Readers share recollections of racing at Marchbanks, Hanford

Got two emails this weekend from readers with interesting observations of the track as drivers and spectators. 

First was from Bob Dayton, who shared a great story of being a Fresno State student who took a road trip in 1959 that led he and his Porsche 356B coupe to what must have been the brand new 2.5-mile Marchbanks road course. In a series of email exchanges, Dayton wrote:

"It all started at a PCA (Porsche Club of America) meeting one night to go find this 2 1/2-mile high speed racetrack, Marchbanks Stadium. Oren Crumbly wanted to test his tube frame VW & I wanted to try racing the Porsche. Ken, a possible buyer for my Porsche, and I set out for Marchbanks with Oren. ...

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Updates to Marchbanks history

After months of scattered research and a few personal interviews, I just finished a bunch of updates to "History of Marchbanks Speedway, aka Hanford Motor Speedway." 

I've updated the track history in several posts in the Marchbanks section, but needed to add some of that and more to the main history.

Among the changes were to:

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Details of 1957 death at Marchbanks

I know I'm behind on making updates to the main Marchbanks history, and will make those in the coming days.

But I wanted to add this quick note about a third death at Marchbanks Stadium/Hanford Motor Speedway.

You may recall in my interview with Gary Marchbanks that he mentioned a third death at the track, of which I had no knowledge. I previously had uncovered details about the deaths of Arlen Smith in 1956 and James "Red" Stainton in 1969.

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