Columbia Speedway was an oval racetrack located in
Cayce, a suburb of
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-largest ...
. It was the site of
auto races for
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...
's top series from 1951 through 1971.
[Columbia Speedway page of Racing-Reference websit]
retrieved 8 May 2007. For most of its history, the racing surface was dirt. The races in April and August 1970 were two of the final three
NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Grand National races ever held on a dirt track.
[Fielden, Greg, "NASCAR Cleans Up", ''Speedway Illustrated'', September 2004.] The track was paved before hosting its last two Grand National races in 1971.
The track also hosted 8
NASCAR Convertible Series
The NASCAR Convertible Division was a division of convertible cars early in NASCAR's history, from 1956 until 1959, although the signature race for convertibles remained a Convertible Division race until 1962. Two remnants of the Convertible Divi ...
races between 1956 and 1959, the lone
Richard Petty's win at the series as at Columbia Speedway. The speedway also hosted 4
NASCAR Grand National East Series
The NASCAR Grand National East Series was a short-lived racing series created by NASCAR in 1972 to provide a second-tier series, below the Winston Cup Series, to provide races at tracks that had been removed from the former Grand National Series' ...
events.
In 2009, an effort to reclaim the property for historic gatherings was made by Jeff Gilder, founder of Racersreunion.com. In February 2009, a small group of volunteers met to clear brush, old cable and trees. From this small group grew a larger all volunteer work force that helped in razing two dilapidated restroom facilities, refurbishing the ticket booth, installing safety caps on the front stretch guardrails, and a safe parking lot. Several area construction companies provided earth moving equipment which was essential in removing a large mound of dirt blocking the ticket booth. One donated the materials and built an all-aluminum flag stand at the start-finish line. During the final weeks leading up to the festival, different volunteer crews could be found from sun up to sun down, seven days a week. No help was turned away in the spirit of making this a community project. Saturday volunteers were treated to a meat and three vegetable lunch provided Lizards Thicket,
[https://www.lizardsthicket.com/] a local eatery, and delivered by John Wise and Rebecca Turner of Love Chevrolet, the event's sponsor. The first gathering was April 25. Over 30,000 fans from 17 states attended the "First Annual Historic Columbia Speedway Spring Festival". The second annual event was held on April 14–17, 2010.
References
External links
Columbia Speedway race resultsat Racing-Reference
NASCAR tracks
Motorsport venues in South Carolina
Defunct motorsport venues in the United States
Buildings and structures in Lexington County, South Carolina
Defunct sports venues in South Carolina
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