Bob Kitzmiller was an avid race fan who followed racing in southwest Michigan. In 1949 some of the local drivers and car owners were looking for a different track to race on. Bob had a large pasture for his cattle and he thought he could put a track there.
Bob lived on Owen Drive about 10 miles north of Kalamazoo. So in the summer of 1949, Bob moved his cattle to a new location on his farm so he could build a track on the pasture land.
He took his 1949 Mercury to the spot he picked out and put a stake in the ground and drove an oval to mark out the 3/8 mile that he wanted. It took him three times to get the exact distance of 3/8 of a mile. Then he marked his tire tracks with more stakes to check the distance. The tire tracks mark the inside of the track which still stands today, as the fastest 3/8 mile in the world.
Bob knew he had a lot of work to do to get it opened by next year (1950). Many car owners and friends came out to help work on the new track. A cement block grandstand was built along with a judges stand and retaining wall. Lights were put in later for night racing.
Sunday afternoon racing was planned for the first couple of years. Things started coming together and on July 20, 1950, Bob was able to open his new dream. On that afternoon there were 16 cars that showed up and about 300 fans that welcomed a new race track to Kalamazoo.
Ward Sootsman was the announcer and Roy Yeager was the starter.
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