 4, 1946. The scheduled 7:30 starting time was washed out till after 10 p.m. The adobe track surface and the entire infield resembled a duck pond, more suited to boat racing than automobiles. The over-eager track maintainance worker had flooded the area. He explained a hot wind was expected to dry it before race time, but the cyclone never came.
Scores race fans began driving their cars and trucks around the track to dry it. Many got stuck in the mud, but others pulled them out, and within three hours the races began.
No spectators were seen leaving through all this delay, a tribute to the race fans of Bakersfield. A great race was enjoyed by the cheering crowd. As Vukovich took the checkered flag to win the main event, it was early morning and the roosters were crowing in Oildale.
Dad and I entered the pits and strolled among the steaming-hot race cars, talking to the drivers and congratulating them for a fine race. I never heard a negative word from the crowd as we later walked toward the parking lot.
That was the birth of the racetrack, and the Bakersfield Speedbowl was the first name given to this racing institution.
Over the years, as I’ve attended racing events at the track, I’ve seen a legion of track names, owners, promoters, track surfaces and track sizes. It seemed each new owner or new promoter had a better idea than the previous managers.
I watched the surface change from adobe clay to blue gumbo to asphalt back to clay, back to asphalt then lastly to clay. From 1/4-mile to 1/5-mile to the current 1/3-mile oval. There were names changes; Speedbowl, Thunderbowl, Speedrome, Raceway, Marchbanks Stadium, Speedway and some I have forgotten because they lasted only a short time.
In hard times the track has hosted circuses, football games, crash derbys, thrill shows, revival meetings and rock concerts. I once heard a rumor that some screwball promoter from Fresno, who must have attended that inaugural night mud-fest, was planning to flood the infield and feature outboard hydroplane races. The track owner was not happy with the idea.
Over the years, as midget racing lost its crowd appeal, jalopies came into vogue. Then came hot-rod roadsters, sprint cars, motorcycles, modifieds, claim cars, sportsman-class racers and then stock cars. On and on marched the racing fraternity, changing the cars to suit the spectators. The Oildale oval has survived by supplying what the fans want and changing when necessary.
There has to be a reason it has lasted 60 years. The reason is that Bakersfield loves auto racing. Just count the great drivers that came out of Bakersfield. Another reason is dedicated, race-loving track owners like the Schweitzer family of Scott, Crissy and Dixie now operating the Bakersfield Speedway.
I live only a stone’s throw from the Speedway and right now I hear some cars practicing — music to a race fan’s ears. I have no doubt the old Oildale track will outlast us all.
George Gilbert Lynch is retired and living in Bakersfield.