Original Message

It's been a while, but I remember the size of the track was discussed here at some point and I think the guys came up with that it was 1/2 around the inside and 5/8's around the outside.  USAC or somebody officially measures tracks 15' (?) off of the inside fence I think.

The speeds were always fast at Flemington, but using the 5/8th's size as part of the calculation made the speeds reported even that much more spectatcular.

Also part of the discussion was that up until around 1975, there were car tires buried half way (half in the ground and the top half sticking up) creating about a lane's width shoulder off of the the inside wooden fence.  Drivers started racing through/over the tires around then, which tore them all up, and the tires ended up never being replaced and/or the track crew removed them, and the track (true racing surface) then became shorter.