ASHEVILLE - WEAVERVILLE SPEEDWAY - WEAVERVILLE NC
Both of these photos are from Asheville-Weaverville Speedway. As you can see it started out as dirt; Picture at left is from 1955. But it was paved in the middle of 1957. Located near Weaverville, North Carolina was considered to be the site for old-school NASCAR Cup Series era. From 1951 to 1969, the race course offered some wins from drivers like Richard Petty, Bob Flock, Fonty Flock, Lee Petty, Rex White, and Fireball Roberts. As a dirt oval track, the speedway helped served its purpose during the dirt-dominated formative years of NASCAR's premier series. The track was later paved over. Other NASCAR legends like Banjo Matthews, Ralph Earnhardt, Junior Johnson, and Cotton Owens had made notable appearances here. The NASCAR Convertible Series also ran on the speedway. Some races of note include: The first race at the track was in July 1951. Fonty Flock started on the pole and went on to win the race; besting Gober Sosebee, Herb Thomas,
Frank Mundy and Speedy Thompson. Bob Flock would win the second race at the track; and Fonty would be back in victory lane the following event. Two races later brother Tim Flock would find himself in victory lane. There were 34 Cup races held at the speedway with Rex White winning five times. Lee and Richard Petty each won on four occasions. The final two Cup races were held in 1969 and won by Bobby Isaac. His first race was 300 laps and the win would come as he bested James Hylton by more than a lap. Isaac's final win at Asheville-Weaverville was a 500 lap affair. He whooped the field as he won by over four laps. In NASCAR's Convertible
Series, the track hosted four races. The first race was scheduled for 200 laps, but shortened to 181 due to a serious crash. On that lap, three of the only four remaining cars running in the race crashed and was out. That left only one car able to compete, so the race was called complete. Curtis Turner was declared the winner; and Joe Weatherly second. Glen Wood was third and Gwyn Staley fourth. This was the sixth time in the last seven races that Turner had won and Weatherly had finished second. The next race they would once again see Turner win and Weatherly finish second. The other three races were won by Bob Welborn. Banjo Matthews finish second on two occasions. An anti-noise ordinance was used to shut down the track after years of racing; this fight was staged as early as the 1970 racing season when a group of citizens petitioned their city council to shut down the track. However, by that time, the track had
already been physically disabled for racing purposes. The track was closed from the 1970s to racing. In the 1970s and 1980's the track was used as softball fields and sports practice fields. The property is now occupied by North Buncombe High School.
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