Ransomville Speedway

A lot of local tracks have trouble with complaints from their neighbors. They complain about the noise. They complain about the dust. They complain about the traffic. Ransomville Speedway in rural Western New York doesn't have those problems.

"Our nearest neighbors are 300 head of dairy cattle," says Joel Friesen, who runs the track with his brother, Jamie. "And the farmer is a racer."

The farmer, Kevin Wills, is a past champion at Ransomville and his son now races there. "We black flagged Kevin a few years back," Joel recalls. "The next day he spread cow manure on the fields. The air was pretty rich. I think it was just a coincidence. He's a pretty good friend."

Ransomville Speedway celebrated its 50th anniversary this past summer. It's a paperclip-shaped dirt track covering not quite a half-mile, and it was built by people who loved racing. About 15 miles from Niagara Falls, New York, and not much farther from the Canadian border, the track draws drivers and spectators from both countries. Surrounded on three sides by woods, the site is ideal.

It all began in 1954.

"I got out of the army and was watching racing on TV," says Ed Ortiz, one of the founders of the track. "We said 'we can do that!'"

Ortiz's father owned a car business. "There were a bunch of junkers out back," he says. With easy access to "racecars," he and some friends borrowed a grader and built a track on a neighbor's property. "It was so narrow you'd just about have to turn around to go back," he adds. But they were racing.

The next year they built a better track on his family's property. But it was right in the town of Ransomville, a village with a current population of about 1,500. "Dust used to be a problem," he says. "You didn't dare put out wash on race day. The dust got pretty bad."

When land became available outside of town, he and some friends who called themselves the Slowpoke Club formed a corporation, sold shares of stock, and passed the hat at races to come up with the down payment. A local woman advanced the money for the rest of the cost and held the mortgage. They convinced the town fathers that the track was a good idea, telling them that if they had a track they would be able to control themselves on the highway.

"We got the bleachers from Niagara University," Ortiz recalls. "A lot of the work was done for free. I think the guy who ran the bulldozer got paid some, but that was about it." Fortunately there was a source of good clay on the property. "I'm not sure we could have afforded it if we hadn't had our own clay." Digging out the clay also created a pond and a water supply. Ransomville Speedway opened at its current location in 1958.

Canadian Stan Friesen, Joel and Jamie's father, raced Ransomville and knew the track well. He was the 1969 track champion in Modifieds, the premier series. When the track became available for sale in 1972, Stan and a partner bought it. He already owned Miracle Speedway in Ontario, Canada. Friesen's children grew up going to races with their dad and learned to love racing too. Joel remembers selling programs in the stands at the age of 10, and he and his brothers raced at the track.

In 1990, Jamie and Joel bought out their father's partner, and they currently run the track with family members. "My mom and wife are the payroll masters and take care of concessions." Joel says. "My sister and a niece are scorers. One son races Modifieds, one runs the water truck and one is the handicapper." Asked what Stan Friesen is doing now, Joel says, "cutting grass and telling my brother and me what we're doing wrong."