 TIOGA Motorsports Park 1991–2005 | |
| Location | Owego, New York |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 42°05′36″N76°16′58″W / 42.0933°N 76.2828°W /42.0933; -76.2828 |
| Opened | 1946 |
| Closed | 2005 |
| Former names | Tioga Motorsports Park; Shangri-La Motor Speedway |
| Oval | |
| Surface | Asphalt |
| Length | .8 km (0.50 mi) |
| Turns | 4 |
| Dragway | |
| Length | .2 km (0.12 mi) |
| Inner Oval | |
| Length | .16 km (0.099 mi) |
Shangri-La Speedway was a half-mile (0.8 km)ovalrace track inOwego,New York. The facility also included an eighth-mile (0.2 km) drag strip and a tenth-mile oval track for microds (a type of wooden-bodiedgo-kart raced in many clubs in upstate New York). Its formal name was changed toShangri-La Motor Speedway (in use from 1979 to 1991) and toTioga Motorsports Park (in use from 1992 to 2005), but most racers and fans still referred to it as "Shangri-La".
Over a span of fifty years, Shangri-La hosted automobile races of various kinds,AAA Championship Cars,stock cars, Modifieds, Supermodifieds, and supporting classes. Shangri-La's weekly racing was widely considered among the best in the sport during several different periods, including years when nine-timeNASCAR National Modified ChampionRichie Evans and six-time NASCAR National Modified ChampionJerry Cook were regulars.
The speedway hosted oneNASCAR Cup Series event in1952 and the race was won byTim Flock.
In August 1991, longtime NASCAR independent driver J.D. McDuffie won a celebrity race at the track. This occurred just one day prior to his fatal racing accident in the Bud at the Glen at Watkins Glen International.
Shangri-La Speedway was opened in 1946 by Bill Owen, who planned and built the track with help of family members. It was closed in 1956 due to neglect and small crowds but then briefly re-opened in 1959 by a group of area drag racers; after a few events it closed in the same year. It was again re-opened in 1962 by Fran Gitchell and operated by the Zacharias family from 2002 until 2005 when it was shut down to allow gravel mining from the property. Nothing remains of the track itself, and the grandstands and buildings were demolished.
A replacement track in nearby Tioga Center, known asShangri-La II Speedway, opened in 2009.
