My interview with Tommy Trader

Updated on Sunday, March 31, 2019 at 8:05 PM by Logan Molen

I had the pleasure of talking Monday with Tommy Trader, a Hanford car salesman also known as one of the more successful drivers to race at Marchbanks Speedway. 

Trader was a big name in Central California tracks in the mid-1950s and helped me fill in some blanks I've had about the track during that period between NASCAR dates in 1951 and 1960-61 and leading up to the transformation from dirt-clay tracks into a paved tri-oval superspeedway. 

Trader let me borrow a bunch of wonderful old newspaper clippings and personal photos, two of which I've posted here. 

The 1953 aerial photo of the track shows the third-mile oval inside the half-mile oval, as well as a rodeo arena and what the back of the photo describes as a road course (note the oddly white surface). Destruction derby races also were held in the rodeo ground area in front of the grandstands. 

I'll post more later when I update the main track history story but here are some highlights of my conversation with a gregarious gentleman nearing 80 years old who is filled with great stories:

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My interview with Gary Marchbanks

I had the privilege of recently interviewing Gary Marchbanks, a former co-owner of Hanford Motor Speedway and the grandson of Marchbanks Speedway founder B.L. "Bircha" Marchbanks. 

This wonderful ticket brochure for the 1961 NASCAR race contains a nice map showing the various layouts at Marchbanks Speedway (link opens PDF of brochure)We chatted at his Hanford farm for about 90 minutes on a variety of things. While I still have many questions about the track's history (particular specific dates for any number of things), Gary filled in more than a few blanks and lent me a boxful of old newspaper clippings and other documents (including this attached wonderful trifold brochure for the 1961 NASCAR race) that I will write about in the future. The visit was very fruitful and will really fill out the history I've started so far. 

Here are some highlights of things we touched on:

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Reader: Hanford 250 "the best auto race I have ever seen"

Reader Mike Franovich emailed some compliments, as well as some memories of the Hanford 250 Champ Car race in November 1968, which he described as "the best auto race I have ever seen."

In justifying that statement, Franovich wrote:

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