Niagara Raceway Park
ClosedClosed No longer racing, but some of the track is still there.
Also known as Niagara International Raceway; Niagara International Dragway
- Closed before the 1975 season over a landowner-lessee dispute
- Raced
- 1961-74
- State
- New York
- What's left
- You can still spot it in aerial photos, or broken pieces of the track surface remain.
- First race
- June 18, 1961
- Last race
- 1974 season
- Location
- North side of the Niagara Falls Airport
- People
- Jerry Hamman, track operator (1961)
- Mike Mercurio, event director (1961)
- Dean Johnson, leaseholder and operator (1964-74)
- Marianne Schwartz, landowner (1975)
- Sanction
- NHRA
- Elevation
- 599 ft (183 m)
- Coordinates
- 43.11483, -78.96136
This NHRA-sanctioned track on the north side of the Niagara Falls Airport opened June 18, 1961. June 18 and 25 were preview dates, and the grand opening was July 2, 1961. Jerry Hamman operated the track and Mike Mercurio was event director. Races ran every Sunday, and the radio ads stretched out the words “Sundaaaayyyyy Niagara.” It seated 5,500 and was also called Niagara International Raceway and Niagara International Dragway. It didn’t open for 1975 because of a dispute between landowner Marianne Schwartz and Dean Johnson, who had leased and run the track since 1964.
Background
Niagara Falls International Airport is four miles east of downtown and is owned by the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority. It's a joint civil and military field, sharing runways with the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, and most of its passengers come over from Canada.
Video
