Been doing a ton of research on this recently, and have actually found an aerial map of the area close to 1969. The only thing is that there were apparently TWO racetracks in the area, and we're not 100% sure which one the event took place at... I've posted the map to refresh anyone's memory. http://www.designwizardry.com/speedway1.jpg Anyone remember seeing a PAVEMENT at the event? That would put it at the big oval racetrack in the upper right. If it was all fields and grass, it would be at the lower left. Chime in all! You'll be doing us a great favor! -Mike
I was there. It was a paved racetrack, not a dirt track. Prior to the pop festival I had attended a few races at the track so I'm sure it was paved. At the races I was not under the influence of any of the substances I had taken at the pop festival. :dis:
I was there with about 20 friends. We didn't realize we were watching groups and performers that would become icons of rock n' roll. Most had only been performing for a year or so. It was just a few weeks after Woodstock and the and the implact of the event was not realized at the time. I went New York to go to Woodstock but my friend AJ, who was living in N.Y. at the time, and I woke up on the Saturday morning of the festival and heard the traffic was backed up 30 miles so we just blew it off, not realizing it would be the quintisential moment of our generation that it was. I have photographs my friend Lucien and I took that are amazing. We have a picture of Janis Joplin and Gracie Slick sitting together back stage. I have been meaning to get the color slides digitized. When I do, I will post them. The sound engineer for the Greatfull Dead was Isley. Can't remember his first name but he was know for his LSD. It was called Isley Acid at the time. He put some in a water cooler back stage and many musicians and fans indulged.. There were only about 25-30,000 in attendence. In hindsight, based on the acts that performed, you would think there would have been 10x that many but again, we didn't realize we witnessing future icons of rock n' roll. I will get a friend of mine to refresh my memory and we will post some more tidbits of this special time. Kenny
The infield of the track would have motocross races there in the later years. I made the stock car and motocross races there many times. I also made the first concert in the Superdome, a psychic said the roof on the dome was gonna fall in during the concert. It didn't, as you might know. They also had motocross races in the bar pits across the river the same weekend. I crossed the river, on the ferry that sank after it was hit by the S/S Frostia early one morning.
This was a asphalt track. Freddy Fryer, Ray Putnam, I think these are a couple of the guys that use to race there. Insurance Wrecking (Some of my relatives) had a car there also.
