 A short drive a few hundred yards out of the city of Dillon and a turn on Old Race Track Road will give you a glimpse in the future. The earthmover equipment is smoothing, carving and shaping what will be the Dillon Motor Speedway. By mid-March 2007, race cars will be taking laps around the first paved race track in Dillon County history. It’s all being designed by former NASCAR truck and stock car driver Ron Barfield and former European driving champion Stewart Jackson. To further tap into the racing tradition of Dillon County, the track is being built on the site of the former dirt track of Dillon Raceway.
“I think it’s pretty exciting; a positive thing to promote Dillon,” Dillon County development board chairman Gene Butler said. “The county is definitely behind having something happen here and showcasing our area..” Although the work has only recently begun, the dream to build a short track for regional racing has long been in the mind of Florence native Barfield. I never came here for a race when it was open, but my dad used to race here and my grandparents sat in the grandstands here for many races,” Barfield said. So this is special to me. Stewart me that if I ever go involved with setting up a track, he wanted to be a part of it. He has many years of experience racing short tracks in England and across Europe.
“This is the first short track racetrack to be built since probably the early 1980s. But we are going to do it right and make it a place people in Dillon can be proud of and enjoy for years.
Jackson won the short track championship in Europe in 1978 and he finished as the second ranked short track drive in Europe three times. He worked on a Formula One team for a season, owned several racecars and ran a successful car dealership in England. Now, Jackson has sold his dealership in England and has moved here with his wife, Bev, to get the speedway set up and running.
“My first choice was not to build a brand-new racetrack,” Barfield said. “But, we decided to buy the land where a racetrack used to be. We feel like we have bought the heritage of the old Dillon Raceway. “Our track will be a whole lot bigger than this track was before. But, even though only the land and part of the former grandstand will be used again we feel like we are staying in touch with the history of all drivers who once raced here.”
The main difference that will be obvious at the Dillon Motor Speedway is the face that the track will be paved, unlike the old dirt track set-up of the Dillon Raceway. Former Dillon Raceway competitor and current county councilman “Pee Wee” Webster is excited about the new track. “I had a great time racing a Dillon Raceway,” Webster said. “This is one of the best things to happen in our county in a long time and I thank the good Lord for sending Ron our way. We should get behind this and support it in any way possible.”
Other modern conveniences are planned to make the racing experience more enjoyable for fans. “A portion of the wall in front of he original grandstands will probably used, but we are going to put new concrete walls all around the racetrack,” Barfield said. “This is really going to be exciting for drivers and race fans. It’s going to be an asphalt oval. It’s going to be really wide. It’s going to have an asphalt working area for competitors to work on their cars. “We are going to make this a place people want to bring their families on the weekend. And for the drivers, we are going to make this a fun track. Right off of I-95, there is no reason this track won’t attract many drivers and fans from all over.”
Plans are to finish the track with between 13 and 15 degrees of banking, giving drivers a true challenge in every race. “We are going to build a showpiece here, where fans will want to spend a weekend here in Dillon at the racetrack,” Barfield said. “We’re doing an asphalt track because that’s what I know and love. But I want to attract as many drivers in this area as I can, even dirt track racers.”
Story courtesy of the Dillon Hearld |
