History
In the late 1940s, the dirt-surfaced Breckenridge Oval opened on the site. In 1952, the oval was shortened and paved as a 1/4 mile asphalt oval, and the facility was renamed Speedway Park. The oval had seating for 8,000.
In 1967, the 1/4 mile drag strip opened, and had a full length of 4,350 feet (1,326 m). The following year in 1968, the road course opened in time for the first Can-Am race. Over the years, the facility also hosted Formula Atlantic, Formula 1600, Formula 5000, Trans-Am, as well as NHRA-sanctioned drag racing.
Qualico Developments was the track owner in the latter years, and closed the track in 1982 to convert the land to housing. Edmonton would be without any form of professional racing until Capital City Raceway Park opened in 1991.
David Cronenberg's 1979 movie Fast Company was primarily filmed at Edmonton International Speedway.
Read more about this topic: Edmonton International Speedway
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“We aspire to be something more than stupid and timid chattels, pretending to read history and our Bibles, but desecrating every house and every day we breathe in.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Let us not underrate the value of a fact; it will one day flower in a truth. It is astonishing how few facts of importance are added in a century to the natural history of any animal. The natural history of man himself is still being gradually written.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“It may be well to remember that the highest level of moral aspiration recorded in history was reached by a few ancient Jews—Micah, Isaiah, and the rest—who took no count whatever of what might not happen to them after death. It is not obvious to me why the same point should not by and by be reached by the Gentiles.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)