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The face of racing has changed dramatically from the time when it first began in the Cottage Grove area which is located in the Willamette Valley, known for its luscious plant life, mountainous backdrop, and fertile soil. Racing changed in the early 1950s when on a Saturday night driving by Riverside Speedway, the smell of race gas and alcohol filled the air, while the sound of pure, raw horsepower could be heard for miles.
Sitting up in the grand stands at Riverside Speedway in Cottage Grove, I watched these crazy maniacs from our community who have a starving hunger to feel the thrill of the power and the danger that this vehicle they're driving has for them. These powerful machines going around the track hold for the drivers a fever to be the first one across the finish line before all of the other racers have a chance to.
Monty Smith
The sprint cars come out on the track being pushed by the track push-trucks. These mighty sprint vehicles seem so powerful flying around the track at all different speeds, yet starting out, they need to be pushed out by another vehicle. As these sprint cars take off, they don't just drive around the track; they put as much power and pride into their racing as they can. These racing machines consist of Small Block Chevrolet, Ford and Mopar motors wrapped in tubular steel frames. The transmissions on these cars are two speed transmissions. They don't have a starting gear. These two gears were sometimes labeled by racers as "Fast" and "Hell-on-Wheels."
Don Wilson W/
Trophy
Don Wilson is a famous racer who started in 1956, and went on racing through the 1980s. He has won more trophies than anyone else has between Lebanon or Cottage Grove Speedways.
Ted
Trotter
My grandpa's car was called a stock car then, and had number 85 painted on the side. With only a few weeks left in the season, my grandpa was coming around the last corner of the last lap at Riverside Speedway when another car came out of the pits and hit my grandpa in the side of his car. This in turn slammed my grandpa into the concrete wall just shy of the long awaited checkered flag. The wreck shook him up so badly that he was not able to finish out that season. After that race, he decided to resume the position as Pit Chief for Don Wilson.
Ted Trotter's
Finale
Many racers have had many problems with the racetrack in the layout of the track, so instead of having the pits in the middle of the track, it is now off to the left end of the track. When the pits were in the center, the racers had a problem with wrecks. Many times, a racecar would be coming out from the pits, and it would collide with a car that was going around the track.
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The modified division of racing then was a lot like our sprint cars now, except for the fact that the sprint cars now have wings on top for stability, even though from a spectator's point of view, it looks as if it is the cause of why they roll over so easily.
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Now, man has a tremendous hunger for power. Everyday, we are building bigger and better cars, trucks, trains, and boats. Every racecar driver wants to have the biggest, the baddest, and the fastest car on the track. To some, it may seem like these people driving these loud and noisy cars are insane or just stupid for wasting their time on racing these cars, but they aren't. They are only satisfying their need for speed, risk, and their need to be the best. They need to vent their hunger or passion for this sport.
Riverside Speedway isn't the only track around Springfield, though. There is also Willamette Speedway in Lebanon and Douglas County Speedway in Roseburg. Eugene did have a speedway, but it had closed down in 1996. This track was both paved and dirt. It shut down due to lack of funds, and the owner just got tired of having the track. This track was in very bad repair and needed much help. There were pot holes in much of the track, and no one wanted to race there. I had talked to Jeff Trotter, and he said, "The track flat out sucked. If you hit a pot hole, it would screw your alignment all out of whack." Jeff Trotter use to race for many years in the 1980s and early 1990s in modified car number 48. Hyundai is now the owner of the old Eugene Speedway.
Jason Knocks "Racin'
Jason"
Small town racing is a very enthusiastic sport that does not receive the recognition that it deserves. These drivers of racecars and the owners of the speedways devote their lives to this sport to keep it alive, and also to provide entertainment for the public. If you would like to find out when these races occur, call Steve Hulsey from Riverside Speedway at 541-942-7561, or check out their website at www.race-riverside.com
Maybe you, too, will feel the true enthusiasm that this sport has to hold.