"Fastest 1/4 mile dirt track in the midwest." According to www.caneymotorspeedway.com
Caney Speedway has been known by a few names, Caney Valley Motor Speedway, Caney Motor Speedway and just plain Caney Speedway. Built in 1968 or 1972 (I'm a little unsure) by Al Jones with high hopes of a good track for all the local race fans. The dirt work was contracted out to the Folk family from Tyro, Kansas. Luck didn't seem to shine too bright for Mr. Jones and his track and it shut down. Al Jones owned the track until the early 80's when it was purchased by Gary Gorby. At this time the track was in such terrible shape that the stands couldn't even be seen for the tress and weeds. "Brought back from the dead..." (had to add that quote love the way it sounded) Gary Gorby ran the track for a few years and sold it to Ed Johnson. Ed Johnson continued to run it for a number of years running a weekly Saturday night show. The 30th anniversary of the track was celebrated in 1999, so maybe that clears up some of the debate of when the track ran it's first race. The track did shut down in 2000 but was reopened momentarily by Rob Wigfield who only ran a few specials on Sundays, two to be exact the ASCS and SMRS cars ran their specials at the track and it closed down after about 3 weeks of being reopened. The track remained closed until 2007 when Don Cass attempted to open the track for the 2007 season without much luck. As of August of 2007 the web site states that it is officially closed for the time being.
Between the two owners, Gary Gorby and Ed Johnson they were able to get the track up and going. Since then the track has had it's fair share of dissapointments. There are "rumors" that the track is to open up in the 2008 season under the management of Gary Gorby.
The most recent races held there to date are the OCRS Sprint Car Series which raced there on July 21st 2007.
We all realize that racing is a seriously dangerous sport and on occasion we happen to lose on of our greats in a terrible accident. Sadly on July 28th 1973 Super Modified Driver Don Wilson was killed in a trophy dash.
I would like to thank GRT Motorsports and Tom Loftin for your help with the history on this track Dustin and Matthew for your photos.