South Boston Speedway’s History

From what was described as a spur-of-the-moment project undertaken by three Halifax County men more than six decades ago, South Boston Speedway has become one of the most popular, well-known and successful short tracks in NASCAR.  

The late E.B. “Buck” Wilkins, a Halifax County-based contractor and builder, the late Dave Blount, and the late Louis Spencer purchased the 500-acre John S. McRae farm located northeast of South Boston on what was then known as Route 304, and in 1957, built a quarter-mile dirt racetrack in a natural bowl that, at that time, was concealed from view from the highway.

Today's modern four-tenths-of-a-mile oval is situated along the side of U.S. Route 360 on the original site that was the former McRae Farm.

When the track held its first race on August 10, 1957, there were bleacher seats for 1,000 fans, and the track was lighted by banks of lights perched atop 16 poles erected at various points around the track.

A Halifax County resident, Jimmy Holland of Republican Grove, won the track's first Sportsman Division race in a car owned by Halifax County residents Buddy Ferrell, Harvey Anderson, and Paul Tingen.

Dick Hawthorne of Lynchburg, Virginia won the track's first Amateur Race with LaFell Elliott of South Boston and Garland Newton of Halifax rounding out the top three finishers.

Wilkins and Blount, with the help of late Martinsville Speedway owner and president H. Clay Earles, brought South Boston Speedway into the NASCAR fold prior to the start of the 1960 season.

South Boston Speedway held its first NASCAR-sanctioned race on April 16, 1960. Johnny Roberts of Baltimore, Md. won the track's first NASCAR race, a 50-lap race for the Modified division. He collected $500 for his effort. Eddie Crouse of Richmond went on to win the track's NASCAR Modified Division title that year to become the track's first NASCAR champion.

South Boston Speedway held its first-ever NASCAR Grand National (now known as the NASCAR Cup Series) race in 1960. The legendary Junior Johnson won that race held on July 8, 1960 after surviving a hard-fought side by side battle with Ned Jarrett that lasted for 108 laps before Jarrett's engine blew.

Richard Petty, the heralded king of NASCAR Cup Series racing, has five trophies from the South Boston Speedway tucked away in his trophy cases.

Many other NASCAR racing legends including Joe Weatherly, Rex White, David Pearson, Buddy Baker, Charlie Glotzbach, Buck Baker, and Wendell Scott competed at the South Boston Speedway in NASCAR Grand National (now known as NASCAR Cup Series) races.

Scott, the first African-American driver to compete at the South Boston Speedway on a regular basis, also raced in Modified Division events at the historic facility.

At some point in South Boston Speedway’s 65-year history virtually all of NASCAR’s top-tier national series and regional touring series and other racing series including the ARCA Menards Series stock cars series, USAC sprint cars and the AMA motorcycle racing series have visited South Boston Speedway, bringing the top stars of the sport to the Halifax County, Virginia oval.

Dale Earnhardt Sr., Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Jeff Burton and Ward Burton, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Terry Labonte, Geoff Bodine, Bobby Allison, Tony Stewart, Ken Schrader and Benny Parsons are among the many past and present stars that have competed at South Boston Speedway over the years. Parsons scored his first career NASCAR Grand National (NASCAR Cup Series) win at South Boston Speedway when the track hosted its last NASCAR Grand National (NASCAR Cup Series) race in 1971.