On August 8, 1948, Ritchie Raceway in Glen Burnie, Maryland, hosted a 30-lap modified stock car race that drew an overflow crowd. No information can be found for the 100-mile Championship Race as shown on the program.
The half-mile dirt oval saw 20 cars take the green flag after three heat races and a consolation. Tommy Coates sat on the pole with a qualifying time of 30.45 seconds and went on to win the feature by about 40 yards over Wally Campbell. The two drivers traded the lead throughout much of the race until Coates seized it for good on the 23rd lap and held on to the checkered flag. Hal Brokoff and Ken Marriott rounded out the top four.
Heat winners were Jack Camiere, Tommy Bradshaw, and Bill Gross. Newly married Jim Paschal took the consolation race.
Ritchie Raceway was a dirt track in Glen Burnie, just south of Baltimore. The site had earlier hosted horse racing and limited motorsport in the 1920s and 1930s before closing around 1938. Racing returned on a modest scale after World War II, with 1948 marking one of the first postwar seasons. The facility staged NASCAR Modified events in 1951 before closing for good around 1954 to make way for development.
Following the event on August 8th, Anne Arundel County Commissioners met the following Tuesday and voted to ban auto racing on Sundays at the facility. They also voted to charge a licensing fee of $1,000 per race day. The decision by the Commissioners forced the cancelation of racing the following weekend.
