Track profile: Everything to know about Virginia’s South Boston Speedway
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South Boston Speedway
South Boston Speedway was built by E.B. “Buck” Wilkins, Dave Blount and Louis Spencer as a quarter-mile dirt track in 1957. The track joined NASCAR three years later.
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South Boston Speedway
Five years after opening in 1957, the racing surface was expanded to 0.357 miles, rebanked and paved. In the early 1970s, C.C. "Clem" Chandler leased the facility from Wilkins and Blount. By 1977, Wilkins and Blount were back in charge of the track.
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South Boston Speedway
Following Blount's death in 1982, his son Tommy Blount joined Wilkins as co-owner of the track. The duo sold the track prior to the 1985 season to the father-son duo of Mason and Mike Day.
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South Boston Speedway
The Day family continued to own and operate the track until 2000, when Joe Mattioli acquired the track. The Mattioli family, which also owns Pocono Raceway, continues to own the facility to this day.
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South Boston Speedway
The track has undergone multiple facelifts since first opening in 1957. One such renovation in 1994 led to the track's expansion from 0.357 to the current 0.4 miles.
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South Boston Speedway
The most recent renovation took place in 2017. The $1 million renovation included the repaving of the racing surface, renovations to the frontstretch grandstands, updates to the track’s lighting and PA systems, improvements to aid water drainage, and the installation of a new playground for kids.
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South Boston Speedway
Each of NASCAR's three national divisions have raced at South Boston through the years. Drivers like Junior Johnson, Rex White, Richard Petty, Bobby Isaac, Benny Parsons, Sam Ard, Jack Ingram, Tommy Houston, Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have won at the track.
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South Boston Speedway
South Boston is part of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series and continues to host weekly racing. Among the major events on the track schedule is the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200, part of the Virginia Triple Crown for Late Model Stock Cars. Ray Hendrick, Geoff Bodine, Jack Ingram, Sam Ard, Barry Beggarly, Elliott Sadler, Philip Morris, Timothy Peters, Peyton Sellers and Layne Riggs are among those to win track titles at South Boston.