Shangri-La Speedway was a speedway in Owego, New York. It was a half-mile (0.8 km) oval race track facility. Over a span of fifty years, Shangri-La hosted automobile races of various kinds, including a NASCAR Grand National race in 1952, AAA Championship Cars, stock cars, Modifieds, Supermodifieds, and supporting classes. Shangri-La's weekly racing was widely considered among the best in the sport during several different periods, including years when nine-time NASCAR National Modified Champion Richie Evans and seven-time NASCAR National Modified Champion Jerry Cook were regulars. The facility also included an eighth-mile (0.2 km) drag strip and a tenth-mile oval track for microds (a type of wooden-bodied go-kart raced in many clubs in upstate New York). Its formal name was changed to Shangri-La Motor Speedway (in use from 1979 to 1991) and to Tioga Motorsports Park (in use from 1991 to 2005), but most racers and fans still referred to it as "Shangri-La".
Track History[]
Shangri-La Speedway was opened in 1946 by Bill Owen who planned and built the track with help of family members; was re-opened in 1959 by a group of area drag racers; and was re-opened in 1962 by Fran Gitchell. It was closed in 1956 due to neglect and small crowds; was closed in 1959 after a few drag events; and was finally closed for good after 2005 to allow gravel mining from the property. The track itself still stands but the parking lot and camping area is dug out and the track is an island.
Photo Gallery[]
Weekly featured division and sanctioning body[]
- 1946-48: ESRA (Eastern States Racing Association) Sprints
- 1949: ESRA Sprints and unsanctioned Stock Cars
- 1950-56: unsanctioned Stock Cars
- 1959: NASCAR drag racing
- 1962-64: unsanctioned Supermodifieds and Modifieds
- 1965-72: unsanctioned Modifieds
- 1973-75: NASCAR Modifieds
- 1976-78: NEARA (Northeast Auto Racing Association) Modifieds
- 1979-xx: NASCAR Modifieds
- 19xx-2005: unsanctioned Modifieds
Visits by major touring series[]
- 1946-48: AAA Championship Cars, AAA Sprint Cars
- 1952: NASCAR Grand National (won by Tim Flock)
- 1970: All-Star Racing League
- 1979-91: ISMA (International SuperModified Association) Supermodifieds
- 1987-88: American IndyCar Series
- 198x: NASCAR Busch Grand National North
- 1994: NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
Track regulars who went on to Cup racing[]
References[]
- "Through the Years at Shangri-La: The Final Chapter". Monnat, Michael E. Gater Racing News, August 26, 2005.
- Bourcier, Bones. RICHIE!: The Fast Life and Times of NASCAR's Greatest Modified Driver (1st ed., 2004). Newburyport, Massachusetts, USA: Coastal 181. ISBN 0-9709854-6-0.