Map of Marchbanks road course, circa 1960

This map shows the course layout for the first Marchbanks Road Races on Sept. 17-18, 1960. (The yellow square is caused by glue from a piece of tape on the other side of the race program leaking through). I just bought a program from the Marchbanks Road Races held Sept. 17-18, 1960. I'll post the entire program later but I wanted to share a cool map that I had never seen showing the layout and dimensions of the 9-turn, 1-8 mile course.

The course was the site of the first road races at the newly rebuilt and renamed Marchbanks Speedway. The weekend features 13 races in a variety of sports cars, open-wheel cars andmotorcycles. There even were two "Ladies" races. 

The program said Marchbanks was "the only course in the West where the spectators can see everything that goes on from one convenient location in the grandstand, the only course where the entire perimeter of the course has a solid guard rail to protect the spectators, and, of course, the only Western course with this exciting banking," a reference to the track's famed high-banked Turn 1. 

Knowing that this was one of the first races at the rebuilt track, the program refers to the track's lack of landscaping and "polishing up." "Experts are betting that it

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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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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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