CAPITAL CITY SPEEDWAY
Capital City Speedway opened up in 1961 under the ownership Gerry Bisson. Bisson was the promoter of the Lansdowne Park track the past few seasons, and with complaints from local neighbors, he was forced to look elsewhere for his auto racing events.
Mr. Bisson built the track in Stittsville, Ontario, a small town just west of the nations capital in Ottawa. Bisson continued ownership of the track until the end of the 1973 season.
In 1974, Peter Warren and Fred Byers purchased the track, and put clay over the blacktop, and the name changed to the Ottawa Valley Speedway. The track ran dirt for just one season. In 1975 the clay was removed, and the track went back to its original blacktop.
In 1976, Mr. Bisson resumed ownership of the speedway that he had built. Bisson owned the track until his death in 1977.
The mid 70s were great years for the Ottawa area track. Many well known American racers made the weekly trip north of the border to tackle the fast track. Names like "Barefoot" Bob McCreadie, and the great Richie Evans all have scored victories at Capital City Speedway.
In 1994, the track was purchased by Penny Bell. Penny changed the Speedway's name back to its original name of Capital City Speedway.
The track was purchased by David Melamed in April of 2002. Once again, the name was changed, and for the next three seasons the track was known as the Ottodrome International Speedway. Melamed also had built a 1/8 mile drag strip on the property, and the drag strip was in operation during Melamed's tenor as track owner. Melamed owned the track until the end of the 2005 season, and it was sold to the Drummond family. Arnie Malcom was hired as promoter/race director for the 2006 season, and is still there today. The name also returned back to its original Capital City Speedway name at this time..
I am still researching the history of Capital City Speedway. If you have anything you would like to share, please email me.
