Greenville-Pickens Speedway
Encyclopedia
Greenville-Pickens Speedway is a race track located in Pickens County, South Carolina, just west of Greenville, South Carolina
, USA, and just east of Easley, South Carolina
. The track hosts weekly NASCAR sanctioned races
. Several touring series visit the track each year, including the Whelen Southern Modified Tour
and the NASCAR Grand National Division
. NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series teams frequently test at the track since testing is allowed only at non-current NASCAR tracks. The Upper South Carolina State Fair
has been held at the fairgrounds adjacent to the race track since 1964.
The track held 29 races on the NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup) tour between 1951 until 1971. It also hosted two NASCAR Busch Grand National (now Nationwide Series) tour races in 1983. The April 10, 1971 race at Greenville-Pickens Speedway was the first NASCAR race nationally televised from start to finish, on ABC Wide World of Sports.
. It was closed the following year for World War II
like all race tracks in the United States. It reopened on July 4, 1946 in a race promoted by Bill France, Sr. The race the third of the day after 2 horse races. NASCAR began racing at the track in 1951. The track was paved as an asphalt track in April 1970. The last NASCAR Grand National race was held at the track in 1971, when NASCAR began cutting small tracks from its schedule.
The NASCAR Grand National Division's Busch North Series name was changed to Busch East Series in 2006 after the series' first Southern race, held at this track.
Greenville, South Carolina
-Law and government:The city of Greenville adopted the Council-Manager form of municipal government in 1976.-History:The area was part of the Cherokee Nation's protected grounds after the Treaty of 1763, which ended the French and Indian War. No White man was allowed to enter, though some families...
, USA, and just east of Easley, South Carolina
Easley, South Carolina
Easley is a city in Pickens County in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It is a principal city of the Greenville–Mauldin–Easley Metropolitan Statistical Area. Most of the city lies in Pickens County, with only a very small portion of the city in Anderson County...
. The track hosts weekly NASCAR sanctioned races
Whelen All-American Series
The Whelen All-American Series is a points championship for NASCAR sanctioned local racetracks around the United States and Canada....
. Several touring series visit the track each year, including the Whelen Southern Modified Tour
Whelen Southern Modified Tour
The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour is a stock car racing series owned by NASCAR and operated in the Southeastern United States as part of its Modified Division...
and the NASCAR Grand National Division
NASCAR Grand National Division, Busch East Series
The K&N Pro Series East is a regional stock car racing series owned and operated by the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing. Races are held at oval tracks ranging from 1/3 to 1 mile in length and on two road courses, 1.53 and 2.45 miles in length...
. NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series teams frequently test at the track since testing is allowed only at non-current NASCAR tracks. The Upper South Carolina State Fair
Upper South Carolina State Fair
The Upper SC State Fair is a country fair that has been held annually since 1964 at the Greenville-Pickens Speedway between Greenville, South Carolina and Easley, South Carolina...
has been held at the fairgrounds adjacent to the race track since 1964.
The track held 29 races on the NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup) tour between 1951 until 1971. It also hosted two NASCAR Busch Grand National (now Nationwide Series) tour races in 1983. The April 10, 1971 race at Greenville-Pickens Speedway was the first NASCAR race nationally televised from start to finish, on ABC Wide World of Sports.
History
The track opened in 1940 as a half mile dirt trackDirt track racing
Dirt track racing is a type of auto racing performed on oval tracks. It began in the United States before World War I and became widespread during the 1920s and 30s. Two different types of racecars predominated—open wheel racers in the Northeast and West and stock cars in the South...
. It was closed the following year for World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
like all race tracks in the United States. It reopened on July 4, 1946 in a race promoted by Bill France, Sr. The race the third of the day after 2 horse races. NASCAR began racing at the track in 1951. The track was paved as an asphalt track in April 1970. The last NASCAR Grand National race was held at the track in 1971, when NASCAR began cutting small tracks from its schedule.
The NASCAR Grand National Division's Busch North Series name was changed to Busch East Series in 2006 after the series' first Southern race, held at this track.
Grand National
- 1951 Bob FlockBob FlockRobert Newman Flock of Fort Payne, Alabama, USA was an early NASCAR driver. He qualified on the pole position for NASCAR's first Strictly Stock race.-Flock family:...
- 1955 Tim FlockTim FlockJulius Timothy Flock was one of NASCAR's early pioneers, and a two time series champion. He was a brother to NASCAR's second female driver Ethel Mobley and NASCAR pioneers Bob Flock and Fonty Flock.- NASCAR career :...
- 1956 Buck BakerBuck BakerElzie Wylie Baker Sr. , better known as Buck Baker, was an American race car driver.-Racing career:...
- 1958 Jack Smith
- 1959 Junior JohnsonJunior JohnsonRobert Glenn Johnson, Jr. , better known as Junior Johnson, is a retired moonshiner in the rural South who became one of the early superstars of NASCAR in the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966...
- 1959 Buck Baker
- 1960 Ned JarrettNed JarrettNed Jarrett is a retired race car driver and two-time NASCAR champion.Jarrett was best known for his calm demeanor, and he became known as "Gentleman Ned Jarrett", yet he was an intense competitor when he put his two hands on the steering wheel of a NASCAR Grand National stock car...
(Greenville 200) - 1961 Emanuel ZervakisEmanuel ZervakisEmanuel Zervakis was a NASCAR driver and team owner. He won two NASCAR Grand National races in his career, both in 1961...
(Greenville 200) - 1961 Jack Smith (Pickens 200)
- 1961 Junior Johnson
- 1962 Ned Jarrett (Greenville 200)
- 1962 Richard PettyRichard PettyRichard Lee Petty is a former NASCAR driver who raced in the Strictly Stock/Grand National Era and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series...
(Pickens 200) - 1963 Buck Baker (Greenville 200)
- 19631963 Pickens 200The 1963 Pickens 200 was a NASCAR Grand National Series racing event that took place on July 30, 1963 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway .-Summary:Three lead changes ended up circulating amongst three different race leaders....
Richard Petty (Pickens 200) - 1964 David Pearson (Greenville 200)
- 1964 LeeRoy YarbroughLeeRoy YarbroughLonnie "LeeRoy" Yarbrough was a NASCAR racer. His best season was 1969 when he won seven races, tallied 21 finishes in the top-ten and earned $193,211...
(Pickens 200) - 19651965 Greenville 200The 1965 Greenville 200 was a NASCAR Grand National race that took place on April 17, 1965 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in the American community of Greenville, South Carolina.-Summary:...
Dick HutchersonDick HutchersonDick Hutcherson was an American businessman and a former stock car racer. A native of Keokuk, Iowa, Hutcherson drove in NASCAR competition from 1964 to 1967. In 1965 he finished second in the overall NASCAR Drivers Championship and had nine wins...
(Greenville 200) - 1965 Dick Hutcherson (Pickens 200)
- 1966 David Pearson (Greenville 200)
- 1966 David Pearson (Pickens 200)
- 19671967 Greenville 200The 1967 Greenville 200 is a NASCAR Grand National Series racing event that took place on March 25, 1967 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in the American community of Greenville, South Carolina.-Summary:...
David Pearson (Greenville 200) - 1967 Richard Petty (Pickens 200)
- 1968 Richard Petty (Greenville 200)
- 1968 Richard Petty (Pickens 200)
- 1969 Bobby IsaacBobby IsaacBobby Isaac is a former NASCAR Grand National champion.-Early life:Isaac grew up on a farm near Catawba, North Carolina, the second youngest of nine children...
(Greenville 200) - 1969 Bobby Isaac (Pickens 200)
- 19701970 Greenville 200The 1970 Greenville 200 was a NASCAR Grand National Series racing event that took place on June 27, 1970 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in the American community of Greenville, South Carolina. The series is now referred to as the Sprint Cup Series....
Bobby Isaac (Greenville 200 - first NASCAR race after track was paved) - 1971 Bobby Isaac (Greenville 200) - Televised on ABCNASCAR on ABCNASCAR on ESPN is the coverage of NASCAR on ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC. ABC, and later ESPN, carried NASCAR races from the sanctioning body's top three divisions at various points from the early 1960s until 2002. ESPN resumed coverage of NASCAR with the Nationwide Series race at Daytona in February 2007...
in prime-time by Jim McKayJim McKayJames Kenneth McManus , better known by his professional name of Jim McKay, was an American television sports journalist....
and Chris EconomakiChris EconomakiChristopher "Chris" Constantine Economaki is an American motorsports commentator, pit road reporter, and journalist. Chris Economaki has been given the title "The Dean of American Motorsports." Microsoft chose Economaki to author the auto racing history portion of its Encarta...
. - 1971 Richard Petty (Pickens 200)
Busch Grand National
- 1983 Jack Ingram (Coca-Cola 200)
- 1983 Butch LindleyButch LindleyButch Lindley was a short track racer, who has raced in various NASCAR series.-Winston Cup career:Lindley made his debut in the Winston Cup in a special appearance in 1979...
(DAPCO 200)
NASCAR Grand National Division, East Series
- 2006 Sean CaisseSean CaisseSean Caisse is a stock car driver. Caisse rose through the ranks of karting to full-size stock cars at Lee USA Speedway in Lee, N.H. He progressed from Hobby Stocks to Late Models and beyond while still a teenager. He then joined the NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series in 2004...
- 2007 Joey LoganoJoey LoganoJoseph Thomas "Joey" Logano , nicknamed "sliced bread" by Randy LaJoie, is an American stock car auto racing race car driver who currently drives the #20 Home Depot Toyota Camry in the Sprint Cup Series and the #20 GameStop/Sport Clips Toyota Camry in the Nationwide Series for Joe Gibbs...
- 2008 Austin DillonAustin DillonAustin Dillon is an American stock car racing driver. He is the son of former driver and RCR general manager Mike Dillon and grandson of Richard Childress....
- 2009 Brian IcklerBrian IcklerBrian Ickler is an American race car driver. He drives the #18 Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He is also the owner of Ickler Motorsports, an ARCA Remax Series team.-Early life:Ickler started in off-road racing when he was 14 years old...
- 2010 Darrell Wallace, Jr.
List of late model track champions
Track officials began writing its track champions on the wall in 1971, and they went back to 1957.- 1957 Grady Hawkins
- 1958 Elmo Henderson
- 1959 David Pearson
- 1960 Floyd Powell
- 1961 Floyd Powell
- 1962 Floyd Powell
- 1963 Dub Nelson
- 1964 Jeff Hawkins
- 1965 Ralph Earnhardt
- 1966 Ralph Earnhardt
- 1967 Jeff Hawkins
- 1968 Jeff Hawkins
- 1969 Jeff Hawkins
- 1970 Jeff Hawkins (first track champion on pavement)
- 1971 Johnny Allen
- 1972 Butch Lindley
- 1973 Don Miller
- 1974 Don Miller
- 1975 Bob Jarvis
- 1976 Don Sprouse
- 1977 Buddy Howard
- 1978 Buddy Howard
- 1979 Buddy Howard
- 1980 Buddy Howard
- 1981 Donnie Bishop
- 1982 Gene Morgan
- 1983 Donnie Bishop
- 1984 Donnie Bishop
- 1985 Roy Chatham
- 1986 Donnie Bishop
- 1987 Larry Hines
- 1988 Robert PressleyRobert PressleyRobert Pressley is a former NASCAR driver who is now the promoter at Kingsport Speedway.-Beginnings:...
- 1989 Larry Ogle
- 1990 Marty Ward
- 1991 Marty Ward
- 1992 Donnie Bishop
- 1993 Randy Porter
- 1994 Donnie Bishop
- 1995 Mardy Lindley
- 1996 Steve Howard
- 1997 Dexter CanipeDexter CanipeDexter Canipe is an American racing driver who won the NASCAR Weekly Series national championship in 1997. Dexter also won the 1998 Taco Bell 300 at Martinsville Speedway, the biggest race of the year in Late Model Stock Car racing....
(NASCAR Weekly Series national champion) - 1998 Pete Silva
- 1999 Dennis Southerlin
- 2000 Gene Morgan
- 2001 Pete Silva
- 2002 Marty Ward
- 2003 Marty Ward
- 2004 Kenneth Headen
- 2005 Blair Addis
- 2006 Randy Porter
- 2007 David Roberts (state champion plus eleventh in national NASCAR points)
- 2008 Marty Ward
- 2009 Roger Powell