Sanatoga Speedway (Pottstown)

Sanatoga Speedway, a fifth-mile oval dating to 1939, was in Sanatoga Park on South Park Road, east of Pottstown. In May 1958 owner George “Kilroy” Marshman began building a paved drag strip beside it, before the Pottstown zoning board had approved it. Approval came in late July and work went on, but torrential rain slowed it, and the hoped-for August 9 opening slipped. The Chester Times reported on August 30 that a night opener was set for September 6, with about 300 racers expected from several states and trophies in thirty-five classes. It was pushed back to September 13, and before that date papers said the opening was postponed indefinitely. By December 1958 the news was about legal fights, as a group of Sanatoga residents tried again to stop the strip. In July 1959 the zoning board of adjustment upheld its earlier approval, and the Montgomery County court backed the board. That cleared the way to finish it, but with the cost at $60,000, Marshman apparently gave up on the drag strip and kept to oval racing. Aerial photos show no trace of the speedway.