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Racing Ephemera Track Maps of the Past

Track Map of the Past: Tillamook Naval Air Station Races

I’ve been trying to figure out why it is that contemporary track maps aren’t imbued with the personality and joy that illustrated track maps like this on of the 1967 Tillamook Naval Air Station Auto Races. On the face of it, there’s no reason why this year’s Grand Prix calendar couldn’t adopt the whimsy of these illustrations. After all, this track map—cartoonish as it is—communicates quite a bit about the track itself.
I’d argue it tells us as much or more about the race track than most contemporary maps: The direction of racing, the speeds and labels of the turns, the start-finish line. They’re all there. Even the subtler features that I thought might preclude this kind of thing like the location of restrooms and food stands are also visible here. If you found a way to incorporate the spectator stands and endless rows of merchandise trucks—this kind of thing could come back.
Fingers are crossed.

0 replies on “Track Map of the Past: Tillamook Naval Air Station Races”

Nearly 30 years of driving past the former LTA air station in and around visiting my daughters in Lincoln City, first I’ve heard of sports car races at the site…

Nah…this takes a bit of imagination and a sense of humour – both things in VERY short supply these days. Racer types seem to be more bereft of the qualities than most also…
Didnt usta be that way, but….oh well; we still have memories, photos and fun stuff like this.

I remember that race back in 67 where my father raced his Austin Healey. My mom, dad and sister all squeezed into the car and drove to Tillamook. He would then prepare for the race by removing the muffler and top, taping the headlights and adding the numbers. It was pretty crazy times back then. What would we do if he broke down or crashed? We made it back home safely! Seemed like there were 3 hangers then but I could be wrong. It was 50 years ago!

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