Don Allen and George Keller reflect on Delaware's auto racing history.
Don Allen and George Keller reflect on Delaware's auto racing history.
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When most think of auto racing in the First State, the first thing that comes to mind is the NASCAR races at Dover International Speedway. But Delaware’s auto racing roots extend back to the early days of horseless carriage.
An exhibit tracing that history through photos and memorabilia is currently on display at the Seaford Museum.
Seaford Historical Society president Don Allen created the exhibit - entitled Delaware Auto Racing. A former photojournalist on the mid-Atlantic racing circuit in the 1980’s – Allen was inspired by Delaware native and racing memorabilia collector Chad Culver who came to Allen when he was looking for material for his book of the same name.
Allen says the early races in Delaware were primarily endurance events showcasing the durability of the new automobiles and their advantages over the horse and buggy.
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“That slowly evolved into more closed events where a crowd could come and be seated and watch automobiles run on a oval circuit or a closed road course,” Allen says. “Basically that is what motor sports is today. Most likely during the summer there is an oval track event taking place somewhere in this country just about every night.”
Racing at the Monster Mile has also evolved from somewhat humble roots.
somewhat humble roots of racing at the Monster Mile.
George Keller is the Dover track’s unofficial historian. He was there for its first ever NASCAR race July 6, 1969, when the cars were larger, louder, and heavier. Richard Petty, an eventual seven-time winner at Dover, won that first race, the “Mason-Dixon 300.” 10,333 people attended that race, a far cry from current crowds that in recent years flirted with six figures.
Keller has been at all 88 NASCAR Cup series races since then, and watched the track evolve along with the cars and the crowds.
“There was already a core fan base here, and it just began to mushroom after that,” says Keller. “It really hit in the early 80s when TV got into sport. From 1982 to the year 2000, we added 7 to 15 thousand seats a year, and as fast as we put them up, we sell them for the next race.”
Keller calls Dover the “first significant venue in the North”, a high-bank, one-mile super speedway that stood in stark contrast to the dirt-track ovals that dotted the racing landscape north of the Mason-Dixon line.
It’s since become a premier destination on the NASACR circuit and a tourism boon for Delaware.
“We are one of the most popular stops on the tour,” Keller says. “Not only Delaware but the whole eastern seaboard, the mid Atlantic states, we definitely are a destination. [Fans] love coming to Dover, we love having them here, and there really isn’t a bad seat in the house. You can actually see the race from the first row and as you progressively go up you even get a little bit better view. We put up this beautiful monster out here outside of turn 4, and very rarely do we ever go back there during the day but there is somebody out there checking the monster out. We know it is the largest sporting event in Delaware, and it has been in a long time, and that in itself makes this all in this area very proud.”
Pride is a very common emotion amongst Delaware’s racing community. While collecting items for his exhibit, Allen realized just how close the fans are.
“The thing is were a family and I really have come to appreciate that more since I started putting this together,” Allen said. “Whether competitors or crew, people selling parts, they all have a mutual respect for each other, and it makes me feel good even that I’m still part of the fold even though I've been away from doing the photo journalism for 25 years.”
Keller echoed those sentiments, and advised anyone curious about learning more about racing to come out to the races and dive right in.
“We are a very proud group here,” says Keller, “and I advise somebody who wants to get into the sport is the first thing they need to do is to start watching it. And its great you know we have TV, but TV makes everything look slower. And to come out to a NASCAR race is a life changing experience, and you either are going to say ‘Oh my God!’, or ‘Get me out of here!’ - that's a fact.”