SOUTH BOSTON SPEEDWAY - SOUTH BOSTON VA
From what was described as a spur-of-the-moment project; E. B. "Buck" Wilkins, a Halifax County-based contractor and builder, Dave Blount, and Louis Spencer purchased the 500-acre John S. McRae farm located northeast of South Boston and built a quarter-mile dirt racetrack in a natural bowl that, at that time, was concealed from view from the highway. 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. South Boston Speedway has reached a number of milestones in its 63-year history. One of the biggest occurred a little more than two years after Wilkins and Blount opened the quarter mile dirt track, when they, with the help of
Martinsville Speedway owner and president H. Clay Earles, took the steps to bring 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. 1960 also brought the track's first NASCAR Cup Series race. Junior Johnson won that race held on July 8 after surviving a side-by-side battle with Ned Jarrett that lasted for 108
laps before Jarrett's engine blew. Possum Jones finished second. Johnson would win again in 1961, as the race expanded to 200 laps. In 1963 the track size was expanded to 3/8 mile. The race was now 267 laps (100 miles). Rex White had a tight battle with Jack Smith and Richard Petty for the win. When the dust settled; White claimed the win, with Smith second and Petty third. 1963 would see the track host two races and Petty would claim the win in both of them. In 1964 Petty would return and claim the win that season also. NASCAR took a hiatus and didn't race at South Boston again until 1968. Petty proved he still remembered how to get around the little track as he beat David Pearson by five car lengths to get the win. 1969 we would see Bobby Isaac deny Pearson the win as he held him off to take the checkers first. Petty would find himself in victory lane for the fifth time in 1970, and he held off Isaac for the win. The final Cup race was the following year. Once again Petty was
strong; but not as strong as Benny Parsons who got the win, relegating Petty to a second place finish. James Hylton was third. After the 1972 season, South Boston Speedway dropped out of the NASCAR fold, and in 1973, began to run NASCAR-type Late Model Sportsman races utilizing NASCAR rules. While the track ran as an independent through the 1976 season, many of the nation’s top NASCAR drivers continued to come to the South Boston Speedway to compete in special events. In 1977 South Boston Speedway rejoined NASCAR and signed to become a part of the Winston Racing Series program created that year by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. A nine-race schedule featuring NASCAR Late Model
Sportsman races was held that year. Joe Mattioli acquired the speedway in 2000, and in 2004, then-Pocono Raceway CEO Dr. Joseph Mattioli purchased the track. The Mattioli Family has owned and operated the speedway since that time. The speedway has seen numerous capital improvements, including a two-year, $1 million dollar renovation project in 2016-2017. That project included all-new aluminum grandstands and a complete repave of the racing surface and pit road. In 2020, like many venues, South Boston Speedway sat virtually dormant because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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