Imagine a cold crisp evening, the smell of gasoline, and the sound of engines echoing in the mountains. Are you with me? It was a time, when nearly every rural community of East Tennessee and Virginia housed it's very own little racetrack. Even the areas of Knoxville, Greeneville, Johnson City, Rogersville, Morristown, Maryville, Newport had one track and some even had two. The Broadway Speedway is located in Maynardville, TN. This is a small suburb of what has become Knoxville. From first hand stories of those who drove this track in their youth, it was the heart of the community and it was a pretty difficult course, of both dirt and pavement. While the racing seen survived and thrived for many years, most of its elders and contemporaries faded away and are now either gone or abandoned. Amanda and I spent a long day hunting for an adventure, following our guts. In doing so, we stumbled upon the track. It has been reopened, however, the original stands still exist. I must admit it is a creepy feeling seeing the empty bleachers and the dilapidated storage buildings, it certainly has seen better days, but there is a certain quaint beauty to it. This was a time before everyone was comfortable with just watching a race on TV, instead of getting behind the wheel themselves. Have you ever seen the movie Heavenly Kid? Imagine 50's greasers who love to wrench on cars, drive with girls and of course mess with each other. SPOILER ALERT! The main character plays chicken with the big bully at school, he can't get out of the car fast enough and crashes over the edge of the ravine falling to a gruesome and firing death? While doing some research into the drag-strip and speedway scene, I discovered that most of the locations have been turned into either shopping malls, airports or even neighborhoods, losing all trace of the past. Rumor has it some famous NASCAR names actually raced at the Knoxville Track, including someone name Earnhardt. It's sad thinking about how little is known or recorded about these places. I urge you to talk to your parents, talk to your grandparents and find out where they raced! I bet you if they didn't race themselves, they watched one! If you have any information about an abandoned Drag Strip or Speedway in your town, please reach out to us at [email protected].
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January 2019
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