Augusta International Speedway, Hephzibah, Georgia

“Speedway. Traveling hours to entertain people I don’t know while wasting money I don’t have in order to spend the next four days fixing something that wasn’t my fault so I can do it all again the following weekend.

Living the dream

Unless you have lived in Augusta, Georgia for years, there is a good chance you have never heard of this place or ever knew there was a Speedway right here in our city. It was once considered the largest motorsport venue in the world. Now it is a shell of what it was with only the drag strip and 95% of the 3 mile road course still visible. This course and has not been used in over fifty years. 

At one time, this multi use motorsport complex was situated on 1,041 acres. Bob Bersin, Marshall Spray, and NASCAR racer, Fireball Glenn Roberts were the developers of this amazing project and had some big ideas. Stockholders bought the huge piece of land for $115,000 in 1959 and started their plans to build this massive complex in Hephzibah which is located about 15 miles southwest of Augusta. They broke ground on the project that same year. The plan was to build a two mile banked tri-oval super speedway, golf course, boat lake for hydroplane racing, and a horse racing facility to be alongside the 3 mile racing course. 

What ended up being built was a half mile oval, 3 mile road course, ¼ mile drag strip, kart track, micro midget track, and a motorcycle track. The development costs 2.5 million and featured seven impressive grand stands which were located near the pit lane and a huge 15,000 square foot state of the art garage. Augusta International Speedway opened in May 1960. The golf course was planned and started but never completed. For a short while, Augusta was not just known for golf but also for this spectacular speedway. 

The most famous of the races held here was the Augusta 510, A NASCAR Grand National Event that was held on the two mile road course, November 17, 1963 and won by Fireball Roberts who helped design the course. Many famous stock car drivers including Ned Jarrett, Richard Petty, and Bobby Allison came here to race. This race was a 510 mile race or 170 laps of which they only completed 417 miles since it was getting dark and the track closed at 5 pm. They had hoped for a large crowd of about 75,000 people but only 15,000 showed. 

The US Road Racing Championship was held here on March 1,1964 and won by Dave MacDonald.

The other major circuit in this facility was in the ½ mile oval where NASCAR competed 12 times between 1962 and 1969. 

The three mile course has twenty-one turns some pretty sharp with considerable banking and was considered a pretty rough course. The track itself is 45 feet wide and research has shown this was a very fast course. Many fans were disappointed with this course because you could only see a very small portion of the race where the grand stands were located. Unfortunately, the course closed in 1970 due to poor attendance and maintenance issues. What a shame as it would have been a great venue for Augusta. 

The city of Augusta bought 300 acres of the property in 1996 and it is now Diamond Lakes Regional Park. This park opened on November 11, 1999 and has five baseball and softball fields, a fully stocked fishing pond, and a sandy volley ball court. A monument honoring the men who raced at the Augusta International Speedway is located at the Rex White Memorial Plaza which is the largest public, non-commercial motorsport plaza in the United States. The 5 Wkids Outdoor Learning area is an outside venue and there goal is to teach young folk about motorsports. Rex White is a retired auto racer and NASCAR Champion. They are planning on making the 3 mile race course a walking or bike riding trail. 

Joe and I walked the three mile course on a cool day and it was a nice walk. The track is still in tact except for the gouges in the pavement that go across the road every so often so no one can race here anymore. We walked by the campground that is located next to speedway and down the road to the lake area. The lakes are so beautiful and very peaceful. Back when the speedway was here it was not unusual for a car or two to go into the lake during on of the many races. We only saw one other person the whole time we walked that day. As we walked down the straight away where the grandstands once stood, is now a subdivision. You can still see remnants of the pit wall. This speedway was only open a short time but made an impact on many people who came to see these races. Many came every Saturday and enjoyed the day watching the races. What a shame this venue didn’t last. 

If you want to see the track, go to where the Rex White Memorial Plaza is and head up towards the woods. It is a site to see and a part of Augusta’s history. All is quiet here now. No more engines roaring black or white checkered flags waving, and no more race car champions. Now is a quiet park that holds a lot of memories.

Till next time. Bye for now.