"Probably 15 at the time -- a bunch of us would pile in the car and come down here from Macon on Saturday night and watch, like Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, a bunch of the big guys, race.". Kulkosky, Victor. Larry Smith was named NASCAR Rookie of the Year. A team from Miami would come to Byron for a race and then fill a car A thick row of mimosa trees grows at the base of the stands. My goal is to showcase the obscure, sometimes historic, forgotten places I have visited across the Southeast. Isaac sat on the pole after recording a 98.148-mile-per-hour (157.954km/h) lap, which was the fastest in the track's history. Byron. The Middle Georgia Raceway was a raceway located in Byron, Georgia, in the United States. Middle Georgia Motorsports Park (Formerly Twiggs/Macon National Dragway) Track Conditions. Authentic, expressive discussions make groups great, but may also be sensitive and private. The story was so big it made national headlines. Jimi Hendrix headlined the three-day concert and played a unique rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner at midnight on the 4th of July, accompanied by a fireworks display. 2) Crenshaw, Wayne. The property includes an active golf ball driving range adjacent to the highway. Touch for directions. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window). For instance, in 1967 authorities found a moonshine distillery located buried in a chamber under the track. Nine NASCAR Grand National Series races were held at the track between 1966 and 1971. It would not take a lot to get the track going again. Nine NASCAR races were held there from 1966 to 1971. You can reach me at AbandonedSoutheast@gmail.com. The 1981 Mason-Dixon 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on May 17, 1981, at Dover Downs International Speedway in Dover, Delaware. The next year, federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives discovered a moonshine distillery in an underground bunker at turn three. In the 1970s, there was also a massive concert held there that the good people of Georgia were none too pleased about. It opened in 1966. [4]. time, was arrested and tried in court. BYRON -- On Wednesday morning, Tim Thornton made his way through a wooded area behind turn three at the old Middle Georgia Raceway in search of the source of a local legend. The first NASCAR race at the Middle One of Richard Petty's 4 wins at the track came when he was very ill and was questionable to race. While the racetrack had a short life within professional racing, the land where the track was located holds many stories. The 1968 Islip 300 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on July 7, 1968, at Islip Speedway in Islip, New York. Out of the nine races at the [1], Opened in 1966 at a cost of $500,000, the first race, the Speedy Morelock 200 NASCAR Grand National stock car race, became the location of a speed record when Richard Petty broke the half-mile NASCAR record for half-mile tracks with an average speed of 82.023 miles per hour during the 100-mile (160km) event. Antebellum North Map - Neighborhood - Georgia, United States - Mapcarta His new show, Lost Speedways, premieres and provides a fresh look at the history of motorsports. 4 MIDDLE GEORGIA RACEWAY Premium High Res Photos 15 Abandoned And Forgotten NASCAR Race Tracks - HotCars Sunshine and 70s are the name of the game this week, 'This could be you or your child' | Former Atlanta mayor asks gun owners to act responsibly after bullet enters nephew's room, Poison ivy is getting worse with climate change, Peach County's South Peach Park to get new entrance, 'Georgia Camera Ready' looking for filming sites in Peach County. the Georgia natives Allman Brothers Band. racetrack, Richard Petty won four of the races and Bobby Allison won three. Bobby Allison drove from the pole to win the 274-mile (441km) race. attracted professional racers and their fans but also those looking for moonshine. On the way back to Atlanta, we stopped at this race track for him to get some practice laps. Im unsure if Car and Driver ever filmed there. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. HELP US OUT, Your email address will not be published. attendance varied each year from 6,000 to 10,000 and the prize money also went Richard Petty won four times, Bobby Allison won three, and David Pearson and Bobby Isaac each won once. This is an information and social media page for the brand new Middle Georgia Sports. The 1970 NASCAR Grand National Series season began on Sunday January 18 and ended on Sunday November 22. Dirt Oval located in Byron, GA: Track Status: Closed (Opened: 1966 --- Closed: 1986) TOURING SERIES & MAJOR EVENTS ; Date Sanction Winner Laps 10 May 1966: NASCAR Grand National: Richard Petty: 200 22 May 1966: But what he really wants is to sell it to someone who will keep the race track there and make it an event location, or even bring back racing. The 2nd Atlanta International Pop Festival was held at the Middle Georgia Raceway in Byron over the 4th of July weekend in 1970. Brown said he bought the yeast to make food for the concession stand at the race track. Great photos and interesting back story, thanks for posting it. The local newspaper described it as an. Required fields are marked *. Middle Georgia Raceway - Wikipedia After eleven days of filming for the Dodge Durango, filming wrapped up and the commercial was eventually aired. Middle Georgia Motorsports Park (Formerly Twiggs/Macon National Dragway The Middle Georgia Raceway was a raceway located in Byron, Georgia, in the United States. Theres just too much energy there to see the track just sit. While the racetrack had a short life within professional racing, the land where the track was located holds many stories. The last race of any notability was an ARCA race in 1984 that was won by Davey Allison. Until it's sold, he says the raceway is still used for special events and commercials. The short clip also showed him talking to Richard Petty, NASCAR's all-time wins leader. Location: Jeffersonville, Georgia : Surface: Paved : Length: 1/8 mile Phone: (478) 550-3137 Visit track website: Facebook: Twitter: Race Track Locator. The track owner was arrested and tried. The largest event was a reunion of the Dukes of Hazzard cast, which drew tens of thousands from around the country. Richard Petty won four times, Bobby Allison won three, and David Pearson and Bobby Isaac each won once. [1] Later that year, David Pearson won a 150-mile (240km) race from the pole. The distillery was capable of producing 80 gallons of moonshine per day. By Jenna Eason. I heard a rumor some time back that David Ragan and some of his friends had wanted to try to refurbish the track to run legends cars on the small track that is part of the infield and main track. Richard Petty (2010), then entering the prime of his career, won the first two races at the track in the spring of 1966 and '67.. Reading up in its history , Richard Petty, David Pearson, Bobby Allison and Bobby Issacs all won there. Tim Thornton is the owner of the land, and says he has vivid memories watching the races and serving ice cream at the festival. The season began on Sunday January 21 and ended on Sunday October 21. Still, thousands of music lovers were outside the gates demanding the gates be opened and the festival become free, like Woodstock. ?? is in Byron, Georgia, in Peach County. 11/04/ 1965. The economy soured and people began approaching him about having a racers reunion there, which he allowed. The 1976 Riverside 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on June 13, 1976, at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California. It was also the last NASCAR national touring series season to feature a dirt track race until the 2013 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and the last time the Cup series raced on dirt until the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series. On the weekend of July 4, 1970, the second annual Atlanta International Pop Festival was held in a soybean field adjacent to the Middle Georgia Raceway. Do you think it would be possible to get him to mix up a couple of hours of that concert and bring in a big video screen and do a 50th anniversary screening there. Pearson qualified on the pole and Petty won his third race at the track. He dropped the idea of an industrial park. On these 80 acres sits the Middle Georgia Raceway and the setting of the 1970 Atlanta International Pop Festival. Village Centerville is a city in Houston County, Georgia, United States. Village Photo: Bill Golladay, CC BY-SA 4.0. I explored this place many years ago! be used for fermentation of alcohol. See the comprehensive Ingliston Motor Racing Circuit website for photos, results, and complete programmes from Ingliston. After eleven days of filming for the Dodge Durango, filming wrapped up and the commercial was eventually aired. Petty returned to win the 150-mile (240km) NASCAR race during the following season.[1]. Nine NASCAR Grand National Series races were held at the track between 1966 and 1971. It would be a GREAT place to get the new generation of kids off the computers and cell phones In later years the track was used for special events, concerts, commercial and feature filming, and most recently as a Halloween attraction. Example video title will go here for this video. The Middle Georgia Raceway is loaded with history ranging from record setting runs t. Thornton once planned to have a moonshine festival there to commemorate another infamous event in the tracks history. It opened in 1966. 3) Contact: Brandy Mai, Director Of Communications, and Ext. I read the ASA ran some events there and that Davey Allison won an ARCA event there. The commercial shows the Lamar Brown Jr, the track owner at the I hope the owner decides to do something with it. In 2011, the current owner leased the track to Dodge, who wanted to use it for a Durango commercial. Jimi Hendrix, the Allman Brothers Band and over 30 other acts performed in front of an estimated crowd of 400,000 concertgoers (the town had a population of about 2,000). In the trailer, he walked through fields and sat in the stands at abandoned tracks. ], it was purchased with the goal of converting it to a land development site. He proposed to his wife before the race. I got this site from my buddy who informed me regarding this site and now this time I am visiting this website and reading very informative posts here. Next year marks 50 years since the festival that brought tens of thousands of people to the city. Middle Georgia Raceway, near Macon, hosted many top notch stock car events on its half-mile, paved surface. Middle Georgia Raceway - The Third Turn Welcome to AbandonedSoutheast.com! [4] Seven years later, it was the location for filming of race scenes of the Richard Pryor film Greased Lightning about Wendell Scott. 114 Or 912.651.2125. The Allman Brothers Band, who was relatively unknown before this festival, opened and closed the show. He made the unwise decision to run tires from his previous race at Talladega, which were a harder compound, AND, the track had lots of sand on it. your content. Middle GA Podcasts on Apple Podcasts He is considering, however, making a more active push to find a buyer. Middle Georgia Raceway. Touch for map. {{Motorsport venue | Name = Middle Georgia Speedway | Nicknames = | Time = EST/EDT (-0500/-0400) | Location = 4015 US-41 Byron, Georgia United States | Coordinates = .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap} 32408.00N834245.93W / 32.6688889N 83.7127583W / 32.6688889; -83.7127583 Coordinates: 32408.00N834245.93W / 32.6688889N 83.7127583W / 32.6688889; -83.7127583 | Image = | Image_caption = | Capacity = | Owner = [[] | Operator = | Broke_ground = | Opened = 1966 [1] | Closed = c.1986 | Construction_cost= $500,000 | Architect = | Former_names = | Events = NASCAR | Layout1 = Oval | Surface = Paved [1] | Length_km = | Length_mi = .548 [1] | Miles_first = True | Turns = 4 | Banking = | Record_time = | Record_driver = | Record_team = | Record_year = | Record_class = }}, The Middle Georgia Raceway was a raceway located in Byron, Georgia, in the United States. Middle Georgia Raceway; Middle Georgia Raceway; former stock car racing rrack; tor wycigowy (Stany Zjednoczone); bouwwerk in Georgia, Middle Georgia Raceway curve and back straightaway.JPG, Middle Georgia Raceway infield with trees.JPG, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Middle_Georgia_Raceway&oldid=619795589, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Ive been kind of waiting for the right person, waiting for the right opportunity to sell to somebody to try to preserve the history, he said. In addition, there is a $5 premium version that has limited ads and is free to existing Comcast subscribers. Heres more. Byron, Georgia (GA), US. Georgia's Deep NASCAR Roots | NASCAR Hall of Fame | Curators' Corner Anyone who can come up with about $1.2 million can be the owner of a local race track with a long and colorful history. Thornton himself planned to put a light industrial park there when he bought the property in 2006, but fate intervened. Pamela Mullis, 54, was sentenced to 90 to 120 days in prison after she pleaded guilty to felony theft in Houston County Superior Court. N.p., n.d. http://racing-reference.info/tracks/Middle_Georgia_Raceway Isaac sat on the pole after recording a 98.148-mile-per-hour (157.954km/h) lap, which was the fastest in the track's history. [1] He beat pole-sitter Pearson by 4 seconds and they were the only two cars on the lead lap. Jimi Hendrix, the Allman Brothers Band and over 30 other acts performed in front of an estimated crowd of 400,000 concertgoers (the town had a population of about 2,000). In 1970, the Atlanta International Pop Festival was held in a field next to the track, featuring Jimi Hendrix and the Allman Brothers. Middle Georgia Raceway, once a full-blown NASCAR Grand National track where Richard Petty and other racing legends battled it out, is for sale. Middle Georgia Raceway was one of three tracks in the city of Macon that hosted NASCAR premier series races. The track was truly special as I grew up and remains the site of some the most enjoyable times of my youth. The first season will also showcase Occoneechee Speedway in Hillsborough, North Carolina, Middle Georgia Raceway in Byron, Georgia and several others. However, the jury found him not guilty.2, Another historical point to mention 35,014 were here. Auto Racing Legends V | Middle Georgia Raceway - Facebook 28 were held. Localities in the Area. ever seen. The Middle Georgia Raceway was a popular race track for early NASCAR greats, and the 80 acres hosted one of the biggest music festivals in the 1970s. "Georgia's "Woodstock Festival" Receives Historic Marker." Theres not even a sign at the property stating it is for sale and Thornton doesnt have it listed on the website of his real estate company. The 1979 Southern 500, the 30th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on September 3, 1979, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Ingliston Circuit | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project Anyone interested in this project should e-mail me, danny1754@att.net. Even though NASCAR no longer used the track, many ASA racers of the late 1970s, like Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin raced here in amateur races. The track was used in a few Dodge television commercials in . The Middle Georgia Raceway was a half-mile paved track that opened in 1966, at the cost of $500,000. The 1966 NASCAR Grand National Series evolved into the first of three NASCAR Grand National championships for David Pearson, whose 15 wins through the season was second only to Tim Flock's 18 victories in 1955 at that time. 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Wednesday night, NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. begins a journey to visit some of [], By John Newby Now the track is overgrown again, with grass sprouting through the seams of the paved half-mile oval. Thanks for the great content Abandoned Southeast! [4] On September 15, 2012, an official Georgia Historical Society marker was placed near the raceway to commemorate the 1970 pop festival. Hey my name eddie taylor I live in Byron ga an my family has been in racing our whole life my uncle Doc ran on the dirt tracks an at middle ga raceway it was an awesome place an it really needs to be brought back to life we need to try an get people talk about it. Earnhardt Jr. previously posted a trailer to reveal the premiere date and provides some new glimpses into his journey through the history of motorsports. Thanks, Dave. It's been almost 50 years since that festival and Thornton has the land up for sale at $1.5 million. 4) "The True Story Behind The Fake Racetrack in Chryslers Latest TV Commercial." My father, Bob Moore, and many of his friends cleaned the place up a few years ago for a car show and vintage racing. hauler with large amounts of moonshine. He proposed to his wife before the race. Take a look, Four of six Warner Robins narcotics officers reinstated amid misconduct investigation, Coffee shop, pizza place & more. There use to be weekly NASCAR Sortmen races that drew racers from Asheville, NC (Jack Ingram, Bosco Lowe, etc,), Tennessee (Friday Hasler, Bob Burcham, etc), Alabama (Bobby And Donnie Alison, etc), Florida (Paul Conners) and another that I dont recall where he was from (Bob Leach). "Byron Moonshine Legend Lives On." He won the 100-mile event in his 1966 . Together, they will journey to the abandoned tracks that are no longer recognizable due to the foliage. Both of the pay tiers will include live sports and early access to late-night shows. Byron moonshine legend lives on | Macon Telegraph [4] Seven years later, it was the location for filming of race scenes of the Richard Pryor film Greased Lightning about Wendell Scott. I hope to preserve the past through documentation and photographs since many of these amazing places are often lost to neglect, demolition, or renovation. But that would be a small amount compared to what you would have when that all was done, a facility worth at least 15 million if not more. The prosecutor told the jury that 24 pounds of yeast would make enough bread to feed Atlanta for a week. This 1/2 mile paved oval track has been abandoned since 1984. I saw the trailer for that film on YouTube. It began on Sunday, January 14, and ended on Sunday, November 18. It was designed by Fireball Roberts. [6], in 1984 the Arca Racing Series ran at the track and the race was won by Davey Allison. and there is a page two --- last two years the reunion was held i could take you to where the real hooch was being run off -- if no one tells i may just make another trip ,for the chosen few. Being part of this group requires mutual trust. Middle Georgia Raceway Memories - Facebook All in all I say that maybe 3 million would be needed. NASCAR started its 1968 and 1969 season at the Middle Georgia Raceway. [1] The final NASCAR race was held on November 7, 1971. This brings back memories for me. The 1974 Southern 500, the 25th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race on September 2, 1974, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Ticket prices for the weekend event to see the 30 bands were $14.00, a bargain even then. The owner, developer Tim Thornton, said the property on U.S. 41 includes about 61 acres. Agents would typically have blown it up with dynamite, but instead used acetylene torches to destroy it so the track would not get damaged.

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