SHREVEPORT, La — Auto racing is engrained in the sports culture of the United States. From Daytona Beach to Indianapolis, certain cities spring memories to life. For a time, Shreveport was a racing destination for gearheads around the South with the Louisiana State Fair Speedway.
The first race was an exhibition by Barney Oldfield in 1910, a one-year postponement after a rainout the year prior at the State Fair.
“For the first year, they (newspapers) say he drew about 15,000 people and the line of cars going out to the Fair extended from downtown Shreveport all the way out to the gates of the fairgrounds,” Shreveport historian Ernie Roberson said. “Well, the next year when he came back, there were more cars and more people. They estimated the crowd at 20,000 people.”
Roberson said it was originally a horse racing track in the 1890s that was a mile long. It was changed to withstand auto-racing after the turn of the century…