Greenwood Roadway Tour

[chuckbrandt]

As you may remember, Greenwood Roadway is a 3 mile long road course situated 28 miles south of Des Moines, Iowa. It was only open 4 years '63-'66 but saw some important USRRC, SCCA and USAC races during that time. It closed due to financial problems.

The July 19th, 1964 USRRC race is one that I wished I could have seen. There were two of the shelby king cobras there, CM/3/63 driven by Ed Leslie got the overall win. Charlie Cox in CM/1/63 which he bought from Shelby came in 5th overall, but turned the fastest lap of the day at an average of 92 mph. Jim Hall DNF'd in the chapparal 2, I believe teething problems with the secret automatic transmission. Ken Miles won GT in a cobra and was 4th overall. The english Alan Mann team fielded two Ford Cortinas and I have heard from people who where there that they were amazing to watch. Bob Johnson and Tom Payne DNF'd in cobras. Ralph Salyer parked the Cro-Sal special Cheetah due to excessive interior heat, the car would later be the only Cheetah coverted to a roadster.

There were also significant SCCA races there as well. Dick Doane ran the Corvette Grand Sport there in '63. Factory and independent cobra drivers seemed to turn up a lot. I know the Gerber - Payne team raced there but I have not yet found a picture of the Fordette running there (McKee Mk3).

Anyway, the track still exists but is in poor condition. The Mustang Club of Central Iowa is hosting a tour of the track and picnic there September 10th. You can drive on the track but not at anywhere near speed. I plan to be there with my ERA weather permitting. I'd love to see a few cobras show up at this event. To participate you need to join their club for liability reasons which costs $20 / year.

Greenwood Tour Event Flyer

My Greenwood Roadway Web page