In March of 1938, Emanual Bucher purchased, at a sheriff’s sale, a 7.33-acre land parcel located just south of the Pennsylvania Railroad right of way.  By July 1938, L. B. Smith, a contractor and equipment firm located just across Gettysburg Pike from the site, had completed the construction of the White Hill Speedway. The speedway was a 4/10-mile semi banked dirt track complete with grandstands.  The track was described as being located in a “Natural bowl giving spectators ample vision of the whole track.”

The July 23, 1938 issue of the Harrisburg Telegraph newspaper announced that “30 Race Cars” were expected for the inaugural race at the White Hill Speedway on Sunday July 24.  The Eastern Valley Race Association, under the management of Elmer Norris, an active Harrisburg racecar driver, was to operate the track. On opening day, track manager Norris was faced with rain and wet grounds so he postponed the races. However, by afternoon the skies had cleared and eight cars and 2000 spectators were still on hand.  Norris arranged with the drivers to run an informal free program made up of two heats and a feature.  Otis (Spelled Otto by the paper) Stein of York won the first eight-lap heat and Bob Chronister, also of York, won the second heat.  Otis Stein won the feature with a time of 5:24.4 for the sixteen laps followed by Danny Gross, Bridgeport N. J. second: and Dewey Ploppert (Spelled Duey Propert by the paper), Mt. Carmel third.

The “Official” opening of the White Hill Speedway took place a week later on Sunday July 31.  More than two thousand spectators reportedly showed up and paid the admission price of 35 cents to watch the cars run under open competition rules.  The program was scheduled to include three ten-lap heats, a ten-lap consolation race and a twenty-lap feature.  The heats were won by: Otis Stein, York in 3:39.8, Dave Wilt, Lancaster in 3:40.0, and Vic Nauman, Palmyra in 3:42.4.  Jake Pickler, Allentown, won the consolation in 3:42.1.

The two local newspapers agreed with one another that the twenty-lap feature was won with a time of 7 minutes and 29 seconds.  However, the two papers did not agree on who won that race.  The Harrisburg Telegraph reported, “Forging by Dave Wilt, of Lancaster, who was setting the pace in the fourteenth lap, Vic Nauman , of Palmyra, burned up the track for the remainder of the feature race to win in 7.29 (sic) minutes at the White Hill dirt track yesterday.  Otis Stein, York, got the jump for the first lap, but he locked wheels at the turn in the second lap and Wilt passed by him to stay out front until Nauman overhauled him.  Stein had to quit the race on the fifth lap.  Wilt finished in second place by a close margin.”

On the other hand, the Harrisburg Evening News reported on the same race by saying, “Covering the twenty laps in seven minutes, twenty nine seconds, Dewey (Spelled Duey by the paper) Ploppert, of Mt Carmel, sped to victory in the feature event of an auto racing program on the new White Hill Speedway yesterday.  Starting the race in the second row, Ploppert passed Otis Stine (Spelled Otto Stein by the paper), of York, winner of the first heat and holder of the fastest time trial, when Stine’s car developed motor trouble and was forced from the race.  Dave Wilt of Lancaster, winner of the second heat, however, gave Ploppert plenty of trouble and it was not until the tenth lap, when the caution flag was hoisted due to the over turning of Vic Nauman’s car on the southern curve, that Ploppert got his chance to pass Wilt.  Vic was unhurt and his machine suffered little damage in the upset.  Taking advantage of the caution flag to creep up on Wilt, who previously held a 150-yard lead, Ploppert edged around him on the western curve when the caution warning was lifted and remained in front for the rest of the race.”

The Harrisburg Telegraph reported that Nauman won and the Harrisburg Evening News reported that Ploppert won, not the first nor the last time a newspaper got it wrong..

The next race was advertised in the Telegraph to be run on Sunday August 21.  The paper also provided pre-race coverage and explained that beginning with that race, the rules were to change. The open competition rules that allowed any car to run would no longer be in effect. Only cars with flathead and rocker arm engines would be allowed. This rule change eliminated the faster, more expensive racecars of the day from the event.

In spite of the advertising and pre-race coverage, no follow up report of the results of that August 21^st race appeared in either of the Harrisburg newspapers.

Two weeks later, The Telegraph advertised the next race for Sunday, September 4. Their pre-race coverage said, “The track has been successful in securing a fast field for this weekend and there is every indication that the events will be rather exciting.”   Again, no results appeared.

Two weeks later, motorcycle races were advertised for Sunday September 18.  Again, no results appeared.

Then an article and an advertisement appeared in the October 15 Telegraph announcing that auto races would be run the following day at the Latimore Speedway, located about 25 miles south of White Hill on Route15. The races were to be sanctioned by the Eastern Valley Race Association and managed by Elmer Norris.   This was the same racing association and manager that ran the White Hill Speedway.  So, after just four auto races and one motorcycle race, the Speedway apparently closed.  It wasn’t heard from again. 

An interesting aspect of the short life of White Hill Speedway was the lack of follow-up coverage it received from the local newspapers after its first two events. Both of the Harrisburg newspapers provided full pre-event coverage as well as follow up coverage for the first two events but neither paper provided follow-up coverage of the results after that.  Even the Harrisburg Telegraph, the paper that carried the track’s advertisements and provided lead-in articles before each of its five races, failed to publish results for the last three races.  This suggests that the track management probably assigned little value to publicity and never bothered to give results to the papers.

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