COLUMN: Tales from the forgotten Marion Speedway

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matthew Dillner had a TV show on Peacock for a few years called “Lost Speedways.” The premise of the show was to showcase the history of racetracks that had been closed or repurposed over the last few decades.

Urban expansion has been the root cause behind the closure of several tracks in this area. The show even highlighted New Asheville Speedway and the track at Shelby Fairgrounds. I heard a rumor of a NASCAR-sanctioned track off Sugar Hill Road in Marion, and after doing some digging, I found that the rumor was true, so I contacted my friend Harold Wilson.

A McDowell County resident with an impressive racing resume, Harold is a Vietnam veteran who began his racing career in his mid-30s, collecting several trophies as a driver and even more as a car owner for his daughter, Angie.

Harold was able to arrange a private tour of what is left of the forgotten speedway by the former owner’s granddaughter and other family members. The family asked not to be mentioned by name and for the exact location of the track not to be identified.

Mother Nature has taken over the majority of the forgotten speedway, but remnants of the concrete bleachers can be seen from the old front stretch. The block building used as the judges’ stand has lost its roof, but the bones remain.

Turns three and four are overgrown but still visible. It wasn’t hard to look into the old turns and imagine a pack of young gearheads in a souped-up Ford heading towards us with the gas pedal on the floor. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I’m grateful to have experienced. Here is a small history of Marion Speedway.

In the mid-1950s, Jack Reel traveled from Marion to Asheville-Weaverville Speedway most Saturday nights to watch the races. In late 1956, Reel decided that building his own speedway would be a great opportunity to make some real money, so he partnered with his friend, Justice Bright.

Reel had the vision and knowledge of racing, while Bright had the financial resources and the land. Construction began in January 1957 on Bright’s land off Sugar Hill Road. The track was a half-mile banked clay oval. Concrete bleachers were built the entire length of the front stretch, with a judges’ stand in the infield and a concession stand for the fans.

The first event was held on Sunday, May 26, 1957. Lawrence Reel, nephew of Jack Reel, remembers the weeks leading up to the race.

“When the track was ready and they had a date set, they printed hundreds of posters,” he recalls. “I rode with my dad and uncle hanging them on telephone poles and country stores from Morganton to Asheville then down past Rutherfordton.”

The first race was a star-studded affair. Around 2,000 fans gathered along the concrete bleachers and watched 17-year-old Dink Widenhouse beat Banjo Matthews and Ned Jarrett to the checkered flag.

“The races were on Sunday and my mom didn’t want me to go because racing was a rough crowd in those days,” Harold Wilson recalled. “My Dad took me anyway, and I thank God he did. That day sparked my lifelong love of racing.”

The second race was held on Sunday, June 16 of that year, when Banjo Matthews took the victory ahead of Ralph Earnhardt, Ned Setzer, and others. The summer brought motorcycle races and a huge Hobby race on July 4.

“Jack and Justice had plans to light the speedway. They went to Duke Power and purchased the lights and poles,” said Lawrence Reel.

The fifth and final race came on Sunday, Sept. 1. Before the green flag, the water tanker overturned on the front stretch trying to avoid an out-of-control ambulance that was heading to the pits. It took over an hour to drain the tanker and remove it from the track. With the tanker out of action, the track became extremely dusty.

Phil Combs, son of NASCAR chief steward and flagman Roby Combs, recounted a story his brother told him.

“The dust was so thick the drivers couldn’t see much,” he said, “and at one point the leader came down pit road instead of the front stretch and the entire field of cars followed him. Somehow, no one was hurt.”

The 50-lap feature was marred with accidents. Two cars collided and slid down the steep bank in the south turn. A car spun on the backstretch and flipped twice. Then just after the midway point of the race, a car driven by Billy Bumgarner of Hickory lost control and slammed into a car parked beside the judges’ station in the pits. Two mechanics barely escaped injury.

Leon Call would go on to win the shortened race on the 30th lap. Lawrence Reel believes the track closed because his uncle Jack wanted to pave the track, while Bright thought that was a waste of money.

Others believe the carnage from the September race caused Bright to have reservations about the races being held on his property and what liability he and his family might face. I was told before his death that Bright was asked why the track closed, and he simply couldn’t remember.

We will never know what might have become of Marion Speedway if they had kept it going ... if they would have added lights to race on Friday or Saturday night ... or if they would have paved the half-mile track to eliminate the dust issue.

We are now simply left with stories of fearless men and roaring engines of a forgotten era. Thank you for the banter, and see you next time on the Pit Box.