Marlboro Motorsports Park (Upper Marlboro, Maryland)

[JR98]

Marlboro Motorsports Park is a now-defunct motorsports park located just outside Upper Marlboro, Maryland. MMR closed after the 1969 season and local SCCA racing moved to the more advanced Summit Point Motorsports Park due to safety concerns and issues with MMR's management. The remains of the track are still visible from Route 301 and the entire track layout can still be seen in modern satellite imagery.

Originally built in 1952 by Eugene Chaney (of Chaney Enterprises, a large Maryland-based sand, gravel and concrete producer), MMR started life as an all-dirt oval track. For the 1954 season, a road course (which was later expanded) was added and the track was paved. The facility also featured a karting track in the infield of the oval.

The development of this road course was heavily influenced by the Lavender Hill Mob, a Washington DC based affiliate of the SCCA. Until 1954, most large-scale road races held in the Capital area took place at airfields and other such temporary facilities. MMR was in operation during the height of Maryland motorsports. Between MMR, Beltsville Speedway (an oval track outside northeast D.C.) and Aquastco Speedway (one of the first 1/4-mile drag strips on the east coast and the first in the Mid-Atlantic area), Maryland played host to many high-profile motorsports events and welcomed many historic figures in automobile racing. Motorsports entrepreneur Roger Penske got his start at Marlboro and many other greats in oval and road racing made their way to "The Grand Lady of the East" to test their stock cars and grand prix racers on its challenging curves and intimidating straights.

MMR was also utilized by motorcycle racing circuits and hosted such greats as Gary Nixon.

MMR was not strictly used for racing. The Maryland State Police frequently used the track as a training facility for their high-speed maneuvering and handling courses.

"Marlboro Maroon Metallic", a color available on the 1967 and 1970 ChevroleteCorvette and one of many paint codes named for famous racing venues, was named after Marlboro Motor Raceway.

MMR's fate was sealed primarily by the construction of Summit Point Motorports Park (then Summit Point Raceway) in Summit Point, West Virginia. Still in operation today, Summit Point boasted greater safety and a much more accommodating landscape. One major safety concern at Marlboro was its two opposing straights on the south and east sides of the circuit. Oncoming traffic was generally separated by nothing more than a grass median and contemporary wood and tire barriers. Due to the track's location and orientation, addressing the facility's safety flaws would have been costly and tedious. These dangerous straights bordered a large wetland area which has since been designated a nature preserve and the aptly named "Creek Bend" followed the course of the neighboring river. Development to the north and west would infringe on the property's already-scarce parking area.