Aycliffe for Action! This was the slogan printed on many a meeting programme at the cult North Eastern venue, and 30 years after the stadium's closure, a Facebook tribute page exists for fans and former drivers to relive past glories at the popular tarmac raceway.
The raceway was constructed in 1946 for greyhound racing. In 1948 a speedway training track was added, with stock car racing being held from the middle of the decade. Jim Wilkinson promoted from the start up until the mid 1960s, when Tony Neal, Ron Deane and Tom Geldard assumed control. After years of running as a 'pirate' track, Aycliffe joined BriSCA in 1966. When Neal emigrated to New Zealand in the early 1970s, Deane and Geldard took on the running of the track until the 1985 season, after which Ron Deane retired.
Jim Wilkinson, who was running a pub locally, returned as promoter, with Vince Moody's Trackstar team helping out. After Moody's arrival, a few improvements to the venue were made, including resurfacing the famously bumpy tarmac track. It started to attract some bigger fixtures as a result, with a couple of Semi Finals being held in 1985 and 1989, a couple of Grand National championships, and perhaps the most prestigious being the European title in 1987. Unfortunately due to a clashing event in the Netherlands, no dutch drivers were able to attend, but Ian Smith (367) carried off the biggest win in his racing career in front of a huge crowd and the Screensport cable tv cameras.
After years of staving off the threat of closure, Aycliffe finally succumbed and the final meeting staged for BriSCA F1 was in November 1989. As mentioned earlier in the piece, such was the popularity of the track and the esteem it is held in, some 30 years after it's demise, it is still being celebrated as a 'cult' venue, and many a North Eastern driver cut their racing teeth here. Ask any fan that saw racing here and they will tell you that Aycliffe was unique and some of the characters seen down the years both racing and involved in the running of it are remembered with great fondness.
Aycliffe for Action lives on!
Andre Zang
| Stu Smith | 66 |
| John Lund | 26 |
| Mike Close | 26 |
| Tony Neal | 18 |
| John Toulson | 16 |
| Len Wolfenden | 14 |
| Doug Cronshaw | 12 |
| Andy Stott | 11 |
| Frankie Wainman | 11 |
| Willie Harrison | 10 |
| Arthur Gibson | 9 |
| Ron Rogers | 7 |
| Peter Falding | 6 |
| Tom Geldard | 6 |
| John Hillam | 5 |
| Jim Esau | 5 |
| Allan Barker | 4 |
| Bert Shipman | 4 |
| Mike Holt | 4 |
| Ellis Ford | 4 |
| Ray Tyldesley | 3 |
| Gordon Smith | 3 |
| Brian Wignall | 3 |
| Ernie Dent | 3 |
| Earl Testo | 3 |
| Peter Winder | 3 |
| Dick Brown | 3 |
| Richard Ainsworth | 2 |
| Harry Smith | 2 |
| Brian Powles | 2 |
| Gerald Taylor | 2 |
| Warren Taylor | 2 |
| Oliver Smith | 2 |
| Jimmy Young | 2 |
| David Toulson | 1 |
| Arthur Gibson | 1 |
| Dan Clarke | 1 |
| George Wilkins | 1 |
| Trevor Todd | 1 |
| Dave Hodgson | 1 |
| Martin Farrar | 1 |
| Phil Hayhurst | 1 |
| Brian Wallace | 1 |
| Dave Fox | 1 |
| Rod Falding | 1 |
| Ray Watkins | 1 |
| John Donaldson | 1 |
| George Ansell | 1 |
| Derek Coleman | 1 |
| Bill Houseman | 1 |
| Pat Byrne | 1 |
| Charlie Finnikin | 1 |
| Pop Testo | 1 |
| Ray Muir | 1 |
| R Walker | 1 |
