Mayor D. Michael Collins waved the green flag, and dozens of tires squealed as they pushed to catch up to their engines. A wall of wind, smelling like hot oil and rubber, gusted through the tall chain fence and into the metal bleachers. Fans waved to the racers as they sped away. It was a Friday summer night, and Toledo Speedway had a race.
The Toledo Speedway sits north of the Jeep plant, just off of I-75 on Benore Rd. It was built in 1960, when it held its first race with go-karts on a dirt track. A year later, the owner, Herb Koester, used his asphalt company to pave the track. Fifty four years after that first dirt race, drivers still come to compete nearly every weekend from late April to early September.
130 mph average speed
Cars at the Speedway race at an average speed of 130 miles per hour. To sit in the stands, just a few yards from the track, is as unnerving as it is exhilarating. The engines rip and pop while the cars fly within inches of each other. Exhaust pipes spit fire on each turn. It is not just the crashes that fans are prepared to see—which are inevitable—but also the unending tension knowing that a collision could come at any moment.
“The speed attracts people,” said Scott Schultz, the Speedway’s General Manager and Marketing Director. Schultz has worked at the track since 1968, since he was 10 years old. “It gets in your blood,” said Schultz.
A figure-eight track sits inside the half-mile outside raceway. It is a small and precarious path towards collision. As soon as the lead racers push ahead, the leaders begin crossing through the middle intersection at the same time as the cars lagging behind them. And it’s not just cars that cross. The Speedway puts schoolbuses and minivans on the figure eight track, as well as two-car teams connected by a hitch and cars towing boats.
“Look out!” shouts the announcer, Gary Lindahl, each time two vehicles graze each other in the center of the figure eight, which is often. Lindahl can rattle off five identical, consecutive “look outs” with the ease of someone repeatedly pressing a key on a keyboard. “I want everyone to be entertained,” he said.
The Race
Brad Keselowski, a star on the NASCAR circuit who honed his skills at Toledo Speedway, appeared in a hoodie and jeans to introduce the night’s main race, the Miller Light 100. Toledo Speedway hosts races sponsored by the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA), which has been a breeding ground for some of America’s best racers. Keselowski took the mic, “Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines!”
Twenty three cars began the race, with drivers from Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and North Carolina. Drivers included a 17-year-old boy, a middle-aged woman, and someone simply known as “The Hurricane.” The pace car led out, then ducked into the pits, and the racers were off.
One hundred laps on a half mile track—where one lap lasts a dozen seconds—leaves little time for relaxation. The sounds of whizzing engines were so constant that Lindahl’s booming announcer voice became warbled, as if it were traveling through a long tunnel. The only break in the action came after car wrecks. And there were a few. Only 10 cars finished the race.
The end of the race smelled like the fresh cindered aftermath of a fireworks display. In the winners’ circle stood Nick Bailey, from Toledo. He took the lead on lap 75 and held it the rest of the way. “It’s amazing,” said Bailey after holding his trophy in one hand and his young family in the other. People took his photo from every direction. But soon he had to move off the track to make room for the next race. New racers were lined up. It was time for the Minivan Road Rage.
The Toledo Speedway is at 5625 Benore Rd.
Call 419-729-9182 or to to ToledoSpeedway.com for more information.
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Dorian Slaybod is 28, a local attorney
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and happily living in Toledo.
