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Senior Moment From Russ Dodge:
A Fair Story To Track
The Senior moments photo above by Harry Seehousz, shows the
outline of the Cumberland County Fairgrounds which was located on Fayette
Street in Bridgeton, N.J. The facility was located there from the 1890's
until it moved to a new location in Carmel, N.J. in 1968.
Like most county fairs of that period a track existed for horse racing of
some type. The one in Bridgeton, along with adding Wild West shows, also
featured Big Car auto racing in the 1930's. (I can't continue
without interjecting that Bridgeton's racing legend Elton Hildreth says he
drove and won the first race of his career at the local fairgrounds at the
age of 14!) While auto racing wasn't held after the 30's I recall
motorcycles raced there during the fair dates up into the 1960's
In 1968 the County Fair relocated to a more spacious facility away from the
city to Carmel, N.J. The Cumberland County fair which has a Millville, N.J.
address, has an oval which is used for pony races, demo-derby's and truck
pulls and other events.
The fairgrounds with its oval is located off of Sherman Ave. about 6 miles
West of the location of the old Vineland Speedway and would share the same
exit off of Rt. 55, if the speedway were still operating today.
In 1971 Harmony Speedway was operating under the direction of the Tri-State
owners organization, who were looking for a second track to sanction. A
visit was made to Cumberland County Fair president Bob Wheaton to inquire
about using that facility for stock car racing. Mr. Wheaton was very
congenial but said that there was too much resistance from the town of
Millville and that they would never allow it.
During the winter months 0f 1972 a new speedway was being planned to be
located in Bridgeport, N.J. Contacted was made with Vineland businessman and
County Freeholder Pete Marcacci setting up a meeting for him and Leon
Manchester who represented the Bridgeport group. Pete was a former stock car
owner and official at the old Vineland Speedway. It was felt this was the
best chance to get the new speedway located at the Cumberland County
Fairgrounds. Pete assured us that he personally liked the idea but said it
would never happen. He conveyed the same message that Bob Wheaton had told
us earlier about too much resistance from the city of Millville,
particularly the clergy at that time.
Bridgeport went on to be built on Floodgate Road where it is today. This was
actually not the primary location of choice following the "no go" at
Cumberland. The speedway as originally presented to planners at the time
would have located the speedway on the N.E. corner of the intersection of
Rt.322 and Rt.295! The local government said that that land was too
valuable for a racetrack and that land would be developed into a Mall or
retail stores! If the speedway was built on a farm on Floodgate Road,
it's permits would clear.
When Langhorne Speedway's grandstand and guardrail steel was salvaged for
use in building Bridgeport, it was actually first brought to the Rt.322
location, with the excess unused beams stacked there for several years after
Bridgeport opened.
40 years have passed since the attempt to expand the utilization of the
Cumberland County Fairgrounds which still hosts it annual fair with its
limited motor sports program. The corner property on Rt..322 still is
undeveloped, I believe. Bridgeport Speedway is operating this year with a
major change in its weekly program and the town of Millville has the New
Jersey Motorsports Park!
What if ?....... I wonder!
Senior Moment By Russ Dodge |