Old Ohio track

[jeff greenberg]

Anyone remember an old motocross track in Belpre,Ohio called Badlands? I raced a pro event there in 1974 on my Penton. Jon Leak won it on his Penton. John Franklin won the 250 pro class. Just wondering what became of it. Maybe the skeletal remains of the track are still there. Or maybe it became a Walmart .
Thanks......

[Gary Roach]

Hi Jeff,

Toni and I rode our Dual Sport bikes right past Badlands today! I only live about 5 miles from where it's located.

The scoring tower, starting gate, and all of the fences are gone. Most of the track that was out in the open is all grown up with trees, shrubs and high weeds, and you can't tell that there was ever a track there. The parts of the track that went up into the woods are still there, and for the past couple of years a GP has been held on the property, and those parts of the track are still being used. And they still use the old downhill jump....but it's all wore down, so now it's just a hump.

This is one of our friends, Guy Longwell, on his #24 Penton 400 at Badlands in 1975.


Notice all of the red jerseys? Read this article about Badlands and the jerseys on RacerXOnline:
http://racerxonline.com/2014/11/13/the-list-one-off-offerings

Previous discussion about Badlands on the POG site:
http://www.pentonusa.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5594

If you look really close to this black and white aerial photo from 1996, you can still make out some of the track.


If you want to pull it up on Google Earth, the track is located about a mile north of St Rte 7 on Farson Avenue.



Gary

[jeff greenberg]

Gary, oh my gosh. Thank you so much for taking the time to post all that stuff!!! It's really cool to see the ghost image of the track in 1996. In a bit,  I'm gonna try to post the article I have from that 1974 race.  Sure brings back memories.  I remember coming out of the woods and hitting that fast downhill jump. Also lots of dust and a left hand first turn.

[Dale Fisher]

Fwd from Jeff Greenberg.



Dale Fisher
Penton Owners Group - President/Memberships
POG Merchandise
Mudlark Registry
Facebook - Penton Owners Group - Administrator
Facebook - Cheney Racing Group - Administrator

[jeff greenberg]

Thanks Dale!   Wanted to show that both pro classes were won on Pentons .....

[Dale Fisher]

Fwd from Jeff Greenberg.



Dale Fisher
Penton Owners Group - President/Memberships
POG Merchandise
Mudlark Registry
Facebook - Penton Owners Group - Administrator
Facebook - Cheney Racing Group - Administrator

[jeff greenberg]

Thanks Dale!   Wanted to show that both pro classes were won on Pentons .....