Last Race At Hialeah Speedway - Hell, I Was There!

Local racer John Carlson of West Palm Beach had his '69 Mustang out for some fun. John originally bought the car to restore, but there was too much cancerous rust. Instead, he decided to turn it into a late-model racer powered by a 351C! The first few times John would race the car people would question his sanity for racing the vintage Mustang.

Through the torrential downpour, people stayed in line to get tickets for the race. Those are hardcore racing fans for you!

Nothing beats the hard core, door banging action of short track racing, as evidenced by this Hialeah veteran.

The sun sets for the last time over a night of racing at Hialeah. The old track, with all of its history, stories, and memories for countless racers will soon bow to the wrecking ball in the name of urban sprawl and "progress".

Throughout its history, you never knew what you'd see in the pits at Hialeah on a Saturday night. One racer told the story, "I learned how to race here, how to drink here, and how to fight here!"

From family cruiser to demo derby sacrifice, this old Country Squire wagon was painted up for its last dance before the crusher.

Everywhere a person could stand to get a view of the action on the track was full.

This group of racefans decided to watch the night's action from this perch on the side on an industrial building across the street from the track.

At 9:30 people were still pouring into the track to watch the races. For the first time in a long while the Hialeah grandstands were filled to capacity, with the concession (and beer) lines growing to alarming lengths.

With storm clouds threatening, the pits at hialeah begin ti fill quickly for the last night of racing. Pit space was at a premium, with every nook and cranny of asphault being used for pit space.

Herb Tillman (center) won the first race at hialeah in 1954. He's shown with longtime track promoter Marty Little (right) and Richard Bowser (left).

These hardcore fans found a good perch across the street to watch the racing from.