Cumberland shopping plaza marks site of historic stock car race

The site of a shopping plaza in Cumberland, Rhode Island, was once host to a significant milestone in stock car racing history. On October 26, 1947, Fonty Flock won the national championship race at the Lonsdale Sports Arena, making it the first sanctioned stock car race outside the South. The event drew a crowd of 18,000 and was part of a program sanctioned by Bill France, who later founded NASCAR. Despite its racing prominence, the track closed in 1956 due to flooding risks from the nearby Blackstone River. No official NASCAR-sanctioned races were recorded at the venue despite its historical significance.

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