Videogame build plots modern-day NASCAR on Hanford Motor Speedway

Fans of the NASCAR Racing 2003 Season computer game have had the chance to download a “fictional modernized build” of Hanford Motor Speedway, and drive 2003 Model NASCAR Cup cars around the 1.375-mile tri-oval. 

The build was created by @gone-sovereign, self-described as a “​​Trans woman. Aspiring graphic designer, digital artist and musician. Avid motorsports fanatic. Otherwise just your average emo/punk rock bitch.” 

The video here is of Version 2 made available in October 2003. A subsequent Version 3 has undergone 16 revisions, the most recent in December 2024. 

@gone-sovereign's rendering of Hanford Motor SpeedwayThis build is only the second known video or computer game featuring Marchbanks and/or Hanford Motor Speedway. An Xbox game titled Indianapolis 500 Evolution released in 2009 included Hanford Motor Speedway among its track options. 

In adding a Hanford build to the NASCAR Racing 2003 Season options, @gone-sovereign wrote, “I assembled this build based on photo and video reference, Google Earth, and this track's appearance in Indianapolis 500: Evolution for the XBOX 360, which I own a physical copy of, and is in fact how I came to know about this track's existence! My goal in doing this was simply to try and preserve this track's memory in whatever little ways I could.” 

@gone-sovereign nicely credited me for research that went into her build, writing, “This track is a 1.375-mile tri-oval (though it was billed as 1.4 miles in the 60's). Turn 1 is progressively banked from 17 to 22 degrees, with Turns 2 and 3 being banked 8 and 12 degrees, respectively. There's also an infield lake that was used for drag boats, which I had scaled down slightly. If anyone wishes to make a period-accurate version of this track, I would endorse it, but be aware that this layout is roughly accurate to the tri-oval configuration that existed prior to 1967, after which point the first turn had been reconfigured and the track was widened to 90 feet.” 

Well done, @gone-sovereign!

Hanford museum opens Marchbanks exhibit

I’m thrilled with the news that the Carnegie Museum of Kings County in Hanford has unveiled an exhibit on Marchbanks Speedway, which runs through Dec. 19, 2021. 

The exhibit is a long time coming, and I’m happy museum President Jack Schwartz has finally gotten this effort to the finish line. I have communicated with Jack several times over the past year regarding this exhibit, and I know how passionate he is about shedding light on Marchbanks in all its incarnations. 

It’s unlikely I’ll be able to get to the exhibit before it closes (I live in Colorado) but I encourage all race and history fans to stop by the museum and let me know what you think. 

And if you see Jack, be sure to pass along your thanks for doing his part to preserve an important part of Kings County and auto-racing history. I know he relied heavily, as I have, on grassroots support to help tell the track’s history. 

Admission is free, but the museum is encouraging donations and for you to bring a new unwrapped toy, which will go to the Marine Reserve’s Toys for Tots program. 

Here are two news articles on the exhibit: 

• "Marchbanks exhibit gives glimpse of Hanford’s wild past," from the Hanford Sentinel

• "The Carnegie Museum of Kings County presents an exhibition celebrating the history of the Marchbanks Speedway," from Valley Voice

Local news video of March 1968 Champ Car race

Here's a short local-news video previewing the California 200 race in March 1968. 

The video featuring longtime Fresno newscaster Gus Zernial is short on any real information, but there are two highlights for me:

1) The sound of the No. 15 Gerhardt Offy as Mel Kenyon pulls onto the track. 

2) A quick shot of a full grandstand. Throughout my reporting on Marchbanks' history, good shots of the stands have been hard to come by. 

I don't know whether the video was part of a local newscast (Zernial worked for Channel 30 in Fresno for years) or whether it was part of a network telecast. Can anyone share some insight into that question or anything else about TV coverage from the track in those days?