“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.
The Augusta International Raceway Preservation Society, a 501c3 non profit, thanks you.
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