FULTON SPEEDWAY
(Courtesy of Fulton Speedway Website)
Fulton Speedway was founded by Bub Benway and his wife
Victoria in 1961. Benway, after
visiting the nearby Oswego Speedway, and seeing their success, had a vision of
building a bigger and better Speedway. So
in 1960, Bub, and brother Ray decided to use their construction business, Benway
Bros. Construction, to build what would later become known as the Fulton
Speedway. Built into a hilly area
on the banks of the Oswego River, Benway created a speedway for the future, with
the track in a natural bowl, and seating high above the track, on a hill.
The track opened in 1961, under the name of Mil-Ray
Raceway. The first event was held
on the 3/8 mile black top surface early in the summer of 1961.
Johnny Michaels, Jack Murphy, and Dutt Yanni were some of the early stars
of the new speedway.
Over the next few years, the Benway brothers broadened
their racing interests by becoming the promoters of the Canandaigua Speedway,
which lasted through the 1973 season.
During the 1970’s, Benway featured the asphalt
modifieds as their main division, with special appearances by the Supermodifieds.
Top drivers included, Maynard Troyer, Dutch Hoag, Richie Evans, Jim
Shampine, Geoff Bodine, and George Kent, to name a few.
Benway joined the NEARA circuit in conjunction with several other
speedways to help promote the Modified racing.
In the late 70’s asphalt racing in Central New York
seem to cool off, with shorter fields, and a decreasing fan base.
Benway stuck it out at Fulton, until closing the track in the summer of
1978 to decide what to do. Before long, a decision was made to cover the asphalt track
with clay, and the racing continued the following season. Benway ran Late Model cars, Strictly Stocks, and several
special shows for the Modifieds.
Opening Day the following year at the “New” clay
track came on April 21st with Walt Mitchell becoming the first winner
on the new clay surface in the Late Model division.
Even though ca counts were low, the Benway family stuck with it over the
remainder of the season hoping that the numbers would improve. A very young Alan
Johnson won the first Modified event at the track in early May of 1979.
In 1980, Benway changed up the format, by running the
modified class weekly at the high banked speedway. The small block modifieds would be joined by the Late Models,
Street Stocks, and mini sprints and ran on Saturday nights.
In 1986, Bub’s wife Victoria passed away.
The first event that season was held with many tearful eyes.
As tough as it was, the racing went on, as Victoria would have wanted. Bub wanted to preserve her memory, and in her honor, not only
renamed the new VIP Tower the Victoria M. Benway Tower, but he also began what
would become the richest and most popular Small Block Modified event in the
country, the Victoria 200.
The crowds and fans continued to stream into Fulton.
Late in April of 1986, the Benway family decided it was time for a major league
show at Fulton for the Small Block Modifieds, to be named in Victoria’s
memory. No one could think of a better way to honor Victoria, than with the
biggest and richest Small Block Modified show in the world. It would be a great
tribute for the "First Lady of Fulton Speedway", and for someone who
truly cared and poured her heart and soul into making Fulton a success. Thus,
the inaugural "VICTORIA 200" was set for October of that year.
Bitter cold temperatures and rain could not stop the
inaugural tribute at the track known as the “Outlaw track”.
Eighty-Eight small block modifieds registered for the event, even with
the threatening weather. The race
was finally held late Monday night, and the first winner of the Victoria 200 was
Billy Pauch, from Stockton, New Jersey. Pauch
would go in to win the next 4 Victoria 200 events.
In 1988, Benway became even more involved in racing,
as he and Eric Kingsley (husband of Benway’s niece Gisele), took over the
operation of the New Venture Int’l Speedway in Vernon and renamed it as the
New Utica-Rome Speedway. Holding
their first event in 1989, the acquisition of New Utica-Rome began what was
known to be the Outlaw Circuit, arguably one of the most popular periods in
racing in Central New York.
Benway and Kingsley featured the Outlaw Small Block
Modifieds as their main division at both Fulton and Utica-Rome, with weekly
racing also for Street Stocks and Pure Stocks. The circuit was so successful,
that in 1991, Brewerton Speedway, under the direction of Harvey and David Fink,
joined the group, to become a tri-track circuit for the racers, offering an
overall point fund, increasing the monetary awards for the drivers. The Outlaw
Circuit provided the drivers an alternative to the rival DIRT Motorsports
organization. Some of the top
drivers that raced on the circuit included Dale Planck, Tom Kinsella, Roger
Phelps, and of course, Donnie Wetmore, Fulton’s all-time feature winner. Sanctioning
the races was the NASCAR Winston Racing Series, a popular move for the racers.
The first winner, other than Pauch was Frank Cozze in
1991. Tommy Kinsella was the first
Fulton regular to win the prestigious event.
The event continued to grow over the years, with car counts reaching up
over 100 cars for the event.
Following the 1995 season, the track changed ownership
for the first time in its 34 year history. Bub Benway sold the track, as well as the Utica Rome
Speedway. It was time to get out of
the sport that they helped build.
In 1998, they found the track back in their hands due
to foreclosure proceedings. Benway
and Kinsley reopened the Utica Rome Speedway for the second half of the season.
Fulton
Speedway’s future was in doubt. Months
of rumours and speculation ended in July of 1998, when Harvey, Joan, and David
Fink purchased the track. The Fink
family also owned the Brewerton Speedway at the time. The track opened in August, and the crowds came back in full
force, happy to see the historic track back in action.
The Fink family ran Small Block Modifieds, Sportsman, Street Stocks, and
Pure Stocks as their weekly classes.
The day after Bub Benway died in 2003, he was memorialized at his beloved
Fulton Speedway in a touching tribute. The entire pit area full of over 120 race
cars came down onto the frontstretch, four wide from turn one to turn four, to
pay tribute to the fallen founder of their playground. With the flags at
half-staff, Announcer Shane Andrews spoke about Bub’s history at Fulton and in
racing, with Brother Kevin providing the moment of silence and prayers. Owner
and Promoter Harvey Fink, who became a dear friend through Benway’s guidance,
also spoke. The eyes of many were filled with tears.
The Kingsley family, in a touching tribute at last year’s Victoria 200,
sponsored lap 100 as the “Benway Halfway Challenge”, giving $1,000 in cash
to the halfway leader. Ashley, Vickie, and A.J. Kingsley, the grand nieces and
nephew presented the award to Tim Fuller, and will be sponsoring this year’s
halfway lap in memory of Bub and Victoria.
Bub Benway, his wife Victoria, and entire family,
touched thousands of lives in motorsports over the last 45 years and they are a
huge part of the reason racing flourishes in this area today. They have seen the
winds of change in racing, from the days of the overheads, flatheads, sportsman,
asphalt modifieds, Small Block Dirt Modifieds, and to now the days of the DIRT
Modifieds. They have been involved in the promotions and operations of three
speedways, and have participated in multiple sanctioning bodies in racing. Most
of all, they were one of the few select group of promoters in the country who
were successful in the promotion of a track with two different surfaces over a
time span of many years. They did so much, for so many people. Most of all, they
were private yet family oriented, and a damn good people to anyone who knew them
well.
