This Track in ACT History: Bryar Motorsports Park

Bryar Motorsports Park

Location: Loudon, NH

Track: 1.63-mile road course; 5/8-mile oval

Opened: 1964 (road course), 1968 (oval)

Closed: 1989

# of ACT Races Held: 6 (3 road course, 3 oval)

Most Wins: Chuck Bown & Robbie Crouch, 2

A Brief History of Bryar Motorsports Park

The history of racing in Loudon actually begins around 1962 (or 1963; it’s not entirely clear). Keith Bryar, the owner of Belknap Tire in Laconia (which is still open today), also owned a property in nearby Loudon where he kenneled the sled racing dogs that powered his favorite pastime. He also ran a small kid’s amusement park on the property, which included a go-kart track. In the early 1960s, Mr. Bryar noticed the success of various new short tracks opening up in the area and decided to build one for himself.  Thus 106 Midway Raceway was created, a small clay over that quickly became a hit, regularly drawing crowds of 5,000 or more.

This gave Mr. Bryar the confidence to make a larger commitment to racing. Bryar Motorsports Park was officially born in 1964 when he built a permanent 1.63-mile paved road course which followed the bends of the local hills around a small lake. While the track was small by road course standards, it was big on excitement; combine this with then-state-of-the-art spectator facilities that could legally accommodate up to 18,000 fans, and the track was soon booming. It was added to the inaugural SCCA Trans Am schedule in 1966, hosting yearly events until 1972 along with events in the SCCA Two-Five Challenge. The road course also hosted an IMSA GT event in 1972.

But it was motorcycle racing where Bryar Motorsports Park really made its name. The track hosted its first AMA Road Race National in 1965, and for more than two decades, it was a popular stop on the schedule, with overflow crowds of more than 30,000 for some vents. When the AMA Superbike series was created in 1976, Bryar picked up two annual dates, attracting the top motorcycle racers in the country. Mr. Bryar also added a 5/8-mile paved oval to the facility in 1968, and this track became the home of the annual Laconia National Race (later known as the Laconia Classic and now the Loudon Classic). NASCAR took notice, and their short-lived Grand American Series (a predecessor of sorts to the NASCAR Xfinity Series) paid a visit in 1970 with a race won by Buck Baker. The sanctioning body would return in the mid-1980s as part of NASCAR North (more on this below).

Bryar Motorsports Park was still popular among locals as the track entered the late 1980s. But both the courses and the facilities had deteriorated due to a lack of capital investment. As a result, many series had dropped Bryar from their schedule, and motorcycles were the only vehicles still using the road course. In 1989, Bob Bahre – who had previously run Oxford Plains Speedway for 23 years – bought the facility and immediately announced plans to transform it into what would become New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Just like that, Bryar had met its end like so many other tracks in the region during that time period.

Random Track Fact: Four different AMA Superbike racers – Wayne Rainey, Doug Polen, Sam McDonald, and Jamie James – earned their first victory at Bryar Motorsports Park. It was also the track where Gary Nixon, a two-time AMA Grand National Champion and AMA Hall of Fame member, earned his final series win in 1974.

ACT at Bryar Motorsports Park

The NASCAR North Tour made its debut at Bryar in 1984, the sixth year of the series. The Seeber Computer 150 was the first time the tour had raced on a road course, and Chuck Bown turned left and right to a dominating victory in a rain-shortened event. The following year, Bryar was the site of the New Hampshire Governor’s Cup – an event that was broadcast in part on the USA television network. (A clip from the event can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agEUg6kWPAE). The event was run in three segments, adopting the Milk Bowl style scoring system. As such, Robbie Crouch emerged as the winner over Bown without leading a single lap.

Under the newly-formed American-Canadian Tour banner, the series returned in 1986 – this time as part of an August doubleheader that saw them run the oval on Saturday and the road course on Sunday. Claude Leclerc was the winner on the oval while Bown resumed his road course dominance the following day in another three-segment affair. That would prove to be the last road course event at Bryar for ACT, but after converting to the Pro Stock type cars, they returned to the oval in 1987 and 1988 for the EJP 106. Jamie Aube took the win in 1987, while Crouch became the final ACT winner at Bryar in 1988 – making him the only driver to win on both the road course and the oval.

Random ACT Fact #1: The 1985 Governor’s Cup was the only NASCAR North/ACT start for Bill Alsup, a Hawaii-born Indy Car racer who was the inaugural CART Rookie of the Year in 1979 and finished second in series points in 1981. Alsup finished 14th in the 35-car field.

 Bryar Motorsports Park

Location: Loudon, NH

Track: 1.63-mile road course; 5/8-mile oval

Opened: 1964 (road course), 1968 (oval)

Closed: 1989

# of ACT Races Held: 6 (3 road course, 3 oval)

Most Wins: Chuck Bown & Robbie Crouch, 2

A Brief History of Bryar Motorsports Park

The history of racing in Loudon actually begins around 1962 (or 1963; it’s not entirely clear). Keith Bryar, the owner of Belknap Tire in Laconia (which is still open today), also owned a property in nearby Loudon where he kenneled the sled racing dogs that powered his favorite pastime. He also ran a small kid’s amusement park on the property, which included a go-kart track. In the early 1960s, Mr. Bryar noticed the success of various new short tracks opening up in the area and decided to build one for himself.  Thus 106 Midway Raceway was created, a small clay over that quickly became a hit, regularly drawing crowds of 5,000 or more.

This gave Mr. Bryar the confidence to make a larger commitment to racing. Bryar Motorsports Park was officially born in 1964 when he built a permanent 1.63-mile paved road course which followed the bends of the local hills around a small lake. While the track was small by road course standards, it was big on excitement; combine this with then-state-of-the-art spectator facilities that could legally accommodate up to 18,000 fans, and the track was soon booming. It was added to the inaugural SCCA Trans Am schedule in 1966, hosting yearly events until 1972 along with events in the SCCA Two-Five Challenge. The road course also hosted an IMSA GT event in 1972.

But it was motorcycle racing where Bryar Motorsports Park really made its name. The track hosted its first AMA Road Race National in 1965, and for more than two decades, it was a popular stop on the schedule, with overflow crowds of more than 30,000 for some vents. When the AMA Superbike series was created in 1976, Bryar picked up two annual dates, attracting the top motorcycle racers in the country. Mr. Bryar also added a 5/8-mile paved oval to the facility in 1968, and this track became the home of the annual Laconia National Race (later known as the Laconia Classic and now the Loudon Classic). NASCAR took notice, and their short-lived Grand American Series (a predecessor of sorts to the NASCAR Xfinity Series) paid a visit in 1970 with a race won by Buck Baker. The sanctioning body would return in the mid-1980s as part of NASCAR North (more on this below).

Bryar Motorsports Park was still popular among locals as the track entered the late 1980s. But both the courses and the facilities had deteriorated due to a lack of capital investment. As a result, many series had dropped Bryar from their schedule, and motorcycles were the only vehicles still using the road course. In 1989, Bob Bahre – who had previously run Oxford Plains Speedway for 23 years – bought the facility and immediately announced plans to transform it into what would become New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Just like that, Bryar had met its end like so many other tracks in the region during that time period.

Random Track Fact: Four different AMA Superbike racers – Wayne Rainey, Doug Polen, Sam McDonald, and Jamie James – earned their first victory at Bryar Motorsports Park. It was also the track where Gary Nixon, a two-time AMA Grand National Champion and AMA Hall of Fame member, earned his final series win in 1974.

ACT at Bryar Motorsports Park

The NASCAR North Tour made its debut at Bryar in 1984, the sixth year of the series. The Seeber Computer 150 was the first time the tour had raced on a road course, and Chuck Bown turned left and right to a dominating victory in a rain-shortened event. The following year, Bryar was the site of the New Hampshire Governor’s Cup – an event that was broadcast in part on the USA television network. (A clip from the event can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agEUg6kWPAE). The event was run in three segments, adopting the Milk Bowl style scoring system. As such, Robbie Crouch emerged as the winner over Bown without leading a single lap.

Under the newly-formed American-Canadian Tour banner, the series returned in 1986 – this time as part of an August doubleheader that saw them run the oval on Saturday and the road course on Sunday. Claude Leclerc was the winner on the oval while Bown resumed his road course dominance the following day in another three-segment affair. That would prove to be the last road course event at Bryar for ACT, but after converting to the Pro Stock type cars, they returned to the oval in 1987 and 1988 for the EJP 106. Jamie Aube took the win in 1987, while Crouch became the final ACT winner at Bryar in 1988 – making him the only driver to win on both the road course and the oval.

Random ACT Fact #1: The 1985 Governor’s Cup was the only NASCAR North/ACT start for Bill Alsup, a Hawaii-born Indy Car racer who was the inaugural CART Rookie of the Year in 1979 and finished second in series points in 1981. Alsup finished 14th in the 35-car field.

Random ACT Fact #2: Chuck Bown led nearly 63 percent of the laps ACT/NASCAR North ran on the Bryar road course – 169 out of 269.

ACT’s Future at Bryar Motorsports Park

With Bryar having now been gone for nearly 30 years as of this writing, ACT obviously won’t be returning there anytime soon – except maybe on YouTube or iRacing. But there remains hope for seeing them racing in Loudon. Our next article will have more about Loudon, NH racing with the opening of New Hampshire Motor Speedway and ACT’s record at this facility.

Random ACT Fact #2: Chuck Bown led nearly 63 percent of the laps ACT/NASCAR North ran on the Bryar road course – 169 out of 269.

ACT’s Future at Bryar Motorsports Park

With Bryar having now been gone for nearly 30 years as of this writing, ACT obviously won’t be returning there anytime soon – except maybe on YouTube or iRacing. But there remains hope for seeing them racing in Loudon. Our next article will have more about Loudon, NH racing with the opening of New Hampshire Motor Speedway and ACT’s record at this facility.