| Ed
Knowles is often referred to as the "father of Unity
Raceway". His interest in auto racing was fueled from the
winter months he spent in Florida, attending racing events at
places like Hialeah Speedway.
With a belief auto racing would be popular in Maine, Ed
planned to build a race track (the first in the state) on land
he owned on the outskirts of Portland in 1948. Instead
of building a race track for stock cars, he thought midget car
races would be very popular.
But, the plan to build
the track was quickly cancelled when he heard a track in
Scarborough was going to be built by Jim McConnell.
Undaunted, Ed looked further north. In 1949, he purchased the
Waldo County Fairgrounds in Unity. Renamed Unity Raceway, the
half-mile dirt track opened for stock car races ‘officially’
on June 17, 1950.
History, however, will show Mr. Knowles attempted to open his
new track the previous fall on October 22, 1949 but the race
program was never completed due to weather.
The track was shortened to a one-third mile oval in 1957 and
three years later, Mr. Knowles turned over the daily operations
of the track to son Bob. |
