Lebanon Valley Speedway - Lebanon, NY
Posted by: 
genegene
N 42° 29.426 W 073° 29.249
18T E 624297 N 4705339
The dirt oval opened on June 28th, 1953, operating through 1955, and then reopening in 1957. A 1/4 mile paved oval ran Legends cars from 1994 through 1995. A 1/5 mile dirt figure 8 course has been used for special events since 2002.
Waymark Code: WM804K
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 01/01/2010
Views: 7
The track had a rocky beginning, back in 1953. It had very bad track conditions on opening day and was closed entirely on week 2 for repairs. It ran along for a few years and they decided it needed major renovations. So, in 1956, it didn't open at all. Then, they added those high banks and a new surface. In 1957, they tried running Friday nights - to attract cars from Fonda or Stateline, but it didn't work well.
They began to realize their strong point would be local cars. The track had tried some mid-week shows, for the locals, but soon was forced to go to Saturday nights for the ultimate showdown with Fonda. It worked, and the rest is history. They started developing a strong local base, along with cars from as far away as Stafford Springs and Middletown. I recall the Valley management putting on a demo race at the Rutland Fair in 1960, and it seemed like a very strong, cohesive group. By the later '60's, Fonda was ticking off a lot of people and a migration from there to the Valley brought teams like Pete Corey, Bill Wimble, Jerry Townley [Pop Wilcox car], Jack Farquhar [Vince Barbuto car], and Chuck Kress - to name a few.
The track tinkered with various schemes over the years, including late model bodies on what were basically sportsman cars. This was the era of Link Pettit and that bunch from Great Barrington, MA. Their #200 was a big winner during that time period. Even Pete Corey had to put aside his coupes and build a '55 Chevy to run there when he became furious with Fonda [as only Pete could get] and decided to run the Valley. Many Valley regulars, who had endured roughness from Corey in earlier days, were not happy to see him and often sent his beautiful cars home to Crescent all wadded up.
If you would like to read more about the earlier days of Lebanon Vally Speedway and to see pics of the cars, please go to: (
visit link)
Hours of opperation and prices:
Pit Gate Opens @ 3pm
Front Gate Opens @ 5pm
Racing Starts @ 6pm
General Admission (Adult) $10.00 12 & Over
General Admission (Child) $2.00 11 & Under
Reserved Seating $11.00 Regardless of Age
Tower Seating $16.00 Regardless of Age
Roof Seating $16.00 Regardless of Age