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Legendary South Boston Speedway
South Boston Speedway
History and family are two topics often mentioned in any conversation about Virginia’s South Boston Speedway, a pillar among
NASCAR short tracks since the late 1950s.
“The track’s been here since 1957. It started out as a dirt track,” said Cathy Rice, the longtime general manager at the four-tenthsmile asphalt race track. “The people who come here, they’re family. I enjoy seeing the fans and knowing that when they come through these gates, they feel like they are at home. They know everybody, including the competitors, and they are so close with the staff.”
All three of NASCAR’s national series have competed at the track.
“Back in the day, we had what’s known now as the Xfinity and Cup Series race here,” said Rice. “People like Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough have actually raced on this track.”
South Boston’s slate of Saturday night racing continues through Sept. 4.
TRAILBLAZER
CATHY RICE, A PIONEER AMONG FEMALE
short-track promoters, is in her final season as GM at South Boston Speedway.
“I’ve actually been here 30-plus years,” Rice said. “Yes, I am stepping down. I’m not saying I’m leaving or I’m quitting, but I am going to step down and we’ve got some new blood here. I’ve always said we need young people involved in the sport so we can get this younger generation coming back to the races.”
WEEKLY CARD
“WE RUN FOUR DIVISIONS, NO MORE THAN
five,” Rice said about the track’s weekly NASCAR racing program. “We start our show at 7 and we are out of here by 10. We have the late model stock division, we have the limited sportsman division, pure stocks and hornets. Then, we’ll throw in the legendary flat-heads, the old-timers club or something that represents the history of the track.”
Numerous special events also dot the schedule.
STELLAR GRADS
DRIVERS SUCH AS JEFF AND WARD BURTON,
Elliott and Hermie Sadler, Timothy Peters and Stacy Compton are among those who honed their racing skills at South Boston Speedway before becoming familiar names in the upper divisions of NASCAR racing.
South Boston Speedway champions Philip Morris, Lee Pulliam and Peyton Sellars also earned national titles in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series.
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