|
|
In 1970, after getting out of the Army, a street racer from Assumption, Illinois, John Jones, came up with an idea to put an asphalt area on his land and allow people to come safely race each other. Originally he just wanted to have a coin operated gate for street racers to be able to come in, pay a price, and race without getting in trouble with the law. After some thought and traveling to other drag strips in the area he decided to build an actual drag strip. He surveyed the land himself and drew up blue prints for a drag strip. The strip was built farther off of the road because he had an idea to possibly build a circle track next to the drag strip. After the track was finished in late November of 1970 the first practice runs were made for the following season. The track was successfully run by John and his brother Paul from 1970-1979; John took over running the track alone until the close in 1983. The track was originally quarter mile, and changed to 1000-ft to extend the shutdown area. The entry fee for car and driver was $6. Over the years that the track was open, many professional drag racers came to race, including “Big Daddy” Don Garlits, Shirley Muldowney, Ronnie Sox, Bill Maverick Golden, Chi-Town Hustler, Grumpy Jenkins, Della Woods, and Steve Carbone. In an interview with John Jones he mentioned that Bill Maverick Golden would stay around after an event and work on his truck in Jones’s shop before traveling on. He also mentioned that Ronnie Sox would periodically rent the track during the week. Motion Raceway may not be in operation, but it will always be fondly remembered by the racers and fans that spent many weekends there. |
 Motion Raceway Now |
 Motion Raceway Then | |
Special thanks to everyone who has provided pictures and info to make this website possible! | |