Figure 8…of FEAR!

Spectators gather, cold beers in hand and the engines roar to life. Brave warriors and their fine metal steeds line up and the flag drops. Let the carnage begin! There’s the acrid smell of grease and stinking exhaust, the sequel of tires, the sickening sound of tearing metal followed by shrieks of joy from the excited crowd. The air is electric!

Ancient autos, once someone’s pride and joy are now unrecognizable franken-cars, perfectly at home in the post-apocalyptic world of Mad Max. They duke it out gladiator style, a fight to the death on four wheels. Vroom! Screeech! Crash! It’s carmageddon, cheap excitement with a hillbilly attitude, a giant jacked up truck load of low brow fun for the whole family. Welcome to the figure-eight racetrack…OF FEAR! They’ll sell you the whole seat, but you’ll only need the edge!

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ Scroll down for photos and to comment ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

But it’s all over now. The crowds are gone and the track is silent. Another one bits the dust.

The location here is Southern Alberta. The site, a former racetrack in business from the late 1990s until sometime in the 2000s (most people we spoke with state it closed in 2002 or 2003, some said as late as 2008 – see the comments section). BIGDoer.com visited the site with permission, by the way.

In auto racing, the figure-eight form is not that odd, but that this one is so incredibly tight and small and that it’s dedicated and not incorporated into a larger racing oval, is indeed strange. It’s a very specialized racing venue. The acronym F.E.A.R is used to describe it – Figure Eight Auto Racing. Fear is also what most drivers felt, no doubt, upon seeing what they were up against. Officially the track was called “World of F.E.A.R”.

The race winner was not determined by who was the fastest but rather who survived. Drivers would do their best to disable the cars of opponents by smashing into them, all the while trying to avoid the same happening to them. It was a smash-up derby with an element of speed. You could hit and be hit anywhere on the track, but the middle X where the routes converged momentarily, was where most of the damage happened. The layout made it dangerous. When your ride died, or could not longer move, you were out of the game.

Drivers must have taken a beating. Bruises, abrasions, of course, rattled brains, must have been all to common.

Based on old photos of the place, it looks like the track was often wet-down which added to the excitement. Go too fast and spin out!

Many of the cars participating at an event would be older full-sized body-on-frame American models from the 1980s and earlier. They also ran separate races for small car and also trucks. Vehicles would be kept fairly stock but were all modified in regards to safety (addition of roll bars, removal of glass, etc). They’d often be painted up rather garishly. Since vehicles would often be write-offs by race end, most were old worn out beaters already destined for the scrap yard, but temporarily diverted to the track for a final hurrah.

In addition to figure-eight racing, mud bogs and even traditional style demolition derby events were held here. Looking at old photos it seems the venue was reasonably well patronized. Drivers, of course, were all amateurs (not like figure-eight racing is real career choice), mostly local (presumably) and generally of…well…the redneck persuasion.

The racetrack had its own website, a Geocities-esque special if I ever saw one. It was gaudy and amateurish with lots of bright colours, flashing lights and animated gifs. So 90s!

Some years after closing, an attempt was made to revive the business with the addition of a drag-strip. Some grading work was done, but nothing’s really happened for the last half dozen years or so. Funding, no doubt, is the big problem. For the time being, the property is in limbo.

On entering the site, we’re immediately struck by just how small and tight the figure-eight track is. It’s so tiny and narrow, with some modest banking on the curves. For seating there is one bleacher with space for perhaps a couple hundred. In behind is a small concession building, the “Pit Stop” and the track offices. Beside it is portable trailer, which looks to be a residence of sorts. It was kinda’ suggested it was a bunk house for visiting drivers. It looks it.

Our back is the remains of an old truck camper and further down, a large trailer. The latter looks like it’s been here for some time and may have been where the track owners or site-custodian lived.

As is typical, there is lots of junk scattered about. Many, many helmets, go figure (eight). The grass has taken over and is knee deep in places. The track surface still seems in pretty good condition. No signs of the mud-bog pit were seen. Perhaps it was filled in or we simply missed it? The recent (or fairly recent) drag-strip prep work, recall it was begun but soon aborted, can be seen to the north.

Small town racetracks were once reasonably common in Western Canada post World War Two. Every region had one it seems. This author can think of many and in the 1980s often attended racing events in Cranbrook BC (yes, at times, Chris has good ol’ boy tendencies) – Cranbrook International Speedway, aka Echo Field, closed sometime in the 2000s.

Most speedways, raceways, or racetracks (pick your favourite term) were shut down in the 1990s and 2000s, a victim of changing demographics, although I’m sure other factors were in play too. Getting insurance must have been a big costly issue – speaking of which, for safety, there used to be a catch net at this facility, seen in old photos, in between the track and stands. Good to keep flying parts from taking out spectators. It’s bad for business you know.

We leave, reluctantly of course, and a bit melancholy. A place like this, a venue of fun and excitement and so much noise, now eerily quiet and forgotten, is enough to make anyone reflect I guess.

More posts you’ll like…
Canadian Forces Station Alsask.
Wet Dreams.
Blackfoot Farmer’s Market.

If you wish more information on what you’ve seen here, by all means contact us!

Date: November, 2015.
Location: Southern Alberta.
This site is on private land and BIGDoer.com visited with permission.

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Abandoned race track

Gentlemen, start your engines!

Abandoned raceway

An abandoned raceway in Southern Alberta.

Abandoned speedway

It was in business in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Figure-8 speedway

The track is a very tight figure-8 pattern.

No Smoking Section

No Smoking!

Abandoned

The usual junk left behind.

Abandoned racing track

An old business guide.

Abandoned trailer

A fixer-upper.

Old abandoned trailer

Peering in…

Abandoned Alberta racetrack

The concession booth behind and in front, some kind of living quarters.

Abandoned Alberta speedway

Two please!

Abandoned Alberta raceway

Since closing there was talk of reopening the track, with the addition of dragstrip.

Abandoned raceway Alberta

For now though, the facility’s future is at best uncertain.

Abandoned Alberta

Inside the living quarters.

20 responses

  1. Lauri Swalwell says:

    My Dad Wayne ( Weiner ) McDonald owned it as well ~ I have posters , pictures shirts and such. Unfortunately he’s passed away almost 4 years ago. 🏁🏁

    • Sorry to hear of their passing. Oh wow, love old race track memorabilia – share photos if you can!

    • Ryan allen says:

      hello my name is ryan, i was the little kid alot of people remember from this race track, this was my home, me and my uncle wiener use to groom this land to perfection, i learned to drive, race and mud all here on this land, most of these post are false which i know from being there, uncle wayne was a amazing man, if he really passed away, in the tv stand under his tv, is racing videos of this track, one of which he blindfold himself and slays the 8 . whoever was there after he was in his trailer. should look at those tapes. i love you wiener.

      • Thanks for sharing your memories Ryan. How cool to grow up in such an exciting environment! Not sure what you mean by the false posts, however, and no one seems to be speaking ill of anyone.

  2. Steven Wills says:

    My late Grandfather Charles (Dick) Wills Opened this track. I was 16 when this place open. It would have been 1996. We got the grandstands out of the Canons baseball stadium in Calgary when they were renovating , also the concession building from an old mini golf / bumper boat place that had closed. He only ran it for one year and then was sold. The place was great fun!!!

    • Oh wow, such cool memories! What an exciting place for a sixteen year old. Thanks, we so love to hear from people connected to the places we document. Do drop by often.

  3. kyle rizok says:

    This track is a gem in the world of abandon race tracks. It is likely the only figure 8 specific paved race track ever built in north america, probably the world. There are plenty that are worked into ovals, or temporary in nature, but actually paved figure 8 only track, they dont exist. This is a unicorn. its a shame it did not survive but not all that surprising.

    • Wow, how interesting is that! Got your email. Will make it a point to document as many of those tracks as we can in the coming years. We’re a big fan of them. Thanks! So nice to hear from someone with a great passion.

  4. Terry S says:

    I used to frequent this track, the name was “World of F.E.A.R” and the last race i went to there was October 5th 2008, i had some videos on Qik but that service has been killed off and i didnt back up the files, so i cant prove it.

    • I spoke with a couple people connected to the place and they all say it closed well before the 2008 date you state (most said 2002, one 2003). However, I spoke with another who agreed on what you said. Confusing. We will keep searching, In the meantime, I made a note of this in the article.

  5. Terry says:

    It actually was in operation in 2008, I am pretty sure it missed a few years in the early/mid 2000’s but the last event I attended there was October 5 2008.

    • Thanks for commenting. I see you placed a number of other comments in regards to that date and I’ll address all of them shortly, once I return from the road.

  6. Steve Fontaine says:

    Thanks for bringing back some memories, I remember heading out their a few times near the end of days for the track. A friends friend was a regular race car driver out there and since he worked at a tire shop got all his ‘new’ rubber donated. It was a spectacle and a lot of fun with its ‘anything goes’ attitude.

  7. George Stringam says:

    (via Facebook)
    Figure Eight tracks would never survive. No national organization will sanction them so things like insurance are non-existent. Sure exciting to watch though…

  8. Rob K Hill says:

    I sure wish Southern AB could support some of these tracks. Just a shame.

  9. Dakota Gooder says:

    I’ve been there when it was up and running.

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