Gelsenkirchen is the 11th largest city of Germany's most populous federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia and its 262,528 (2016) inhabitants make it the 25th largest city of Germany. On the Emscher River, it lies at the centre of the Ruhr, the largest urban area of Germany, of which it is the fifth largest city after Dortmund, Essen, Duisburg and Bochum. The Ruhr is located in the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region, one of Europe's largest urban areas. Gelsenkirchen is the fifth largest city of Westphalia after Dortmund, Bochum, Bielefeld and Münster, and it is one of the southernmost cities in the Low German dialect area. The city is home to the football club Schalke 04, which is named after Gelsenkirchen-Schalke. The club's current stadium Veltins-Arena, however, is located in Gelsenkirchen-Erle.
Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait. They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australia and New Zealand, races with jockeys riding directly on saddled trotters are also conducted.
Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04, Schalke 04, or abbreviated as S04, is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The "04" in the club's name derives from its formation in 1904. Schalke has long been one of the most popular professional football teams and multi-sports club in Germany, even though the club's heyday was in the 1930s and 1940s. Schalke play in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of the German football league system, as a result of the 2020–21 relegation. As of June 2018, the club has 155,000 members, making it the second-largest sports club in Germany and the fourth-largest sports club in the world in terms of membership. Other activities offered by the club include athletics, basketball, handball, table tennis, winter sports and eSports.
Arena AufSchalke, currently known as Veltins-Arena for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor football stadium in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It opened on 13 August 2001, as the new home ground for Bundesliga club FC Schalke 04.
The Meadowlands Racetrack is a horse racing track at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. The track hosts both thoroughbred racing and harness racing. It is known popularly in the region as "The Big M". Meadowlands has year-round horse racing as well as a number of bars and restaurants.
Auto Club Speedway, originally opened as California Speedway, is a two-mile (3 km), low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California, which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1997. It was also previously used for open wheel racing events. The racetrack is located 47 miles (76 km) east of Los Angeles and is near the former locations of Ontario Motor Speedway and Riverside International Raceway. The track is owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation. The speedway is served by the nearby Interstate 10 and Interstate 15 freeways as well as a Metrolink station located behind the backstretch.
Phoenix Raceway is a 1-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona, near Phoenix. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually. Phoenix Raceway has also hosted the CART, IndyCar Series, USAC and the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The raceway is currently owned and operated by NASCAR.
Maywood Park was a horse racing venue located in Melrose Park, Illinois, United States, about 12 miles from downtown Chicago. It was used for harness racing. It had a capacity of 33,297 people and was built in 1946. The track was a half-mile oval. The track closed in 2015. The track, which had been in unincorporated Cook County, was located in Melrose Park. Demolition began in early 2019; the structures are to be replaced by an industrial and warehouse development. It was replaced by an Amazon distribution center in 2020.
The TT Circuit Assen is a motorsport race track built in 1955 and located in Assen, Netherlands. Host of the Dutch TT, it is popularly referred to as "The Cathedral" of motorcycling by the fans of the sport. The venue holds the record for being the only circuit to have hosted a Grand Prix motorcycle event every year since the series was created in 1949. It has a capacity of 110,000 spectators, including 60,000 seats. Since 1992, the circuit has also been part of the Superbike World Championship calendar.
Parkstadion was a multi-purpose stadium in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, that is no longer used to host any major events. The stadium was built in 1973 and hosted five matches of the 1974 FIFA World Cup. It had a capacity of 62,109 with seats for 45,067.
Ellis Park is a thoroughbred racetrack in Henderson, Kentucky, just south of Evansville, Indiana. It is owned and operated by Ellis Entertainment, a subsidiary of Laguna Development Corporation based out of New Mexico. While the track is located north of the Ohio River that forms the border between Kentucky and Indiana, which would put it within Indiana, the border is based on the course of the river at the time Kentucky became a state in 1792.
Scarborough Downs was a horse-racing track located in Scarborough, Maine, United States. It was Maine's largest race track. It was home to The Downs Club restaurant as well as a grandstand for race viewing, and includes 2 track-side lounges as well as a VIP Room. It held its final races on November 30, 2020.
DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Racetrack is a one-mile (1.6-km) clay oval motor racetrack in Du Quoin, Illinois, about 90 miles (140 km) southeast of St Louis, Missouri. It is a stop on the ARCA and USAC Silver Crown tours.
Kawartha Speedway is a 3/8 mile paved oval located in Fraserville, Ontario, approximately 10 km southwest of Peterborough. The paved track is within the harness racing track, temporary grandstands are brought onto the harness racing tracks surface. In 2006, Kawartha Speedway held the final CASCAR Super Series race before it became the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series in 2007. Since 2004, Kawartha was the host of the CASCAR Super Series finale. Kawartha Speedway held the finale of the inaugural NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Season which was won by Scott Steckly. The following year, Jason Hathaway picked up his first ever win, and in 2009 D.J. Kennington won.
Glückauf-Kampfbahn is a multi-use stadium in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was initially used as the stadium of FC Schalke 04 matches. It was replaced by Parkstadion in 1973. The capacity of the stadium is 11,000 spectators.
Musiktheater im Revier (MiR) is the venue for performing opera, operetta, musical theatre and ballet in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. It opened on 15 December 1959; it is listed since 1997 as a protected cultural monument.
The Gelsenkirchen Essen railway is a double-track, electrified main line railway in the central Ruhr area of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It runs from Essen Hauptbahnhof via Essen-Kray Nord to Gelsenkirchen Hauptbahnhof.
Rayleigh Weir Stadium was a speedway, greyhound racing and stock car stadium in Weir between Rayleigh and Thundersley in England.
The Bochum–Gelsenkirchen railway, also known as the Glückauf-Bahn, is a passenger railway from Bochum Central Station (Hauptbahnhof) to Gelsenkirchen Central Station in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is served by Regionalbahn passenger service RB 46). It is also used by freight traffic from Bochum freight yard at the former Bochum Süd station and Bochum-Präsident to Gelsenkirchen-Schalke Nord. The line was built in sections between 1867 and 1876 of the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company. The curve connecting to Bochum Central Station was opened in 1979.
Louisville Downs was a half-mile Standardbred harness race track located in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It opened in 1966 and held over 3,400 days of harness racing until it was sold to Churchill Downs Inc. in 1991. Louisville Downs was built and managed by William H. King, a Louisville entrepreneur and promoter, who was the first to offer wagering by phone (“Call-a-Bet”) and full card simulcast wagering to television viewers. The track is now the site of Derby City Gaming, a historical racing parlor opened in 2018.
