WHITES BEACH SPEEDWAY

According to the penciled-in information on the back of this photo,
these were some jalopy races around 1935 on the location that became the
Whites Beach race track.

Ballston Lake is located off New York Route 50, to the South of Saratoga Springs, NY. A portion of the western shore of the lake was known as Whites Beach, and some land in that neighborhood was fashioned into a race oval. After running very informal local jalopies on a track without much safety or spectator facilities, some interested parties from the region began to develop the facility a little more, putting in bleachers, a judges' stand, a ticket booth, and some safety barriers.

Heat winner Lew Martin poses in front of the judges / announcers' stand built
on the grounds of Whites Beach Speedway.

The track soon developed its own cadre of drivers and teams, almost totally independent of some of the more established tracks around it, like Fonda and Empire. This may have been because of local indentity; but, more likely, it was because you could run a much more low-dollar operation and still compete at Whites Beach. According to Bruce Keith, whose mother was an established scorer at several New York tracks, some of the same promoters who ran Ashland Park in Warrensburg, ran Whites Beach.

Ernie Martin, a name synonymous with Whites Beach, poses with checkers on the front stretch.

Ernie Martin sits and listens to Ron Hedger at the April 15, 2007 conference on lost race
tracks at the Saratoga Automobile Museum. Martin spoke to the conference about Whites Beach.

Mrs. Keith scored at Whites Beach, and she may be in the photo above - up in the Judges' Stand. Warrensburg Promoter Wilbur Baker took a turn at running Whites Beach, as did Rick Patterson and Ward Tower - according to Keith. In information supplied by the Saratoga Automobile Museum, Bob Ruckdeschel was definitely someone who ran Whites Beach. Irv Conron and Les King were, most probably among the photographers who plied their trade at Whites Beach; and, MacDowell and John Grady may have joined them. Someone said Pappy Delong may have promoted the track, too.
Between the recent book on the history of Fonda Speedway, and the even - more - recent display about Whites Beach at the Saratoga Automobile Museum, Whites Beach has suddenly burst into the consciousness of the region's followers of vintage stock car racing. I have decided to give it a page on a web site devoted to Vermont racing history because several of its participants also tried their luck at Fairmont Speedway, in Fair Haven, Vermont.

Dale Horton [aka Rebel Ross], from Broadalbin and Chuck Dwyer were two drivers featured in
the Fonda history book. I remember Horton appearing briefly at Fonda.

Today, there is virtually no trace of the race track. The land is owned by someone who raised deer on the very part of their property that once housed the track. That area is surrounded by a high wire fence. From the Whites Beach Road, you can look through the fence and see a portion of their deer compound that nearly comes right up to the road. There is a clearly - discernable curved banking that a neighbor tells me was turns one and two. You can still make out the track layout from satellite photos - both Terraserver, from the 1990's and Google Earth, which is more recent. There is also a little, ramshackle building on their yard that was once the ticket booth. A faded sign on the east side of the booth says "Thank You Come Again".

A contingent of Whites Beach drivers [and a few others mixed in] pose
during the memorable George Welch Benefit Night held at Fonda

Bill Ladabouche Photos Orlando Papa, Clifton Park, NY	Bill Ladabouche Photo Joe Spellburg, Glens Falls, NY	Bill Ladabouche Photo Ray Sutliffe, Glens Falls, NY
Courtesy of Ed Fabian the Baker Family, Warrensburg, NY	Steve Judd Photo Rebel Ross, Broadalbin, NY	Bob Novak Photo George Baumgardner, Saratoga Sprgs, NY
Bill Ladabouche Photo Joe Wunderlich, West Sand Lake, NY	Norm Vadnais Photo Beryl Fitzgerald, Gansevoort, NY	Steve Judd Photo Ron Quakenbush, Fultonville, NY

Bill Ladabouche Photo
The ticket booth

Bill Ladabouche Photo
Turns 1 and 2
from the West

from the East