”Termite” Snyder #5
Back in the 50’s to early 60’s a short track racing show appeared on TV screens across America. It was called “Jalopy Races from Hollywood.” Filmed at the Culver City Speedway in California in glorious black and white, it was hosted by an old time announcer named Bill Welch.
Some of the stars at the ¼ mile Culver City dirt track were the cigar smoking, grinning “Termite” Snyder and Scotty Cain, always referred to on the broadcasts as the “Pecks Bad Boy” of the Speedway.
They packed a lot into the half hour. A little racing, a little personality and the always popular “Crackup of the Week” segment. Sort of fixated on crashes and wrecks, when Bill Welsh did his opening he always ended it with – “and the ambulance is standing by, just in case.”
Culver City Speedway was also the site for some of the filming of the classic Mickey Rooney racing movie “The Big Wheel.”
My problem is that I can’t find an abundance of history or photo’s from the old Culver City Speedway. I know that a lot of our friends who visit us in the Garage love racing nostalgia and can help me learn more about this old bullring.
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Allen Brown lists three tracks named “Culver City Speedway” in his book: The History of America’s Speedways. The track featured in “Big Wheel” operated as a 1/4 mile high banked paved oval (3/30/47 - 10/04/54). There was also a 1/2 dirt/paved road course that used part of the oval track (10/19/47 & 10/26/47). The parking lot was used as a 1/2 mile paved road course (2/27 49 & 3/20/49). A 1/4 mile dirt oval was operated during 1951 and 1956. It was sold to Douglas Aircraft and became the site of warehouses.
Hey Larry.Thank’s. It looks like we’re talking about the 1/4 mile dirt oval. Culver City also had a 1.25 mile board track in the mid 20’s. Does the Brown book have any pictures?
I was talking to my friend C Van Tune who lived in Culver City when he was editor for Motor Trend and here is what he wrote…
Hey Gary…yes I know about this track, but it was torn down before I was born, so all I know I learned off the internet. Culver City has some interesting racing history. There was a state-of-the-art banked oval board race track built around 1920, and it operated about 15 years before the urban sprawl took it over and they built houses there. Interestingly, the maps of that part of Culver City today show very well the outline of the old track…by the fact the developers of the homes laid them out in an oval..with two big-radius turns…just like the race track, in its footprints. That track saw many big name racers of the day, like Ralph DePalma, Barney Oldfield, etc. It was located at the intersection of Culver Blvd and Overland Blvd, right across the street from MGM Studios. This was the track where Mickey Rooney’s movie “The Big Wheel” was shot.
The other track was located on the opposite side of Culver City, far to the west near what is today Marina del Rey, at the intersection of Washington and Lincoln Blvds. I have a vintage race poster from this track. They mainly ran open-wheel cars, midgets, and some trophy-dash stuff with modified stock cars. It was built in the late-40s and lasted about 10 years. Its land was turned into an industrial plant for McDonnell Douglas or some similar type of big industry. This was a dirt track.
Culver City was really the happening little town, car-wise, from about 1920-1970. Isky Cams got their start in a building that still bears its name painted on the front (it’s been painted over once or more, but you can still read the “Iskenderian Cams” sign.) Just down the street from there is Traco’s very famous race shop (built engines for Penske Camaros and more) and just two doors down is where Guldstrand modified Corvettes for road racing.
Not to forget, Culver City was also home to Hughes Aircraft Company. There used to be a grass landing field right across the street from the Isky building, but it got paved under in the early ‘50s for (you guessed it) more new houses. Hughes built his own concrete landing strip about two miles to the west, where he also build his aircraft company buildings. My dad worked for Hughes for 30 years, right there at that Culver City plant. He told me that on warm days, when everyone had their windows open (no A/C in those days) they could hear Traco dyno-testing the race engines. Today, all that’s left of the Hughes empire is a sign noting “Howard Hughes Business Park” and more new houses.
I’ve been able to find a bit of collectibles from both these tracks, on eBay. Just do a “Culver City” search and see what turns up.
Hope this helps…
Van
Thanks Gary. Great info.
I was able to find some great info on the track as well as some photos of the old board track. On January 28, 1914, Beverly Hills was incorporated and the Beverly Hills Speedway was built in 1919. Opening on February 28, 1920, it cost about ½ million but only lasted 4 years, closing on February 24, 1924. The project was developed by a syndicate of actors. The lima-bean field was purchased at $1,000 an acre.
It was a four turn banked oval made of 2-by-4s by Jack Prince. The wood was inexpensive and eliminated the dust connected with racetracks. The track was only one and quarter miles and the banks were 37%, it had a 70,000- seat stadium.
It was the site for a number of airplane programs, not just racecars. The Speedway covered some 275 acres, today it is the site of the Beverly Hills High School, and with the northern curve currently is the location of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, in a photo of the Speedway the Eucalyptus trees mark the northern border of the track at Wilshire Blvd. The hotel was not constructed until 1928. This track was only second to the Indianapolis Speedway in its day. By 1924, the stadium was demolished, as the land was too valuable to use as a racetrack the final race was viewed by 85,000 people. The developers moved to Culver City near MGM Studios. The speedway was built at a time when car races were popular and there were even radio broadcasts from the speedways. These wooden tracks were called ‘toothpick tracks’ and there were six in California at the height of the speedway’s popularity.
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