A Family-Built Dirt Track in the Valley
Hill Valley Speedway was a quarter-mile, high-banked dirt oval built on the Whitsel family farm. From the mid-1980s into the twenty-first century, its lights, handmade grandstands and close-quarters racing drew drivers and spectators to a rural hillside between Orbisonia and Shirleysburg.
Built Because the Family Wanted to Race
Thirteen Acres Become a Speedway
Published track histories identify Marshall and Maxine Whitsel as the founders of Hill Valley Speedway. The oval was laid out on about thirteen acres of the family farm after their sons’ interest in racing repeatedly took the family to distant tracks.
A Track Takes Shape in 1986
Hill Valley’s inaugural race was held May 10, 1986. Its compact oval, steep banks and close spectator views gave the speedway an intimate character. Contemporary newspaper coverage reported weekly crowds of about 2,000 during that first season.
A Four-Cylinder Sprint Car
A published speedway history credits Marshall Whitsel Sr. with designing a four-cylinder sprint car in 1988. The economical class fit the small oval and became part of the track’s identity.
Sprints, Stocks and Spectacle
Micro sprints formed the original core of the program. Pure stocks and V8 thunder cars later shared the bill, while super-sprint and mini-sprint specials, enduros and demolition events broadened the schedule.
A Saturday-Night Community
“Hill Valley Speedway Is Action Spot” — 1992
A May 1992 feature described Hill Valley in its seventh year of operation and reported that the track had been enlarged to a quarter mile. Its program included four-cylinder full sprints, modified minis, micro sprints, four-cylinder stock cars, V8 thunder cars, enduros and tractor pulls.
Races ran every Saturday night, with Saturday-and-Sunday programs on holiday weekends, beginning at 7:30 p.m. The newspaper estimated grandstand capacity at about 2,000, with room for another 500 people in the pit area.
What the 1994–96 Coverage Preserves
The Daily News listed micro sprints, pure stocks and V8 thunder cars as the regular 1994 divisions, with occasional super-sprint and mini-sprint programs. The following year, the property was advertised for sale.
A June 1996 feature still described Marshall and Maxine Whitsel as the owners and operators. Marshall prepared the surface, Betsy Whitsel handled publicity, and the report named Melissa Harmon as Miss Hill Valley for 1996 with Angela Neely as runner-up. It also described micro sprints as the track’s original class, stock cars as its largest fields, and thunder cars as a division that had developed from the enduros.
Championship Record by Class
| Year | Driver |
|---|---|
| 1986 | Randy Satzler |
| 1987 | Carl Strauser |
| 1988 | Randy Kaylor |
| 1992 | Kevin Gobrecht |
| 1994 | Bob Camilli |
| 1998 | Jim Brookins |
| 1988 | Ryan Garlock |
| 1986 | John Covert |
| 1987 | Dale McKinney |
| 1994 | Danny Snyder |
| 1995 | Dave Stalcy |
| 1998 | Larry Duvall |
| 1986 | Sonny Williamson |
| 1987 | Barry Heffelfinger |
| 1988 | Darin Whitsel |
| 1995 | Butch Reed |
| 1998 | Bill Sherwood |
| 1994 | Raymond Moore |
| 1995 | Raymond Moore |
| 1998 | Raymond Moore |
| 1998 | Paul Manansula |
| 2012 | Wes Bonebrake |
| 1988 | Doug Mervine |
| 1988 | Russ Smith |
Marshall and Maxine Whitsel open Hill Valley Speedway on the family farm. The inaugural race is held May 10.
American Racing Drivers Club midgets appear at the track.
The four-cylinder sprint concept, enduros and demolition events expand the program.
A newspaper feature documents Saturday-night racing, a wide mix of divisions and spectator capacity of about 2,000, plus another 500 people in the pit area.
Micro sprints, pure stocks and V8 thunder cars headline the regular schedule; the announced opener is April 30.
Newspaper advertisements offer the speedway for sale.
A detailed local feature records the Whitsel family’s continuing operation and the character of the weekly program.
Financial difficulties interrupt racing. The surviving record does not yet establish a complete season-by-season chronology for this period.
Promoter and racer Tom Martin reopens the speedway.
The Super 600 Showdown offers a reported $10,000 purse and helps point toward the regional PA 600 Speedweek tradition.
The last documented season is held at Hill Valley.
The property changes hands within the Whitsel family in 2014. Photographs made in 2017 record the quiet grandstands, control building and grounds after racing had ceased.
The Speedway Left Behind
The 2017 photographs preserve the physical scale of a small rural track: simple steel-and-board grandstands, a red-and-white control building and a gravel approach reclaimed at the edges by grass and woods.
Continue Exploring
Return to the Locations homepage, browse the community gallery, or share a Hill Valley program, photograph, result sheet or memory.
Sources and Further Viewing
- Speedway and Road Race History, “Hill Valley Speedway”.
- Auto Racing Records, “Hill Valley Speedway”, preserving complete driver standings for the 1987 and 1988 divisions.
- The Daily News (Huntingdon), May 28, 1992, print p. 41; April 7, 1994, p. 5; April 6, 1995, p. 28; June 5, 1996, p. 5; and April 29, 2005, p. 36, via NewspaperArchive.
- Kevin Gobrecht, official biography, recording his 1992 Hill Valley and Trail-Way championships.
- Hyper Racing, 2006 Feature Winners and Champions.
- Dirt on Dirt, 2012 track champions.
- The Daily News (Huntingdon), October 6, 13, 18, 20 and 29, 1986, documenting the inaugural season, Autumn Special, final race and point standings.
- The Daily News (Huntingdon), March 19 and May 18, 1992; September 6, 1995; April 11, 1996; and September 17, 1998, documenting the racing program, drivers and season champions.
- Hill Valley Speedway spectator footage, 1986.
- Hill Valley Speedway spectator footage, September 14, 1991.
- Hill Valley Speedway spectator footage, July 21, 1990.