Silver Spring Speedway

 Track History

1953-2005

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It started on a Wednesday night in 1954 ... and almost ended after just a few weeks. More than 50 years later, Silver Spring Speedway stood as one of the most popular destinations in central Pennsylvania for race enthusiasts. Ground was broken in the fall of 1953, on the 3/8 mile semi-banked clay oval after the Penn-Mar Racing Club approached Cumberland County businessman Ray Garver Sr. about building an auto track for the club. By the following summer, the new speedway was ready for action. The club intended to offer a regular schedule of Wednesday night races. But, that strategy was changed after just one event, with the action moving to Saturdays. A few shows later, feeling it had a less than spectacular debut, the club abandoned Silver Spring Speedway. After the 1954 season Ray Garver, a successful market operator, hired W.A. Kreitzer Jr. as speedway manager.  Silver Spring’s track off the Carlisle Pike, north of Mechanicsburg, featured the Super Sportsman division, probably the most loyally followed class in the mid-state. The jalopies that were raced in the early days gave way to the stock car in 1962 and evolved into the Sportsman cars. The Sportsmans were allowed to have overhead cam engines starting in 1969, and in 1978 saw the introduction of torsion bar suspensions to the division, the cars of today feature an open cockpit like the sprinters, but have less power. They use carburetors, clutches, and starters unlike the sprinters. The division during their running at track was the most competitive of any, with an average of 50 cars vying for the 26 spots in a regular 25-lap feature. The sportsman became so poplar that a touring division was formed in 1986, giving the teams the chance to race at other local tracks. Also, in 1962, a new class, the Hobby Division, was formed. A car could be claimed for $129. The Hobby cars were renamed Early Modifieds in 1973 and progressed into the Limited Late Models.  1982 saw the start of the Street Stock division. The track also would hold other types of racing (Go-Karts, 410/358 Sprints, Midgets, Micro Sprint, 4 cyl. Cars and others). Many drivers raced at Silver Spring Speedway, with some families having brothers, cousins, uncles nephews, dads, sons and even daughters racing over the years. When talking to people that have gone to the track one thing keeps coming up. They say they remember this and that. People remember Alan Kreitzer and Howie Locke, just as kids playing with their little cars in the dirt. The same story can be said years later about little Jake Jones. He would be found in the dirt playing with his cars. When he got older he also raced at Silver Spring Speedway. Almost every Saturday 1 or 2 little kids would be in front of the stands playing with their cars. As time changed it was not just the boys making small race tracks in the dirt. The girls had to help. Was this were our drivers came from? One of the long standing rules at the track was no woman were allowed in the pits. Well that gave way with time, and you would see mothers, wives, and sisters working on the race cars. There were also female drivers that have raced at the spring’s. It was a family track that always felt like home to a lot of race teams.

OFFICIAL SILVER SPRING SPEEDWAY ANNOUNCEMENT

It is said that the only thing that remains constant is change.
In the coming year and hereafter, there will be a big change in the
landscape along the Carlisle Pike in Mechanicsburg.
Having hosted Saturday evening auto racing programs every year since its inaugural
season in 1953 the Silver Spring Speedway will not open for the 2006 season. 
The speedway property will be razed for the construction of a shopping center....read more

                                                                              
        1964 Aerial Shot of Silver Spring Speedway                                             1965

                                                                          
                       1958 Banquet                                                             1966 Banquet

Back row left to right:  Bobby Gerhart, Bobby Brymesser, Earman Fulk,
Bill Miller, Ken Fortna, Ed Leiss, Bob Danner




1963 Banquet

Left to right:  Ken Hurley, Nick Turo, Eldon Townsend
 

From 1954 to 2005 Silver Spring Speedway ran over 2500 feature
events with 120 track champions and 20 sportsman tour
champions crowned.  The most feature wins for each division of car are:

Sportsman                      Gary Wolford       86 wins

Limited Late Models         Ed Jones             61 wins

Street Stocks                   Richie Hughes     36 wins

[1954 Results]

Starting in 1975 the track held the first annual ”Sportsman 100”
And the winner of the race was Fred Putney. At the 31st annual
“Sportsman 100” in 2005, Dave Calaman was the winner.

Then in 1976 we saw the “Late Model 50”  begin.
Its first winner was Don Comerer.
Later named the Paul Orendo Memorial Late model 50,
was won by Carl Billet in 2005.

1995 was the start of the “Street Stock 40”.  The first winner was
Dan Cline and the winner in 2005 was Wes Alleman.  

             The track also hosted many special races for other types of
racing over the years.  These races varied from the BIG ONE for Go-karts
to one of the yearly shows for the 410 sprints PA SPEEDWEEK.
The BIG ONE was a 1 day event at the end of the season that would
start at 8:00am and run well into the late night with over 500 competitors.  

             A fan favorite, The PA SPEEDWEEK show featured the very
fast 410 winged Sprint cars on the tight 3/8^th mile track.
The final Speedweek show at the track was won by Lance Dewease on June 29^th 2005.
The first ever sprint car race was won by Lynn Paxton in 1971.
The fastest ever lap was turned by Lucas Wolf in 2005.

The Silver Spring Speedway was also a fan friendly track.
After the races, the pits were opened up for the fans to go
meet the drivers and their race teams. The teams got a big
kick out of the people coming down that it eventually turned
into a big cook-out. This would sometimes go on till the early
morning hours with some of the people waiting for the flea market
to open on Sunday morning. Also one of the race team’s favorite
events was the big wheel/ bike races for the kids. While the kids
raced down the front stretch, the drivers and race teams would
line the inside wall to cheer on the kids. It was a role reversal of
sort for the kids and drivers. From powder puff races, mechanics
races, to the holiday fireworks, the Silver Spring Speedway was
a place for the whole family. In September 2002, Mike and
Theresa Stoner said "I do" at the track in front of a crowd of
15,000, during the Sportsman 100.  

We will never forget the 3 minute clock that stood high above
the main grandstand. It was used to warn the teams when
the features were going to start. When the last light on the clock
went out the announcer (Jack Frazier) would ask the fans
“What time is it?” and they would yell “It’s feature time!”.

Other things are the drive-in movie theater out past the 4^th turn,
the winning driver interviews.
And the great food at the concession stands.

But the last thing we will remember is Alan on the grader during
intermission making sure the track was at its best for the feature.

         Harrisburg Patriot News for the first race at Silver Spring.

 from Steve Bubb

from Steve Bubb

The Last Lap The event was held on December 24th, 2005 Click above image to view more