SOUTHSIDE SPEEDWAY - RICHMOND VA
(Royall Speedway / Wack - A - Mole Speedway)
Southside Speedway, which used to be known as Royall Speedway and also as Wack-A-Mole Speedway in the early 1950s, first opened in 1949 and hosted midget races. The track was built by Nelson Royall. For a few years, it was used as a part of NASCAR's early circuit. In 1957, the track was saved from residential demolitions. Fans packed the grandstands, under protest and saved the track from the bulldozers. The first NASCAR Cup Series race on Southside speedway happened on August 18, 1961. At that
time, the track was a 1/4 mile dirt oval. Junior Johnson took the pole for the 150-lap race in his 1960 Pontiac. He led every lap of the race that took about 45 minutes to race. By the next year, Southside Speedway had become a 1/3 mile asphalt oval. At 71.45 miles per hour (114.99 km/h), Rex White took the pole, but would drop out on lap 134 with engine trouble, which would lead Jimmy Pardue to win the 200-lap feature in his 1962 Pontiac. Richard Petty would finish third in that race. Later that season, Rex White's bad luck would continue. After leading 276 laps of a 300 lap feature, he would lose his lead to Cliff Stewart, who would win the event in his 1962 Pontiac. The last main circuit race recorded at Southside Speedway was on
May 19, 1963, in which Ned Jarrett would lead the most laps and win the 300-lap feature in his 1963 Ford. Since this time, Southside Speedway has been used to house several NASCAR syndicated feature series, in which the track has seen great names such as Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison turn left at the 1/3 mile track. Throughout the track's history, there has often been one or two single divisions that brought the fans to the track, and several other novelty divisions that have been used by drivers as a stepping stone to the more prominent divisions. Usually, the more prominent division has been any variety of late model cars or modifieds. Ray Hendrick raced his
burgundy Modified car during the 1960s and 1970s, and quickly planted the seed for the Hendrick dynasty. In 1974 and 1975, he placed 8th and 9th respectively in the National Late Model Sportsman Points, which would later become known as the NACAR Xfinity Series. Later down the road, his son Roy Hendrick would enter the Late Model Stock Car division in a Pontiac whose paint scheme would become identical to his father's modified car. These cars were burgundy, whose white number 11 was encased in a white circle with a wing coming from the side. Roy Hendrick also made a name for himself and neighboring short tracks that feature Late Model-type racing including Langley Speedway in Hampton, Virginia and South Boston Speedway. In 1987, the track
came under attack once again. This time, it was the latest craze in real estate, shopping malls. However, the track remained. In the early 1990s, Southside Speedway created an Enduro-type division that would race every week with the rest of the Friday night racing activity. In the early 2000s, Denny Hamlin first started racing in the Mini Stock division at Southside Speedway in 1997. Within the next five years, he would see his share of wins and track records at Southside Speedway, as well as in neighboring tracks in Southampton, Langley and South Boston. During the mid-2000s, Southside Speedway vastly expanded its horizons by offering up to eight divisions of
racing. The two main attractions, the Late Model Sportsman division and the Modified division. For 60 years, they raced on Friday nights from April to August. Despite saving itself from destruction, multiple times, 2020 was too much for the small Virginia track. Just ahead of the 2020 season, a pandemic struck the world. Gatherings in the state were limited and now those limits are being further increased heading into Christmas. The track was unable to race a single night all year, and track owners were forced to close the facility.
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