For at least a few years, our neighbor to the north, west and sometimes south was home to the Crystal Speedway. The race track, also known as Bearcat Speedway, was nestled into the neighborhood near 47th and Zane, just west of the old Robbinsdale Airport. The track drew hundreds of racing fans to Crystal every Sunday. Don Voge built the Crystal Sppedway on the 86 acre farm where he was born and raised. According to Voge, “My grandfather stole the land from the Indians and the Voges have lived here ever since. ” Voge got his start in the racing game after he bought a 1925 Chevrolet race car from a St. Paul driver who lost both legs in a crash. He spent at least 10 years racing on dirt tracks from coast too coast. Voge became a stunt driver during the depression and is remembered for head on collisions, flips, broad-wall crashes and flying an airplane through a house. Voge began building his racetrack in 1946. Materials were in short supply after the war, but he managed to find bleachers for 6000 and have them shipped up from New Orleans. The track opened on July 18th, 1948. In an interview with CCX media a couple yeas ago, Crystal historian Ray Dahl says city officials weren’t crazy about all the noise and dust that the speedway generated, and by 1951, the track was closed. The site of the old Crystal Speedway and the Voge family farm filled in with housing a couple years later.
