PINE GROVE SPEEDWAY - SHIPPENVILLE PA
Racing at the speedway began on May 30th, 1950. The promoter at the time was Glenn Rupert. Throughout 1950, Pine Grove alternated between racing roadsters, midgets, and big cars. NASCAR sanctioned weekly sportsman racing from 1950-1954, maybe even other years. The track hosted a Grand National Race on October 14th, 1951 and the purse for the race was $3,450. This track was a 1/2 mile dirt oval that hosted one Cup event. I guess the most unusual thing is that THREE Cup events were held on the same day. On Oct. 14, 1951, NASCAR sanctioned three races: a 100-mile race on the dirt at half-mile
Martinsville Speedway, a race of similar length at a half-mile dirt track north of Pittsburgh known as Pine Grove Speedway and a 250-miler at high-banked Oakland Stadium in California. With a tight battle for the championship, the top three drivers in the points standings each chose a different venue. Points leader Herb Thomas and most of the Cup regulars stayed close to home and comprised the 23-car field at Martinsville. Fonty Flock towed Frank Christian's #14 Red Devil out west, while brother Tim Flock -- running third in the standings -- chose to make the trip to Shippenville, Pa. Atlanta's Frank Mundy, who had been tabbed as a fill-in by owner Ted Chester in the #7 Gray Ghost Oldsmobile got the win at Martinsville. Tim Flock, driving Chester's other car -- the Black Phantom, won the pole, led all 200 laps and got the win. John McGinley was second and Billy Carden third. Out in Oakland, Flock had a new powerful Oldsmobile; but the locals had an advantage on the fast 5/8 mile track with 62 degree banked turns. Marvin Burke would win with Fonty Flock finishing a distant eleventh place. In 1957, Ralph Quarterson became promoter and ran modifieds and late models. However, disaster struck. During a 100-lap, 1957 Memorial Day race when a wheel came off of Ted Wise’s modified and flew into the grandstand, killing two children, and injuring three others. Pine Grove never hosted another Cup race
and eventually was shut down in the late '50s. However, the outline of the track can still seen south of Shippenville on satellite images.
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