Detroit turned 250 in 1951 and threw itself a stock car race. The Motor City 250 ran August 12 on the old one-mile horse track at the Michigan State Fairgrounds, and by the finish the southeast turn was chewed into ruts and Tommy Thompson of Louisville had outlasted Curtis Turner in a Chrysler, right in the automakers' own backyard. NASCAR came back once, in 1952, when Hudson Hornets swept the top three, and then never again; the grandstand was declared unsafe in 1971, the fair left in 2009, and a warehouse stands on the ground now.