Located in Lee NH, on Route 125
The world’s most recognized short track photographer, Rich “Purple” Hayes, has sent us his “Early Years Of Lee” write up with pictures. Click here to see it. His recollection differs from the recollection of Russ Conway. YOU decide which version is most accurate. History (Source: Russ Conway)
Bob Bonser first opened Lee Raceway on the site in 1964. The track was a
1/3 mile dirt tri-oval and had two elevation changes, one uphill and the other being downhill. In 1965, Bonser paved the dirt track in the hopes of getting NESMRA (New England Super Modified Racing Association) to come to the facility. It worked. In 1965, NESMRA made Lee Raceway their “home track”. 1965 also featured the only winter snow race in the history of the facility.
1966 featured the first ever “NESMRA Super Classic”, a race which later became “The Star Classic” when NESMRA moved to Star Speedway. The first “Classic” was a three segment event. 100 laps, 50 laps, and another 50 lap segment, making the total 200 laps for the event. That race started at 8 PM and didn’t end until 2:10 AM. The track went through THREE flaggers that night, the first one quit, the second was assaulted on the flag stand, and the third finished the event. The event wound up with a three way tie between Eddie West, Bob Cloutier, and Don MacLaren. The three drivers split the prize money. In 1967 Charlie Elliot opened a brand new track in Epping NH called “Star Speedway”. Charlie contacted the racers from NESMRA about trying out the new facility. This didn’t sit well with Bonser. He forced the Supers to pick between the all new, level Star Speedway, and the still new (ish) tri-oval, far from level Lee Raceway. In 1968 NESMRA moved to Star Speedway and Lee Raceway started to decline. A few shows were run with the NESMA banner displayed, but eventually the crowds shrank too much and the track was forced to close the gates for the final time. Lee Raceway was done in 1979. In 1980 and 1981 the track remained dormant. In November of 1982, Russ Conway was in Florida, getting ready for a big race, when he was informed that his friend Kenny Smith had called and he needed Russ to call him as soon as possible. Russ immediately called Kenny and was flabbergasted when the conversation took place. The trio (Kenny Smith and Russ Conway with Charlie Elliott) had owned Star and Hudson, among other ventures, but they were quite happy with what they had done. Russ was asked if he was ready to buy another track over the phone. When he asked why he heard, “Charlie wants to buy Lee.” The only reaction that Russ could have was understandable “IS HE @ #%! NUTS?”
By the end of November the trio had purchased Lee Raceway and plans were in place to reconfigure the track and rename it. Lee Raceway was gone and Lee USA Speedway was about to arrive!
1983 was a construction year for the track. Stakes laid out the oval, which is the way that Charlie always laid out a track. In early 1984 the paving project began, turning Lee Raceway officially into Lee USA Speedway and preparing the track for “The Teaser” event in July. July 4th, 1984 was the first oval race held at Lee USA Speedway. The pavement had just been finished and they actually had problems with the pavement starting to blister. The crew had to dump thousands of gallons of water onto the track in order to cool it down. The track dried almost immediately, but it also cooled the track enough to run the event without causing too much damage to the new pavement.
“The Teaser” was a combined NEMA, USAC, and ARDC show with Nokie Fornoro taking the first ever oval win at Lee
As is usually the case with an event called “The Teaser”, it was a set up event for a bigger event later in the year. The first ever Oktoberfest was held in October of 1984 with Paul Richardson winning the first ever Super Modified feature at the inaugural event. The event was one of the largest in New England short track racing history with over 300 entrants and well over 7,000 fans in attendance. The traffic was backed up between the Lee Traffic Circle and the ramps to Route 101. The track rented three fields and used EIGHT busses to shuttle people back and forth, the overflow was parked on both sides of Route 125 for miles in both directions. Additional seating was brought in from Star Speedway and Hudson Speedway for this huge event. The facility ran just special events until the track was sold to the MacDonald family in December of 1986. 1987 was the beginning of the MacDonald era and weekly racing at Lee USA Speedway, and the track has hosted weekly action ever since.
