- [Man] Do you know where the name Speedway came from?
- No.
Actually, I don't think I do.
- Because it's dragstrip.
- People would race up and down that street.
- Late 70s, early 80s, in high school,
that was a place where people would go racing, speed racing.
So I believe that's where it got its name, Speedway.
(car engines humming)
- Well, surprisingly, Speedway Boulevard,
which most people think
comes from the fact that people used to race cars there,
which they did, actually derives its name
from the Harlem River Speedway.
A guy named George Kitt,
who had just returned from New York City,
and who had attended a race, suggested the name Speedway
because at that point people were racing horses
down that alignment.
You got to remember that Speedway Boulevard was very far
from the center of town.
The center of town at that point was downtown.
So it was a pretty safe place to race horses.
- Ah, so it wasn't speed racing place,
it just wasn't for cars.
- I wasn't there for the horse racing (laughs).