1Designating July 26, 2014, as "Oval Race Track Day" in
2Pennsylvania.

3WHEREAS, Auto racing has been an exciting sporting and
4entertaining event for over a century in Pennsylvania, and oval
5track auto racing can be traced back to 1904; and

6WHEREAS, Preceded by road racing, organized oval track auto
7racing was often sanctioned by the American Automobile Club and
8by car manufacturers and dealers; and

9WHEREAS, In the early years of organized oval track auto
10racing, horse racing tracks were used, but after World War I,
11specially built auto tracks became the norm; and

12WHEREAS, These were steeply banked wooden, or board, tracks
13which appeared mainly at fairgrounds in Pennsylvania and at the
14famed Altoona Board Track which measured one and one-quarter
15miles in length and had 32 degrees in banking in the turns; and

1WHEREAS, The first oiled dirt surface track opened in
2Langhorne in 1926 and remained a one-mile dirt oval until 1965
3when the surface was paved, although unfortunately Langhorne
4closed after the 1971 race season; and

5WHEREAS, Autos were modified to go faster around these
6stylish new tracks, and crowds grew; and

7WHEREAS, While the fairground tracks that were the common
8venue of racing during the early part of the 20th century have
9faded, the tradition of weekly oval track racing in Pennsylvania
10was launched; and

11WHEREAS, During the 1930's Midgets, or miniature versions of
12the Indy and Big Cars, were built and, because of their smaller
13size, could race on compact tracks, but following World War II,
14racing went back to its original roots and stock car racing once
15again became popular, leading to many different versions of
16modified stock cars racing at tracks across Pennsylvania; and

17WHEREAS, Today Pennsylvania is home to many stock-car racing
18tracks, and Williams Grove Speedway, near Dillsburg and
19Mechanicsburg, is the second oldest speedway in continuous use
20in the nation, second only to Indianapolis Motor Speedway; and

21WHEREAS, Oval track racing today in Pennsylvania includes all
22of the various classes and circuits of automobile racing and
23enjoys great popularity among Pennsylvanians; and

24WHEREAS, Local race tracks and race fans are valuable assets
25to local economies; therefore be it

26RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate July
2726, 2014, as "Oval Race Track Day" in Pennsylvania.