Our thanks to Cheryl DeCristofaro (Hayer) for sharing vintage photos of the “Crackerjack Track,” the humble beginnings of today’s Roy Hayer Memorial Speedway!
Sacramento County’s quarter-midget racing craze started in a Sears parking lot around 1952. By 1954, Rio Linda’s Grover James, with the help of rancher Roy Hayer, carved out the “Crackerjack Track” on what’s now Roy Hayer Park. In 1957, Roy’s son, Erwin, built the banked dirt track next to Dry Creek, the very same Roy Hayer Memorial Speedway we enjoy today.
Back then, Northern California boasted 17 quarter-midget tracks and thousands of drivers. Now, our own Speedway stands as the sole surviving original dirt track in the state.
Roy Hayer, a Rio Linda native and strong supporter of youth, shaped more than just a racetrack. He created Roy Hayer Park, a former Boy Scout camp that now includes the horse arena and BMX track.
Cheryl’s photos capture the “Crackerjack Track” with Roy’s equipment, near the present-day ball diamond and Junior High gym. One special photo features Roy Hayer alongside James “Penny” Paniagua, a local legend who built top-notch quarter-midgets. One of Penny’s cars even landed in the hands of John Bickford, who put his step-son, Jeff Gordon, in that seat. The rest, of course, is history.
