Mid America Raceway is located west of Wentzville, MO on Point Prairie Road. The track opened around 1963, but I am not sure of the date. (If anyone has that information, please email me.) The track is a long drag strip with a road course running through the woods from each end. The drag strip runs the opposite direction of the road course. The length has been quoted at 2.80 to 2.86 miles. I've been around it several times in a car with a speedometer, but unfortunately, I was a bit too busy to check the mileage.
Mid America was host to the stock car racing on one of its first events. So the story goes, this is the reason for the lumpy and uneven pavement that plagued it for its entire history. Whether that is the reason or not, I do not really know. The second Trans Am event was held at MAR, the first was at Sebring in 1966. Several notable drivers have come to race here and several came from here. Names like Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti, Paul Newman, Bob Spooner, Bill Boemler, Mack Yates, John Martin, Dick Durant, Bob Klempel, Jim Boehm, Ray Williams, Bob Hubbard, Dave Jones, Dennis Wilson, John Reihl, Mark Weber, Bernie Sunier, Terry McKenna, and Dorsey Schroeder are but a few who raced here.
The track closed to road racing in 1984. I've heard lots of stories, lots of reasons, but they are all hearsay, so I won't go into them. Apparently, the relationship between the owner and the St. Louis Region SCCA had been less than excellent for many years and building St. Louis International (a drag strip) into a road course helped trigger the end of road racing at MAR. If anyone has stories about what actually happened over the years, please email me and I'll post them here, with your permission, of course.
These pictures are from the time period of 1977 to 1983. Unfortunately, I do not know all those pictured, so if you see someone I haven't identified, please email me and I'll add their names and information.
http://www.na-motorsports.com/Tracks/MidAmerica.html - Richard Welty's North American Motorspooorts site has a good description of the track plus a track map.
http://www.kcrscca.org/lizard/lizard.htm - The Leaping Lizards corner crew from Kaaansas City. They worked events at MAR and have their own website.
http://www.midamericaraceway.com - The official site for MAR, although it is mainly concerned with its current day drag racing and has nothing about the past as a road course.
http://www.aliensview.com/index.php?option=com_detail&Itemid=1000&id=7344 - Satellite photo of Mid America Raceway, similar to Google Earth.
|
Notice Directly from The Owners of Mid America Raceway | ||
| January 10, 2005 |
MAR has not been sold yet. The track is completely intact with the exception of 2 sets of bleachers that have been moved. We are making no plans for a return to racing activity as my message on our web page states. Thanks |
Click on any of the race dates to see the photos from that event. Most are in color but there are some black and white.
| 1971 Formula B and Formula Ford | Racing photos from Roger Riekenberg. |
| 1977 IMSA Camel GT Races | Racing photos from Kent Woolery of the 1977 Camel GT race. |
| October 1977 Boone Trail Corvette Club NCCC Event | Racing photos from the weekend with Boone Trail Corvette Club of O'Fallon, MO. |
| September 1978 St. Louis Region SCCA National Regional | Racing photos from the weekend. Corvettes, Camaros, A Sports Racers, B Sports Racers, and more. Ray Williams, Walt Kopecky, and Morris Clement are a few of the drivers shown. |
| April 1980 St. Louis Region SCCA Drivers School | Racing photos from the drivers school weekend. |
| September 1980 St. Louis Region SCCA Race | Racing photos from the weekend. One highlight was the ultra light that landed on the main straight. A low point was Walt Kopecky's Corvette and Mack Yate's Cobra having an incident. |
| September 1981 St. Louis Region SCCA National Regional | Racing photos from the weekend. Dick Durant, Dave Jones, and Barry Heuer are a few of the drivers shown. |
| May 1982 St. Louis Region SCCA National Regional | Racing photos from the weekend. Paul Newman was here for some racing with the Datsun. |
| July 1982 St. Louis Region SCCA Regional | Photos from the weekend. |
| September 1982 St. Louis Region SCCA National | Photos from the weekend. |
| Photos from 2000 | Photos from Mid America Raceway in 2000. |
| Flashback Racing | Photos and short story of Craig Leinicke and Flashback Racing at MAR and elsewhere. |
For a look at the old days of MAR drag racing, check this site:
| http://www.freespaces.com/fadedmemories/ | Faded Memories - Drag racing at Mid America Raceway. Includes pictures from the early days to the most recent, including the Mid America Raceway Reunions. Also are track aerial photos. |
| http://www.hotrodder.com/trackforum/gallery/index.htm | |
| http://www.hotrodder.com/trackforum/gallery/images/MAR_staginglanes.jpg | The staging lanes at Mid America Raceway. |
If you can identify any of these people, please with their names. Thanks.
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Updated October 12, 2006
© Copyright 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 2000 - 2006 by Mike Cobine, All rights reserved.
