PRINTER'S NO. 3842
No. 771 Session of 2008
INTRODUCED BY SURRA, PAYNE, BELFANTI, BOYD, CALTAGIRONE, CONKLIN, CREIGHTON, CUTLER, DONATUCCI, FAIRCHILD, FLECK, FRANKEL, GEIST, GEORGE, GIBBONS, GOODMAN, GRUCELA, HELM, HENNESSEY, HERSHEY, HICKERNELL, KULA, MAJOR, MANTZ, McCALL, MELIO, MILLARD, MOYER, MUSTIO, NAILOR, D. O'BRIEN, PALLONE, PHILLIPS, RAMALEY, ROCK, ROSS, SAINATO, SCAVELLO, SIPTROTH, THOMAS, VULAKOVICH, WOJNAROSKI, YOUNGBLOOD, DiGIROLAMO, HUTCHINSON, PETRONE AND SOLOBAY, JUNE 4, 2008
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35, JUNE 4, 2008
A RESOLUTION 1 Designating June 21, 2008, as "Oval Race Track Day" in 2 Pennsylvania. 3 WHEREAS, Auto racing has been an exciting sporting and 4 entertaining event for over a century in Pennsylvania, and the 5 first oval track auto racing can be traced back to 1904; and 6 WHEREAS, Preceded by road racing, organized oval track auto 7 racing was often sanctioned by the American Automobile Club and 8 by car manufacturers and dealers; and 9 WHEREAS, In the early years of organized oval track auto 10 racing, horse racing tracks were used, but after World War I, 11 specially built auto tracks became the norm; and 12 WHEREAS, These were steeply banked wooden, or board, tracks 13 which appeared mainly at fairgrounds in Pennsylvania and at the 14 famed Altoona Board Track which measured one and one-quarter
1 miles in length and had 32 degrees in banking in the turns; and 2 WHEREAS, The first oiled dirt surface track opened in 3 Langhorne in 1926 and remained a one-mile dirt oval until 1965 4 when the surface was paved, although unfortunately Langhorne 5 closed after the 1971 race season; and 6 WHEREAS, Autos were modified to go faster around these 7 stylish new tracks, and crowds grew; and 8 WHEREAS, While the fairground tracks that were the common 9 venue of racing during the early part of the 20th century have 10 faded, the tradition of weekly oval track racing in Pennsylvania 11 was launched; and 12 WHEREAS, During the 1930's Midgets, or miniature versions of 13 the Indy and Big Cars, were built and, because of their smaller 14 size, could race on compact tracks, but following World War II, 15 racing went back to its original roots and stock car racing once 16 again became popular, leading to many different versions of 17 modified stock cars racing at tracks across Pennsylvania; and 18 WHEREAS, Today Pennsylvania is home to many stock-car racing 19 tracks, and Williams Grove Speedway, near Dillsburg and 20 Mechanicsburg, is the second oldest speedway in continuous use 21 in the nation, second only to Indianapolis Motor Speedway; and 22 WHEREAS, Oval track racing today in Pennsylvania includes all 23 of the various classes and circuits of automobile racing and 24 enjoys great popularity among Pennsylvanians; and 25 WHEREAS, A 1994 study noted that over the years Pennsylvania 26 has had 310 different oval tracks, with more than 50 still in 27 operation today; and 28 WHEREAS, Local race tracks and race fans are valuable assets 29 to local economies; therefore be it 30 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate June 20080H0771R3842 - 2 -
1 21, 2008, as "Oval Race Track Day" in Pennsylvania. E22L82JAM/20080H0771R3842 - 3 -