Part of Leslie Winik's "Sportbeams" series of short films, SPEEDWAY opens with images of the Monte Carlo Grand Prix, with open-wheeled cars racing down city streets. At 1:00, the XI Grand Prix of Tripoli is shown. This is the 1934 running of the race, which originated in 1925 and lasted up until 1940 and the start of WWII in Libya. At 1:48, the Continental Grand Prix is shown, with pit crews hard at work at the 2:14 mark. At 2;46, a car is seen wiping out on the track, while at 3:00 the winner speeds to glory. At 3:16, England's Donington Park race is seen near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. At 3:45, an American dirt track race series is seen, with daredevil drivers tearing around the track at 100 mph. The checkered flag is seen at 4:35. At 5:11, the Great American Soap Box Derby is shown at Derby Downs in Akron, Ohio.At 6:10, the Utah Salt Flats are shown with a car being driven by Sir Malcolm Campbell. In September 1935, this car the Campbell-Railton Blue Bird, broke the 300 mph barrier by a bare mile-per-hour, that being 484,955 km, crowning Sir Malcolm Campbell's record-breaking career. At 7:04, John Cobb is seen smashing the record. Driving the piston-engined, wheel-driven Railton Special on 23 August 1939, he achieved a mark of 367.91 mph (592.09 km/h).
At 7:16, the Indianapolis 500 is shown. A montage at 8:40, shows a series of horrific accidents at Indy, and that's how the film ends.
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