The Beltsville Speedway was an asphalt oval track in the American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 community of Beltsvile

Beltsville, Maryland

Beltsville is a census-designated place in northern Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 15,691 at the 2000 census. Beltsville includes the unincorporated community of Vansville.-Geography:...

, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

; it spanned 0.5 mile (0.80467 km).

Summary

It was specially designed with banked turns for stock car racing

Stock car racing

Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing found mainly in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain, Brazil and Argentina. Traditionally, races are run on oval tracks measuring approximately in length...

. Originally known as the Baltimore-Washington Speedway, this track would receive its final name in its 19th month of operation. The track has hosted modified stock car racing vehicles alongside the other NASCAR series. Wednesday nights were the original night for racing but the schedule eventually added Friday night racing. Ten Grand National races were raced here including the popular Beltsville 300 series of races. Strict noise restriction

Noise mitigation

Noise mitigation is a set of strategies to reduce noise pollution. The main areas of noise mitigation or abatement are: transportation noise control, architectural design, and occupational noise control...

s were given out in its final year of racing and the county

Prince George's County, Maryland

Prince George's County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland, immediately north, east, and south of Washington, DC. As of 2010, it has a population of 863,420 and is the wealthiest African-American majority county in the nation....

 (Prince George's County) starting monitoring the events. Eventually, a sound wall was built surrounding the speedways. Cars had to begin running mufflers in order to stifle the noise from the increasing RPMs from the vehicles themselves. The track was eventually shut down, demolished, and replaced with a local community college

Capitol College

Capitol College is a private, non-profit, and non-sectarian college located just south of Laurel, Maryland, in unincorporated Prince George's County. It was founded in 1927 as the Capitol Radio Engineering Institute, changed its name to the Capitol Institute of Technology in 1964, and assumed its...

.

Famous race car drivers like Richard Petty

Richard Petty

Richard Lee Petty is a former NASCAR driver who raced in the Strictly Stock/Grand National Era and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series...

, Tiny Lund

Tiny Lund

DeWayne Louis "Tiny" Lund was a NASCAR driver. He was ironically nicknamed "Tiny" due to his rather large and imposing size.-Background:...

, and David Pearson have participated in legendary races here. The 1968 Beltsville 300

1968 Beltsville 300

The 1968 Beltsville 300 was a NASCAR Grand National racing event that took place on May 17, 1968 at Beltsville Speedway in the American community of Beltsville, Maryland...

was an example of some of the classic NASCAR Grand National races that went on in this track.