Asheville-Weaverville Speedway

The Asheville-Weaverville Speedway near Weaverville, North Carolina was considered to be site for the old-school NASCAR races in both the Grand National and Winston Cup Series eras. 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.

Asheville-Weaverville Speedway
Location890 Clarks Chapel Rd Weaverville, NC 28787
Coordinates35.738671°N 82.558649°W / 35.738671; -82.558649
Capacityover 7,000
OpenedAugust 20th, 1950
Closed1987
Major eventsGrand National Series
Dirt oval track
Length0.54 mi (0.87 km)

The track was closed from the 1970s to racing, until North Buncombe High School was built on the property of the former track. In the 1970s and 1980s the track was used as softball fields and sports practice fields. The track itself had been disabled by first placing earthen barriers on opposite sides of the track, and later, concrete barriers at 8 locations around the track.

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. 75% of people who read the Asheville Citizen wanted that track to be closed in a poll done in the summer of 1987. However, by that time, the track had already been physically disabled for racing purposes. Urbanization and progress forced the property to be closed, demolished, and re-zoned for educational purposes.

The property is now occupied by North Buncombe High School with 1,117 students.

Winners of the circuit

Winners of the circuit during the Grand National Series.

YearWinnerManufacturer
1951Fonty FlockOldsmobile
1952Bob FlockHudson
1953Fonty FlockHudson
1954Herb ThomasHudson
1955Tim FlockChrysler
1956Lee PettyDodge
1957Buck BakerChevrolet
1957Lee PettyOldsmobile
1958Rex WhiteChevrolet
1958Fireball RobertsChevrolet
1959Rex WhiteChevrolet
1959Bob WelbornChevrolet
1959Lee PettyPlymouth
1960Lee PettyPlymouth
1960Rex WhiteChevrolet
1961Rex WhiteChevrolet
1961Junior JohnsonPontiac
1962Rex WhiteChevrolet
1962Joe WeatherlyPontiac
1962Jim PaschalPlymouth
1963Richard PettyPlymouth
1963Fred LorenzenFord
1964Marvin PanchFord
1964Ned JarrettFord
1965Ned JarrettFord
1965Richard PettyPlymouth
1966Richard PettyPlymouth
1966Darel DieringerMercury
1967Richard PettyPlymouth
1967Bobby AllisonFord
1968David PearsonFord
1968David PearsonFord
1969Bobby IsaacDodge
1969Bobby IsaacDodge

New Asheville Speedway

The Asheville-Weaverville Speedway is not to be confused with the "New Asheville Speedway", which was a 13 mi (0.54 km) oval circuit located on Amboy Road in Asheville, approximately 20 miles south of the Asheville-Weaverville Speedway. This track was closed after the track owners sold the track in 1998 to RiverLink, an organization that promoted making the French Broad River area of Asheville a public park. New Asheville became Carrier Park, with its racetrack becoming a banked concrete bicycle track.

References

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