Bear Ridge Speedway

Happy Birthday, Bear Ridge Speedway


I was recently told that Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, VT turns 40 this year. Boy, it doesn't seem like that long. I guess stock car racing really does keep you young, or at least allows you the delusion that you still are.


Now, I hope the friends I work with at the Legion Speedway won't mind me saying so, but if you get a chance you owe it to yourself to go some Saturday night this summer over to Bradford. Bear Ridge has been one of the premier dirt tracks in Northern New England these four decades. It started out as a state-of-the-art venue, and has kept up nicely with the times. Plenty of parking, good big pit area, and the food's even pretty good.


Oh, I guess I've got to share some boring memories of the early days, don't I? It's kind of expected, I suppose. Hmm . . . I guess I was about 13 when George Barber, one of the original owners, invited my folks up to his place for a visit. I remember that George restored old cars, and he had a particularly nice model-B Ford that he was working on.

At the time, Mom, Dad, my grandmother Pearl, and flagman Ted Winot were working Saturday nights at the 106 Midway Raceway in Loudon (now NHIS) and Sunday afternoons at the Riverside Speedway in Groveton. To make a long story short, George convinced Dad and Dad convinced the rest of the crew, and Sunday afternoons would now be spent in Bradford.


It was about that time that Loudon became Bryar Motorsport Park, and the little dirt track was gone, so we were down to one day a week. The four-person group had bounced around several tracks during the 1960's, so it wasn't a real big deal to drop Groveton for Bradford.

Still, there was something about George Barber and the whole thing that told us all that this one was here to stay. And, by george, it has!