So why am I subjecting us to this misery? Because we're there to listen to race cars. There's a great field of entrants today, and the sound of flathead V8s, modded small block Chevys, and Offey-powered dirt cars are enough to make any car guy swoon.
There's a great crowd on hand for today's racing action, too, and the smell of cheap hotdogs and soft pretzels wafts across the grandstands in a delicious haze.
Then I feel a tugging at my jacket. "Can we go now?"
Suddenly, the cars stop running and the crowd quiets. I open my eyes and, once again, I realize we're still standing out in the rain. I start looking around for the stands, the pits, all the modified race cars. But they're nowhere to be found. All that I see is a McMansion with a manicured lawn.
Where we're standing is the approximate location of what used to be turn three at Condon Raceway, just west of what is now Eldersburg, MD.
Years ago, I was talking to an older gent who mentioned there had once been a race track in that general area. Over the years, I never came across anyone else who knew about it, much less its true location, and it got shelved in my mind. A recent conversation with a car-guy friend reminded me of it, and I went in search of more info.
Condon Speedway was a third-mile dirt track oval that ran modifieds from 1953-1959. No one particularly famous ever raced there, yet for almost seven seasons, the men who brought out their cars and ran along the knife-edge of adhesion that is dirt track racing were heroes in their own right. Names like Mullinex, Morgan and Culp are still well known in the area, even if their history, and that of Condon Speedway, is not.
Sadly, the last remnants of the track have been long since erased from the landscape. But if you park along the gate of trees on Gina Court, take pause. If you squint through the daylight, you'll see the ghosts of a mechanic tuning a carburetor, a young man selling programs, and the sound of vintage cars powering their way to victory.
But if you smell hotdogs, odds are it's just one of the neighbors having a cookout.
Special thanks to Larry Jendras, Jr. for his patience in answering all my questions, and helping to keep alive the motorsports history of Maryland.
Arial view of Condon Speedway vicinity, 1995.
If you look closely, you can still see the oval's outline through the trees.
If you look closely, you can still see the oval's outline through the trees.
Photo courtesy of Google Earth.
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Nice to see the memory of Condon Speedway resurface. As a young teen, my parents moved from Baltimore to Carroll County within walking distance of George Condon, and I remember the track and the grandstands, mostly grown over by then.
ReplyDeleteHow well I remember George’s daily driver even into the early 70’s, a 1933 Ford three window, faded red body with black fenders … and the coolest lettering on both doors - ‘Condon’s Speedway, Routes 26 and 32’. Which even then I thought was peculiar, being that the track was at least three miles west of the intersection. But of course, in the 50’s, there were no real landmarks nearby, so that was as good a reference as any.
There was one name that raced there though, Fireball Roberts … who was nicknamed for his fastball while in the minor leagues, but ironically died from burns he suffered in a race at Charlotte.
I well remember the hot rod George built from the fuel tank of a fighter bomber, the belly pan racer. He had some cool stuff in his expansive garage, that would be worth a fortune today, but was all auctioned off years ago when he passed.
George was an eccentric, and I spent countless hours with him … and also with his nephews, the Ridenours - Cliff, Jim and George … and had the pleasure and honor of jamming with the nephews … playing back then what is now known as ‘classic rock’ … ahh … the memories!
Best of regards from Tom Henigman
First race track I ever went to as a very young kid. My brother caught the racing fever there and raced for 16 years at other tracks.
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