It's been 38 years since the lights went out at the Hatfield Speedway for the final time.

Gone from the site on Forty Foot Road are the bleachers, the garage area and the track that billed itself as a half-mile but was, in reality, 1/8 of a mile longer.

The only physical evidence that the track even existed is in the form of a small plaque that marks the spot in the housing development built after the speedway was torn down.

Still, there are memories - lots and lots of happy memories.

Bruce Knoll remembers.

He is the founder of the West Point Business Association, the organization that is sponsoring a car show honoring Hatfield Speedway on Sunday from 1 p.m. until dusk, on Second Street between Garfield Avenue and Park Road in the village of West Point.

"I was born in 1956, and the first time I went to Hatfield was when I was 4," Knoll said. "From 1960 to the time when the track closed, I have memories of going to the races there. I always thought it was cool because my parents would take me and it was something we did together. As a young boy I remember the noise; you always remember the noise of the cars."

Dawn Harrington remembers.

"Sure, I remember when Hatfield was still in operation," said Harrington, the daughter of The Intelligencer's longtime auto racing columnist, Eddy Blain, who died on the Fourth of July. "My fondest memories of my dad taking us to races were of the times he took my sister, Nancy, and me to see the races at Hatfield."

Dick Fleck, 73, remembers Hatfield for different reasons. He raced there as well as many other tracks, including Daytona, when it first opened in 1959 and 1960, and was the last Tri-Track champion in 1957.

He and partner Dave Montgomery were also responsible for bringing a super speedway to the Poconos, a project that became the 2.5-mile Pocono International Raceway.

"Hatfield was a George Marshman track," said Fleck, who from 1961 through 1967 promoted races at the facility under the Professional Racing On Speedways banner. "George also promoted races at Sanatoga (on Route 422, between Limerick and Pottstown) and at the old Philadelphia Municipal Stadium, and in '57, I won the title at all three.

"Racing at Hatfield was a thrill, all right. The first time I raced there was when I was 15 years old in 1947; I raced midget racers, but I used a (false) name so my parents wouldn't find out. At one point, I had about nine false names."

Chick Kulp is the unofficial historian of the Hatfield Speedway. He and Knoll attended the annual racing exposition in Fort Washington and often talked about an event like Sunday's tribute to the long-gone track.

"I raced at Nazareth Raceway for about three years, 1968 through '71, when it was also a fairgrounds track," he said. "Hatfield was closed by then or I would have raced there, too, but I saw a ton of races there. I started going to Hatfield in 1956 when I was 7 or 8."

Kulp calls Sunday, "a labor of love," while Knoll said he hopes it will not be a one-time event.

"Everywhere you go, people have Hatfield stories," Knoll said. "Everybody has one. The whole show is going to be made up of stories like that. We hope we can get people to come up to the microphone and tell their Hatfield stories."

Fans are encouraged to bring vintage photos of the track, news articles and other memorabilia. Antique cars and trucks will be there along with street rods and old motorcycles. Additional information can be found on the West Point Business Association web site, www.wpba.info.

"We're trying to recreate a day at the races," said Kulp. "It's Dick Fleck's No. 2 car that he drove to the 1957 championship. I know it's going to be there because, as of this moment, it's sitting in my garage."

Bill Keen can be reached at (215) 957-8158 or bkeen@phillyBurbs.com.