The Forgotten Michigan Speedway with a Tragic Past

Growing up in a small town in the USA in the early 2000s, everyone was very into NASCAR. My uncle's house was decorated with Tony Stewart #20 memorabilia, and my family had hundreds of mini-toy cars to race on a track. One of the most significant moments of my childhood was meeting Jeff Gordon at the Michigan International Speedway.

These racetracks, along with the stands and the surrounding camping area, occupy large tracts of land. So, when you hear that there used to be an active raceway in Jackson that remains abandoned to this day, now overtaken by trees and grass, it’s bound to catch your attention. Let's take a look at the former Jackson Motor Speedway, which is marked by tragedy.

The Origins of Jackson Motor Speedway

Opened in 1948, the Jackson Motor Speedway (not to be confused with the Jackson Raceway) initially began as a 1/2-mile high-banked dirt track, later expanding to include a 1/4-mile dirt oval that ditched the high bank. This didn't go over well, so the track was once again altered to eliminate the dual tracks and convert it into a single, unusual 1/3-mile dirt oval speedway, a compromise with the racers. 

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This is a very unusual, small oval race track. Oval tracks tend to be 1 mile long, so a 1/3 track was bizarre by racing standards. Things got even more out of the ordinary when the original owners sold the raceway to new owners in 1958, who ditched the dirt track entirely and paved the surface.

Once again, this was received with mixed reactions; nonetheless, the speedway persevered until it was unable to compete with the Michigan International Speedway, closing its doors in 1973.

Tragic Deaths That Haunt The Speedway

Perhaps in part due to the unusual size of the track as well as the general danger of this type of racing, seven deaths occurred on the speedway. History Mystery Man detailed each of the lives lost in his video on the Jackson Motor Speedway:

• The most well-known casualty was photographer James Ryan, who was struck by an oncoming car and was thrown 30 feet in the air. He lost his life on July 29th, 1951.
• Clarence Mifflin, September 3rd, 1951
• Jim Stremmy, May 4th, 1959
• Ted Kennell, June 16th, 1953
• William Scalronski, October 4th, 1959
• Wayne Pruden, July 13th, 1968
• John Deering, August 16th, 1969

Since the speedway closed, it has sat abandoned, slowly overtaken by the surrounding forest. While the pavement is still visible, it is in rough shape (so it is about as good as most Michigan roads these days) and very overgrown.