In the face of stiff competition from the newly built Robbins Speedway, part of Cejay Stadium’s parking lot was condemned in the mid-1950s to make room for building of the Kansas Turnpike (a.k.a. Interstate Highway I-35).  The combination of the above problems caused promoter Carl Johnson to close the racetrack and sell the property.  A bulldozer was brought in to level the racing facility but it broke down with one section of the first turn crash wall still intact.  A second bulldozer was brought in to do the job but it too, became a victim of the sturdy slab of concrete.  The cost and trouble of bringing in a third and larger bulldozer to complete the work was deemed too high so, with the new landowner’s permission, the section of crash wall was left in place.

          Webmaster Bob Lawrence is shown above standing beside that remaining section of crash wall which today stands behind the backstop of a baseball diamond that has since been built on the former racetrack side of the old crash wall.  Ball players often watch the games from atop the structure never having a clue to its historic past.

Click your mouse on the photograph above to see another photograph of the crash wall that was taken from the pitcher’s mound of the baseball field. – Bob Lawrence collection