Ghosts of Southern Dirt Tracks

Down here south of the Masson Dixon like country ham and redeye fixen,
we do things a little different down here like tradin paint and swapin gears.
On a Saturday night a little southern town from oval shrine comes a roaring sound,
where Detroit iron and American steel take a young mans mind from a cotton mill.
It ain't Hollywood and it ain't Broadway its just Carolina asphalt and Georgia clay.
So if you'll take me out in the bright moon light where you gotta go left and
you can't go right you ain't never seen such a sight as a Dixie shorttrack Saturday night.
God bless Thomas Edison for electric lights so the boys could run,
people come from miles around just ta smell the ruber and ta here the sound. - Daniel Sechler

Do you remember the local dirt track when you were growing up? If you grew up in the south in the last half of the 20th century, you probably do. What this site does is help you remember and also to preserve the images and memories of these tracks that are no longer around. Most have been razed to make room for homes, commerical properites, etc. But at least we can remember..

The Tracks:	The Drivers:	The Cars:	The Stories:
Concord Motor Speedway Concord, NC	Ralph Earnhardt	From the 60s	Race Reports from Southern States
Starlite Speedway Monroe, NC	Dale Earnhardt	Racing in the 70s	One Day At Concord Motor Speedway
Metrolina Speedway Charlotte, NC - New photos	Harold Dunaway	1968 Starlite Speedway	A Bad Night at Starlite
Queen City Speedway Charlotte NC	Stick Elliott	1974 Metrolina LMS - Asphalt	A Ralph Earnhardt / Metrolina Speedway Thriller
Southern States Fairgrounds Charlotte NC	Hayward Plyler	Car Details from the 60s	First Trip to Carolina Beach Speedway
Twin City Raceway Loris, South Carolina	Red Irvin		1960s Coastal Carolina
Twin City Speedway Kannapolis, North Carolina	Freddy Smith		"If I'd had just one more lap I'd have won that race!"
Carolina Beach Speedway Carolina Beach, NC	Billy Scott		1966 Starlite Speedway Points
Robinwood Speedway Gastonia, NC - Just Added	Cecil Boyd		Ralph Earnhardt @ Greenville-Pickens
	Reece Kelso - New		Old Concord/Roll Over to 2nd Place
Links			Dirt Track Characters - Updated
			Fayetteville Speedway

There is a book out that I recommend if you want to learn more about the history of auto racing in the Piedmont North Carolina area. Auto Racing in Charlotte and the Carolina Piedmont by Ryan Sumner and Marc Singer is an excellent book. They have been nice enough to let me use some of their photos and information to expand this site. You can buy the book from the Levine Museum of the New South in Charlotte (704.333.1887) or purchase it online at the major book sites (Amazon, Barnes & Nobles).

There is a very good book about the tracks in the Carolinas that hosted Grand National races (pre Winston) and are no longer active. The book covers several of the tracks featured on this site. The name of the book is "Silent Speedways of the Carolinas" and it was authored by Perry Allen Wood. It is available through McFarland Publishing. Pick up a copy and enjoy!

If you have dirt track memories to share, contact me @ bob@webprosolutions.com