**UPDATE** 2022 For the past handful of years, this facility has been leased and ran by an individual that has made great strides into bringing it back to its original glory, or even better! The family feel out here has returned and we've enjoyed coming to the races out here once again! ***********************************************
The speedway was the only group run facility on a tribal reservation in Montana, possibly the only one in the entire US from 1970 through the mid 2000's. My father was a member from the Mission Valley Auto Racers start in 70 and I was part of it from the remodel in 1996/97 through 2002. From then on, it has been open and closed being run by various lease holders, none that kept it open for longer than a year or two I believe. It has sat empty on many a summer since the early 2000's which is a shame. Cache has log only, does not allow for any contents. BYOP The land is Tribal Reservation land is just across the right of way from the road. A Tribal Rec permit would be the safest thing to have to find this cache. You can buy yearly Recreation Permits for the Flathead Reservation at WalMart in Polson.
**********************HISTORY**************************************
The history of the speedway dates back to 1970. The Mission Valley Auto Racers were organized in 1970 with LeRoy Lafrinire as President, Wes MacDonald was Secretary/Treasurer and Ben Gates was Flagman. MVAR was started as a revenue generating enterprise for and on the premises of the old Pony Palace in Pablo. (The present day site of the Peoples Center (1999)). The next year in 1971 the MVAR became an incorporated, non-profit organization. With the incorporation of the Auto Racers, officers were elected. Duane Olsen was president, Frank Arlint was Vice President, Bill K. Jones was Secretary and Doug Smith was Treasurer. Bob Lulow was the flagman. At this time, in 1971, the women were not able to join the organization, so they organized their own called the Mission Valley Auto Racers Ladies Auxiliary. At its inception, Janice Olsen was president, Janet Arlint was Vice President, Janet Lafrinire was Secretary and Jan Smith was Treasurer. The Speedway was a short quarter mile dirt track that ran North and South with spectator bleachers on the East side. Unfortunately, due to the bleachers location, fans had to contend with the setting sun and the west wind blowing dirt in their faces! Due to this the bleachers were moved to the west side in 1971. Regular MVAR classes that ran were 6 cylinder "C" Stocks and 8 cylinder Super Stocks. The cars had to be at least 10 years old or older. In the tracks second season, 1971, the car count increased considerably. The Modified's traveled up from the Missoula track several times that season. The Mission Valley Speedway continued in its original location through the 1973 season. In the fall of 1973, a new 1/4 mile facility was started in its present day location on North Reservoir road. The Job Corps under the direction of Wayne Hamel did the track work, with the MVAR members under the direction of then president Bob Dailey working on the concession stands. The speedway remained dirt for 2 or 3 years until approximately 1977 when the Job Corps laid a 2 inch asphalt lift on the track. This asphalt track endured 20 years of life, during which it was sub-leased to individuals a handful of times, closed for approximately 2 years, and ran the rest of the time by the Mission Valley Auto Racers. Then in the fall of 1996, with the help of the S&K College Heavy Equipment class under direction of Art Trahan and Dave Bick the life of that first asphalt track came to an end. The old asphalt was torn up, and the site was readied throughout the winter for the arrival of the new asphalt in the spring of 1997. It took many donated materials & many free hours of donated labor by the Mission Valley Community Businesses and People as well as the MVAR Members to accomplish the complete overhaul of the speedway. Once completed the track was a 3/8 mile tri oval track with 14 degree corners and concrete spectator seating built into the north hillside. The speedway was ran from 1997 through 2002 by a board. After that point (when I resigned off the board and quit as head judge) I do not know how things went out there from then on. All I know is what we see now unfortunately which is trees and weeds growing up through cracks in the asphalt, buildings that have been left unlocked and let go, and grounds that have been unkept. It is really a shame because I know first hand the time, effort and $ that went into making the speedway into what it was in it's hey day of the 97 to 02 era. Hopefully someday another group will step up and get it back into shape. At the time when it was running well after the renovations it was the only "Group Run" Speedway in the US and almost certainly the only one on an Indian Reservation. We were very proud of what we had going.