In April 2004 we celebrated my son's 10th birthday here with a night race and a ride in the pace car...had some cake and ice cream, too. Only time we made it to this track. Now that I live so close to it. I wish it were still open. Thanks for this video!
Love your video. Can't believe how the trees are growing in the stands. Over thirty years ago I walked around the Meadowdale Raceway in Illinois which closed years before that. It's all gone now with houses built on it. Love old racetracks!
Remember this track from a trip in 1976! It was a premier racing site back in it's day. A truly great race track for late model racing. So sad to see it's demise.....
I always find it interesting on how much equipment is abandoned in such places. If a place is going out of business, I would expect most of them to liquidate assets, and equipment like coolers and whatnot are assets. Also those cars are an awesome find. I am sure they have some collector value.
They are rebuilding this as a dirt track. It’s supposed to open this year. It’s going to be called I70 Motorsport Complex. It would be interesting to do a follow up video.
Loved this video. gReat explore. The place was huge!! Most definitely someone was in that trailer, saw that curtain move, angrily. Victory lap was awesome. Thanks
14:11 sounded like footsteps and 14:36 looks like u had someone watching you. Very hidden and yet extremely creepy. Should wear respirator in these places. Great video
Generic Name no, because the curtains just stopped. if it was wind they would have gone back and forth, slowly come to a stop. im not a believer in ghosts, i think someone was just in there.
Bel Ban that was a good catch, it took me 4 or 5 times to see it. My guess though is that it was just wind and the window was broke out. I doubt someone hiding would move them that much. Who knows for sure though.
That ambulance got a lot of work... no doubt ghosts are hanging about. I went there off and on from the 70s to late 80's. The carnage was unreal to the point the tried putting foam against the walls. Many stories of people losing limbs and getting hurt bad in the early days. Two drivers died in a fire in the mid 70s. Very tough track.
To whom it may concern......There is also an abandoned 1/4 (approximately) mile dirt track behind the grandstands, up on the hill, somewhere. It was built shortly after paved track shut down and ran for a few years. Never seen it, in person, but it is viewable on Google Earth. At 17:40 to 17:50 it looks like stands to dirt track, up on the right. Maybe
Edit: Apparently, both tracks were in operation, in the last few years of I-70's existence. I did not expect the place to have a Wikipedia page, but, it does.
Is a drag strip coming in 2019 ? it would be a smart move with all the late model high performance cars around... please post if this is going to happen... thanks
Its so weird when its daylight and its 8. Where I'm from, in winter it get dark around 6 pm and summer around 7pm, but by 8 its dark regardless. I was in Sweden a year back and feeling very tired, couldnt figure out why until I realized the time was around 9 or so and totally still daylight outside. Also then understood the reason for the heavy curtains in my room. and yes, I dont travel alot :P
Somebody's still on that property, given the tarps and gear seen by the treeline during the exit. Probably not wanting to be around you as much as you are from them.
I'm taking a road trip next month and I'll be passing through here, I'll probably stop and try to get some pics. You think there's a way to get a car in there? I'd love to do a victory lap with my drone filming. My car has a lot of ground clearance and pretty aggressive tires. It's my road warrior, im not worried about scratches.
No, you 100% cannot get a car in there. Even if you did some 4 wheeling to get onto the property, there is only one way onto the race track. You can see how tight that is
All you have to do is build a ramp, paint a 01 on your car and jump on in, Dukes Of Hazzard style. It was the Ghost of Waylon Jennings that was following you, by the way., Trackyard Explorer
Great video bud, this is one of the holy grail "Ghost Tracks". id love to get in someday. If youre ever around Joplin, get in contact with me. Theres a couple tracks nearby I could show you.
The maintenance family used to say the was a large python that someone had turned loose living on the back of the place. That was almost twenty years ago. They said it kept from freezing my living next to the sewage lagoon
Ive seen entrepreneurs bring back tracks like that one with just getting the track usable. The cars came and the fans! The track would be in awful condition and they just got the track and grandstnds safe and race-able and not worrying about beauty or ascetics
So sad to see such a great 1/2 mile high bank track gone to hell. She was a fast track back in her day. Vandalism and a tornado have taken its toll on it. Too bad the owner let it go to hell and wouldn't sell to save it. Odessa Missouri will never be the same.
Blight like this sort of pisses me off. Yeah,, we all went through some hard times when the crunch hit but this racetrack is a major investment with a history behind it. The owner simply walked away & didn't even take time to secure the buildings so this track could possibly live again,, he simply gave up. There's a lot of salvageable stuff I see from frame to frame & at the very least he might have gotten 10 cents on the dollar with some of this stuff doing someone else some good. The guy could have gotten creative & let locals race the track & have free family nights hoping to draw some from concessions or some promotional type deal drawing in a few local sponsors. I guess it was just easier to quit,, that seems to be the American way lots of times anymore,, limpdicks just up & walking away from tons of hard work & investment & the history of what made our nation a great place to live in. Yeah I know,, not my place,, why should I give a shit? I'm just pragmatic like that,, I would have taken this place & if nothing else,, started an auction on the infield with people selling stuff during harder times,, open something up on consignment,, cars,, construction equipment,, anything to stem the tide until things got better & maybe put the track back online for it's intended purpose once things got better. I concede I don't know the entire story behind this track,, the owner might have felt beaten down from what the financial crunch did to him. I lost half of everything I owned & I'm talkin' "seven figures" so I know what the shit did to a person's psyche,, it was indeed defeatist & the sorry ass banks looked out for #1 only,, themselves. I could borrow 7 figures in my business beforehand then suddenly overnight,, I couldn't get 5 with 3 times the collateral to put up,, sorry bastards. They however took all the TARP money they could land & went into the repo business stealing as much property back as they could for pennies on the dollar,, sorry assholes. Ok,, end of my well intentioned rant. As I said,, I don't know the whole story but it just seems with some spunk,, whoever let this place turn to ruin could have gotten off his ass,, sucked it up & lured some private money in a cut for future ownership if the numbers looked promising. Maybe they didn't,, maybe it was smarter to just say screw it. Life will beat your ass to a pulp & spit you out then ask for more. End of rant,, have a nice day to anyone indulging my long winded commentary,, "never quit",, not until every avenue's exhausted,, don't let this sorry ass world beat you down. It might kill you trying but in the end,, you can say what a lot of others can't,, I TRIED DAMNIT,, I TRIED & I GAVE 100%!! Have a nice day everyone..
Seems like a family or something owned the place and prob most of the important people passed and whoever was left was overwhelmed and just left everything there. Allot of stuff worth money cars especially do you know if it's still owned or flat or abandoned?
great video, thanks for putting it together! two things.... can't believe so much equipment and cars were just abandoned... and i'm equally amazed the local crackheads haven't scrapped every piece of metal on the property
Yes...like the many other comments: What a terrible shame to see a racetrack that had its "glory days"...with potential to make something good for the general community - IF they could afford it. But, it's over...with some salvageable things that could be reused. Seems like the racetrack pattern was not a general oval shape. As mentioned - "Nature always wins when something is abandoned."
I want to help to bring it back to life again someday it will happen I've seen it!! Habakkuk 3"For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay. This place needs to be a national museum for Auto Racing..
Buddy you really need to bring another buddy with you when you go on these excursions. What if you got knocked out from that glass?!?!?!?!Seriously, I am as old as your mother and I'm telling you to always take someone with you when you do these crazy things.best to be safe than sorry.
great job buddy. I'm glad you didn't try the ladder, too much angle for one thing. its really sad that people are so stupid they have to tear shit up. the owner could sell it and the buyer could make something out of it but no we gotta clean the busted windshield out fist. iive been with you for a while. hurry up and out grow the 2 wheel thing. I'm glad I got out of it.
Hey that's not going to happen lol. I plan on taking a couple weeks to ride to the west coast and camp the whole way. Maybe a couple videos will come out of that. Yeah, I don't think I'll ever get into the sportbike scene, but the adventure/dualsport scene is rewarding
Dude I love your videos!! I see you came close to KC I gotta lot of abandoned locations here, it be cool to share and explore these places with you! Hit me up on TH-cam messager bro
This is because our once American companies are now over seas and when families don't have extra money, this is the result. And again, loose the music.
In April 2004 we celebrated my son's 10th birthday here with a night race and a ride in the pace car...had some cake and ice cream, too. Only time we made it to this track. Now that I live so close to it. I wish it were still open. Thanks for this video!
Love your video. Can't believe how the trees are growing in the stands. Over thirty years ago I walked around the Meadowdale Raceway in Illinois which closed years before that. It's all gone now with houses built on it. Love old racetracks!
The way the trees looked growing around the stadium seats is eerie. Nice bike.
Remember this track from a trip in 1976! It was a premier racing site back in it's day. A truly great race track for late model racing. So sad to see it's demise.....
I always find it interesting on how much equipment is abandoned in such places. If a place is going out of business, I would expect most of them to liquidate assets, and equipment like coolers and whatnot are assets. Also those cars are an awesome find. I am sure they have some collector value.
The mobile home was where the Knight family lived. They all worked at the track, caretakers, maintenance, concession workers.
They are rebuilding this as a dirt track. It’s supposed to open this year. It’s going to be called I70 Motorsport Complex. It would be interesting to do a follow up video.
Loved this video. gReat explore. The place was huge!! Most definitely someone was in that trailer, saw that curtain move, angrily. Victory lap was awesome. Thanks
Watched so many races there, was such a great track when it was in operation.
So sad to see so many old historic race tracks all closed up these days.
That's why they were historic
14:11 sounded like footsteps and 14:36 looks like u had someone watching you. Very hidden and yet extremely creepy. Should wear respirator in these places. Great video
Alone, hungry, and late in the day...the triple crown of urban exploring.
1st, I love your bike it's awesome, great explore and I think you're right there was someone there. xx
I grew up going here. It was my sisters first job. It was always busy. Sad to see it like this.
How long has this place been abandoned? Not even 10 years? Amazing how nature can take over so quickly.........
sweet vid and nice bike. it sad to see a great track like I-70 sit there
at 14:36 you can see the curtains move. someone was in there.
ya i saw it, freaking creepy
I admit it does looks pretty convincing, but it was most likely the wind, since it seemed to have been a windy day there.
Generic Name no, because the curtains just stopped. if it was wind they would have gone back and forth, slowly come to a stop. im not a believer in ghosts, i think someone was just in there.
Isnt that perhaps just the wind blowing the curtains? Look at 12:55, the windows are broken and the curtains blowing freely in the wind.
Bel Ban that was a good catch, it took me 4 or 5 times to see it. My guess though is that it was just wind and the window was broke out. I doubt someone hiding would move them that much. Who knows for sure though.
Been there for the races many times when I was younger. Shame to see it in such disrepair.
P.S. Missouri has a bad habit of taxing anything into oblivion.
Great video!
That ambulance got a lot of work... no doubt ghosts are hanging about. I went there off and on from the 70s to late 80's. The carnage was unreal to the point the tried putting foam against the walls. Many stories of people losing limbs and getting hurt bad in the early days. Two drivers died in a fire in the mid 70s. Very tough track.
To whom it may concern......There is also an abandoned 1/4 (approximately) mile dirt track behind the grandstands, up on the hill, somewhere. It was built shortly after paved track shut down and ran for a few years. Never seen it, in person, but it is viewable on Google Earth. At 17:40 to 17:50 it looks like stands to dirt track, up on the right. Maybe
Edit: Apparently, both tracks were in operation, in the last few years of I-70's existence. I did not expect the place to have a Wikipedia page, but, it does.
im glad you decided not to go up the ladder. that was sketchy
I like the black firebird. :)
A great way in and out wow, very bad decayed place, you were lucky not going through the floor nice explore man.
Is a drag strip coming in 2019 ? it would be a smart move with all the late model high performance cars around... please post if this is going to happen... thanks
Yep, saw the curtains close. Wish I could've followed you on your lap with my drone.
Awesome vid! Thanks for posting.
That was really cool!
cool video love how you drove on it
Its so weird when its daylight and its 8. Where I'm from, in winter it get dark around 6 pm and summer around 7pm, but by 8 its dark regardless. I was in Sweden a year back and feeling very tired, couldnt figure out why until I realized the time was around 9 or so and totally still daylight outside. Also then understood the reason for the heavy curtains in my room. and yes, I dont travel alot :P
That was a good explore.
That place has an ineresting history, looked it up on Wikipedia.
Just one of many short tracks lost from NASCAR for the 1.5 miler
Somebody's still on that property, given the tarps and gear seen by the treeline during the exit. Probably not wanting to be around you as much as you are from them.
Nice, what kind of bike is that?
Versys 650
I'm taking a road trip next month and I'll be passing through here, I'll probably stop and try to get some pics. You think there's a way to get a car in there? I'd love to do a victory lap with my drone filming. My car has a lot of ground clearance and pretty aggressive tires. It's my road warrior, im not worried about scratches.
No, you 100% cannot get a car in there. Even if you did some 4 wheeling to get onto the property, there is only one way onto the race track. You can see how tight that is
All you have to do is build a ramp, paint a 01 on your car and jump on in, Dukes Of Hazzard style. It was the Ghost of Waylon Jennings that was following you, by the way., Trackyard Explorer
Great video bud, this is one of the holy grail "Ghost Tracks". id love to get in someday. If youre ever around Joplin, get in contact with me. Theres a couple tracks nearby I could show you.
That's an unusual track, half mile paved. Most half mile tracks were dirt. You didn't mention where it's located.
I think it was dirt for a really long time but I thing around the early 90s they paved it
The maintenance family used to say the was a large python that someone had turned loose living on the back of the place. That was almost twenty years ago. They said it kept from freezing my living next to the sewage lagoon
I attended an excellent ASA race there in the early 2000s. Just before ASA was ruined and went to the crate motor.
When you stepped on that nonfloor carpet!
Damn, sweet adventure. This was literally a race against time.
Crazy. Have always wanted to go.
Ive seen entrepreneurs bring back tracks like that one with just getting the track usable. The cars came and the fans! The track would be in awful condition and they just got the track and grandstnds safe and race-able and not worrying about beauty or ascetics
So sad to see such a great 1/2 mile high bank track gone to hell. She was a fast track back in her day. Vandalism and a tornado have taken its toll on it. Too bad the owner let it go to hell and wouldn't sell to save it. Odessa Missouri will never be the same.
it should be laserscanned into iRacing!
Theres a dirt track there on that land too
All the Friday and Saturday night TV races killed the short tracks.
One of the best maybe the best video of an abandoned race track I've seen. I've seen a few, sad really. What state is this?
Blight like this sort of pisses me off. Yeah,, we all went through some hard times when the crunch hit but this racetrack is a major investment with a history behind it. The owner simply walked away & didn't even take time to secure the buildings so this track could possibly live again,, he simply gave up. There's a lot of salvageable stuff I see from frame to frame & at the very least he might have gotten 10 cents on the dollar with some of this stuff doing someone else some good. The guy could have gotten creative & let locals race the track & have free family nights hoping to draw some from concessions or some promotional type deal drawing in a few local sponsors. I guess it was just easier to quit,, that seems to be the American way lots of times anymore,, limpdicks just up & walking away from tons of hard work & investment & the history of what made our nation a great place to live in.
Yeah I know,, not my place,, why should I give a shit? I'm just pragmatic like that,, I would have taken this place & if nothing else,, started an auction on the infield with people selling stuff during harder times,, open something up on consignment,, cars,, construction equipment,, anything to stem the tide until things got better & maybe put the track back online for it's intended purpose once things got better.
I concede I don't know the entire story behind this track,, the owner might have felt beaten down from what the financial crunch did to him. I lost half of everything I owned & I'm talkin' "seven figures" so I know what the shit did to a person's psyche,, it was indeed defeatist & the sorry ass banks looked out for #1 only,, themselves. I could borrow 7 figures in my business beforehand then suddenly overnight,, I couldn't get 5 with 3 times the collateral to put up,, sorry bastards. They however took all the TARP money they could land & went into the repo business stealing as much property back as they could for pennies on the dollar,, sorry assholes.
Ok,, end of my well intentioned rant. As I said,, I don't know the whole story but it just seems with some spunk,, whoever let this place turn to ruin could have gotten off his ass,, sucked it up & lured some private money in a cut for future ownership if the numbers looked promising. Maybe they didn't,, maybe it was smarter to just say screw it. Life will beat your ass to a pulp & spit you out then ask for more.
End of rant,, have a nice day to anyone indulging my long winded commentary,, "never quit",, not until every avenue's exhausted,, don't let this sorry ass world beat you down. It might kill you trying but in the end,, you can say what a lot of others can't,, I TRIED DAMNIT,, I TRIED & I GAVE 100%!!
Have a nice day everyone..
omg those cars! someone should try to repair them.
That Firebird though :(
I'm guessing you had pizza that night?
Nice bike mate
Seems like a family or something owned the place and prob most of the important people passed and whoever was left was overwhelmed and just left everything there. Allot of stuff worth money cars especially do you know if it's still owned or flat or abandoned?
So, do you know sublunar? or tattoo tony?
I did a count, Sublunar has been in 15 of my videos lol. Haven't explored with Tony yet, but we've talked about it.
Love sublunars explanations of places. very smart.
great video, thanks for putting it together! two things.... can't believe so much equipment and cars were just abandoned... and i'm equally amazed the local crackheads haven't scrapped every piece of metal on the property
Went to a lot of races at that place
Yes...like the many other comments: What a terrible shame to see a racetrack that had its "glory days"...with potential to make something good for the general community - IF they could afford it. But, it's over...with some salvageable things that could be reused.
Seems like the racetrack pattern was not a general oval shape. As mentioned - "Nature always wins when something is abandoned."
I want to help to bring it back to life again someday it will happen I've seen it!! Habakkuk 3"For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay. This place needs to be a national museum for Auto Racing..
yes the top floor was all announcers and VIP area, nothing else
Have you ever ran into anyone at a site?
It's coming back in 2019!
Buddy you really need to bring another buddy with you when you go on these excursions. What if you got knocked out from that glass?!?!?!?!Seriously, I am as old as your mother and I'm telling you to always take someone with you when you do these crazy things.best to be safe than sorry.
Nice intro
Geez! Someone save the Firebird!
great job buddy. I'm glad you didn't try the ladder, too much angle for one thing.
its really sad that people are so stupid they have to tear shit up. the owner could sell it and the buyer could make something out of it but no we gotta clean the busted windshield out fist.
iive been with you for a while. hurry up and out grow the 2 wheel thing. I'm glad I got out of it.
Hey that's not going to happen lol. I plan on taking a couple weeks to ride to the west coast and camp the whole way. Maybe a couple videos will come out of that. Yeah, I don't think I'll ever get into the sportbike scene, but the adventure/dualsport scene is rewarding
ok just be careful, stay safe. sounds like a nice trip.
remember, you have to watch out for everyone else, they don't watch out for you.
Ok it's time to buy I 70 after its been renovated
Pre-ban Blitz gas can, nice score 14:22
Seriously though. Those are hard to find and the new gas cans are awful
They have reopened this race trace turned it into dirt track and brought it back to life
Dude I love your videos!! I see you came close to KC I gotta lot of abandoned locations here, it be cool to share and explore these places with you! Hit me up on TH-cam messager bro
..I might be crazy, but i think there was someone there.
@11 minutes. I would have taken that book. A VIP book.... Just think who could have signed it????
I have a bike like that. Kawasaki Versys 650
2020 she's back as a Dirt Track...TY Fans...
This is because our once American companies are now over seas and when families don't have extra money, this is the result. And again, loose the music.
Wtf?
it would be a good place for a Solar Panel farm