Haunting Video of Tri-City Raceway for Flashback Friday

Recently on the Tri-City Raceway Facebook page, a video was shared that shows the once famous facility is like a ghost town today.

Originally shared on Vimeo by Tin Can  earlier this year, the 4:30 video is set to the song Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day.   It shows the piles of old concrete and debris left behind after all the red and white grandstands were torn out and sold to Wenatchee Valley Super Oval.  The piece starts with a black and white shot of a graveyard, then transitions to TCR, and goes from there.  Very cool!

Only the original concrete front bleachers remain.  Except for the small bathroom-water station building in the pits, virtually all the infrastructure is gone.   Concession stands,  fuel station where the racers gassed up,  support buildings, and the famous 100-plus foot tall TCR sign - gone.   Interspersed in the video are a few classic pictures from NASCAR Northwest Tour Races held there.  The catch fence is gone, and the sloping hill behind the grandstand area used to be covered in lush grass.

On Saturday nights, children would often slide and tumble down that slope,  enjoying the summer evenings while Mom and Dad watched the races.   Sometimes even unofficial kids races and play events were held there.   There used to be a concrete construction barrier running down the pit road lane separating the pits from the large paved area in front of the grandstands.  It too, is gone, having probably been "sold" to somebody. The famous poplar trees that lined Highway 224 on the Northwest corner have all but died off.

These days, the only use of the track is occasional auto-cross, where weekend warriors bring street cars out and try to race around between the cones you see in video.  With all due respect, it's a far cry from the racing we used to see there years ago, with everything from 800 horsepower sprint cars to NASCAR Northwest Tour late models and more.  The elderly man in the NASCAR shirt and hat is Gib Repass, who for years was the Race and Tour Director for the NASCAR Northwest Tour, and the video salutes noted NASCAR and tour photographer Denny Strimple.

It was supposed to be parceled off, and there was so much "talk" about vineyards, development and more that was supposed to take place on the nearly 90-acre parcel. But to this day, it sits empty and silent, not unlike the sad, abandoned buildings seen in Detroit.

A remarkable video, probably filmed with a GoPro camera.  Kudos to Tin Can for this excellent piece of work! CAUTION:  because the album version of Boulevard of Broken Dreams is used, at the 1:45 mark of the video, there is a curse word, so do be prepared. Might not be safe at work, so keep volume down. 

Click on the link below to see this excellent piece of videography.