"How Much Do I Owe You, Mr. Turner?" - A Tale from the Forgotten Richmond Speedway Ghost Track in 1952 - GHOST TRACK MYSTERY SOLVED!!!

During the summer of 1952, when I was 3 years old, there were at least four stock car race tracks operating in my hometown of Richmond, Virginia.

Most folks are familiar with today's Richmond International Raceway, which in 1952 was a 1/2-mile dirt track known as Strawberry Hill or Atlantic Rural Exposition . Today's weekly NASCAR track in Richmond, Southside Speedway - was also operating in 1952, owned by Nelson Royall and known as Royall Speedway . Former owner of the Richmond Colts baseball team, Eddie Mooers had paved the infield of Mooers Field in Richmond's Scotts Addition and staged stock car races there, also.

The 4th Richmond stock car racing track also operating in 1952, the one that many forget, was the Richmond Speedway , just north of town on U.S. Highway 301, a highway running parallel to nearby U.S. Route1 heading to Washington. Richmonders called U.S. 1 "Number 1 Highway " and U.S. 301 "Number 2 Highway."

Sanctioned by the Richmond Stock Car Racing Association , Richmond Speedway was being promoted in 1952 by Norfolk, Virginia's Joe Weatherly.

From the pages of a June 1969 issue of Stock Car Racing Magazine comes a story told by the late Curtis Turner about he and his dear friend and driving companion, Joe Weatherly at Richmond Speedway. The other driver in the story told by Curtis was Norfolk, Virginia's Harry "Barefoot" Culpepper . Culpepper's nephew, Bert Culpepper would become a highly successful Late Model dirt track racer in the 70s and 80s at Wilson County Speedway, Southampton Speedway and Dixieland Speedway.

It's possible that our member, Jim Streeter might have even been in the field on this particular night in Richmond in 1952. Direct from the mouth of Virginian, Curtis Turner, enjoy this tale told on two other Virginians:

When Harry "Barefoot" Culpepper's nephew, Bert Culpepper was forced by health issues many years later to stop driving in 1995, Frank Vehorn wrote this article in the Norfolk paper:

Dirt-Track Veteran Listens to His Heart:
Bert Culpepper is Retiring, Heeding His Body's Warning Signs

By Frank Vehorn, Staff Writer

The Virginian-Pilot

May 23, 1995

Race-car driver Bert Culpepper is going out a champion, but it isn't his idea.

The veteran dirt-track driver from Chesapeake confirmed Monday that he is ending a 19-year career on area tracks because of a heart problem that forced him to cut short his last two starts at Southampton Speedway, near Capron.

Culpepper is the defending Late Model Sportsman champion at the track, where he won the last race he completed.

"I push a lot of things to a certain limit, but I ain't crazy," Culpepper said. "I hate to quit, because I still enjoy racing and I haven't lost the edge. But I got to do it."

Culpepper, 53, missed most of the 1993 season after suffering a heart attack during a preseason test at Southampton.

He resisted the wishes of his wife, Carol, and returned to racing last year to win the Late Model Sportsman title by 12 points over Mike Shearin. He was looking forward to making another run at the championship until the heart problem arose.

Culpepper said his heart rate accelerated from 70 to 170 beats per minute when his adrenalin began pumping just before restarts during caution periods, and he felt some pain for a few seconds.

"It really started in the first race of the season," Culpepper said, "but we didn't have many cautions during the first few races. Then, in the next race, we had a couple of real quick cautions and it just seemed I was a little more intense than I had been. I decided I had better get off the track before I had the `big one.' "

Thanks to detective work by RR member, Richard Gouldman, fellow RR member Joe Kelly has furnished a history and location for the Richmond Speedway Ghost Track - very historic since it was the first weekly NASCAR track in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Thank you Richard & Joe.

This is the information Richard sent:

I finally contacted Joe Kelly who is either the most knowledgeable individual on Richmond area racing there is, or ....well, here is what Joe sent me.

Richmond Speedway opened in 1952, a 1/4 mile clay track near where Richmond Times Dispatch is now on Route 301 or #2 highway. The track was built by G.W.Allen of Allen Construction, who owned the property. Joe Weatherly got the sanction for the track because Mr. Allen did not have creditibility with NASCAR. The promoter of record was a Giny (sp) Cousins. It was the first weekly NASCAR track in Va. Weatherly won 10 races there that year on his way to a nationwide second place in the NASCAR modified standings. He was champion the following year. Mooer's Field did not open until 1954 and after the close of Royall Speedway. Richmond Speedway operated until 1954 and then was asphalted and changed hands to Lawhorn in 1955. There were no races held there after 1955 although the track was there until 1973. There was a lien on the property by the paving contractor, Warren Brothers. Joe goes on to say that all of the heavy hitters of that time raced there. Johnny Roberts out of Maryland, Wendell Scott, Curtis Turner, and many more.

Thank you for posting this information Dave, and thank you Joe Kelly for sharing this. I have been searching the webextensively for any mention of this track, pictures, additional information, etc. I stumbled across a site that lists every sanctioned Nascar track since 1949, but this track was not included in the listing. I assume that the track was not considered part of the national venue, or never hosted thepremier division of Nascar as reason for the absence of mention. The ONLY mention of this track that I have uncovered is on Wendell Scott's Wikipedia site. It states there that Scott was able to obtain his Nascar license at Richmond Speedway. The fellows at the "Ghost Tracks" website have documented hundreds of tracks in the Carolinas and Virginia, but again I found no mention of Richmond Speedway. I have even done a couple of Google Earth searches, but alas, there are wall to wall buildings in that area, commercial and residential, schools, libraries, you name it. The onlyfamiliar landmark that I found was the '48 Crosley on a pole. It is somewhat of a shame that so many of these venues are lost in history and not better documented. Washington may not have slept there, but Little Joe Weatherly raced there.

You're right about all the commercial buildings, Richard. Back in the early 60s, I remember my dad having his '57 Chevy repainted at a place that must have been right around the location of Richmond Speedway. A moonlighting City of Richmond police officer had a paint booth rented in a building on #2 Highway (as dad also called it) where I guess all the mechanics, etc. were renting out shop space.

Here's a couple of photos of the Crosley on a pole - one in Lawhorn livery - published in the Mechanicsville (Va.) Local :

Hey guys, is this Richmond Speedway?

Or maybe this?

Here's an aerial of today. I see theRichmond Times Dispatch to the southeast -

Robert, that would be Richmond Speedway based on information provided by several folks I have spoken with. Thank you for your help on this. Pretty impressive how you did this. Now if we can locate some pictures of action at the track, buildings, bleachers, whatever. I may be asking a lot, but we have unearthed a wealth of information in only a few days. This is akin to anarchaeological dig and I find it quite interesting and exciting. The 1952aerial pix baffle me somewhat though. I thought at first these were Moores Field, but it doesn't appear to be Scott's Addition area of Richmond, plus I don't recall the uppermost street extending any farther than Roseneath Road. This could be the start of another adventure.

Afterthought....Moore's Field would have still been a ballpark in '52.

Robert, those are some marvelous aerials.

That "new" Richmond Times-Dispatch building in Hanover County off U.S. 301 went on-line in Spring 1992. I had the pleasure of attending the annual luncheon held there by the paper's Editor of the Editorial Page in 1998.

Here is an aerial photo below of Mooers Field in Scott's Addition in Richmond taken on March 14, 1954 by Dementi Studio in Richmond after pro baseball moved to Parker Field that year with the new Richmond Virginians AAA club. Easy to picture the baseball diamond that was home to Eddie Mooers' Richmond Colts by just looking at the grandstands. That's ACCA Yard in the background, the huge train switching yard where so many New York to Florida trains are delayed these days.

Richard, it may be up to you to dig up the history of this old track. If there's nothing out there on the internet on it, then probably no one has done anything about it. If you're still in Richmond and are up for making it a project, you should start digging at the library - photo archives, microfilm newspaper articles such as the opening of the track and article about the Curtis Turner race, and even tracking down drivers still living that raced there. You know they'll have stories, and maybe even some photos. Try tracking down the family of the track owner and see if they have any artifacts and photos. Another tip is to go to the City Planning/Zoning office and ask to see their historical aerial photos. They probably have aerials going back to the late 40's/early 50's that they would let you photo or scan.

This would make for aninteresting project to do in your spare time, and keep the history of Richmond Speedway from vanishing forever over time. Time is of the essence with finding people that actually raced or went there.

From Baseball Reference.com:

Mooers Field

Mooers Field was the home of the Richmond Colts from 1942 until the club left Richmond after the 1953 season. It was named after owner, former player and former manager Eddie Mooers.

The park was located at Roseneath and Norfolk Streets. The former home of the Colts, Tate Field on Mayo Island, was subject to frequent floods. In the summer of 1941, Mooers bought 9 1/2 acres of land, and construction on the new ballpark began. Play began with exhibition games ahead of the 1942 season. The book Baseball and Richmond states that its capacity was around 5,000, but the 1989 reference Ballparks of North America put it at 4,300.

After the Colts left Richmond, Mooers Field was used for auto racing for several years until it was torn down in 1958.

I found Mooers Field in the 1952 aerial when it was still a ballpark. I did and internet search and saw that Dave Fulton posted a nice aerial shot of the Mooers Field racetrack from 1954 on LocalRaceChat.com a while back.

Here's Mooers Field in 1952 in the left of the shot, butalso to the right on the other side of the train yardis what appears to be a football stadium with possibly a1/4 mile dirt track around it. And then outside of the stadiumlooks like what's left of a 3/4 to 1 mile track. Is that possible? Is thereany history of a mile track being there?

Edit: I just saw in and earlier topographic map that it was the old State Fairgrounds, and that's what was left of the old fairgrounds track.

Yes, Robert, there was a 1-mile dirt track located there on The Boulevard in Richmond at the site of the old Virginia State Fairgrounds before it moved to Strawberry Hill in 1946. That is the 1-mile dirt track Bill France, Sr. came down from Washington, DC and raced on. The Parker Field baseball park and todays Diamond are there. The old Arena building on the original Boulevard Fairgrounds property is where the Southern Conference basketball Tournament was held for many years.

Topographic map of the old State Fairgrounds -

Ghost Track Photo - Richmond Mile Dirt Track 1930s

Posted by Dave Fulton on May 10, 2012 at 5:16pm in -HISTORIC SPEEDWAYS

Here is a photo of the Richmond 1-Mile dirt track in the 1920s-1940s at the old Richmond Fairgrounds on The Boulevard in Richmond that preceded the location where today's Richmond International Raceway evolved from the half-mile dirt track built when the fairgrounds moved.

The Richmond 1-Mile Dirt track is where Bill France, Sr. raced his "Big Cars" - his open wheel roadsters when he came down to Richmond from Washington, DC.

I have seen event programs from the old 1 mile track, but never a photo. The track was located where the present Richmond baseball park and Arthur Ashe Tennis Center are situated on North Boulevard.

This is a motorcycle photo in Eddie Boomhower book, The Racer's Book.

The caption is written by Mr. Boomhower of Chesapeake, Virginia.

JOE PRATALI CLASS A SPEEDWAY RACER

THIS PICTURE WAS MADE IN THE MID 1930S AT THE RICHMOND ONE MILE SPEEDWAY. IT WAS LOCATED AT WHAT IS NOW THE ARTHUR ASHE COMPLEX ON NORTH BLVD IN RICHMOND. JOE WAS ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS SPEEDWAY RACERS FOR MANY YEARS. WHEN YOU THINK, THEY WERE RUNNING SPEEDS WELL OVER A HUNDRED MILES PER HOUR AND DROP CENTER RIMS HAD NOT BEEN INVENTED YET. THIS WAS DONE WITH CLINCHER RIMS. A BLOW OUT WAS A DEATH SENTENCE. JOE WENT ON TO BE HOWARD HUGHES RIGHT HAND MAN. HE HAD THE REPUTATION OF BEING THE BEST OF CARBURETOR SPECIALISTS IN THE COUNTRY AND HUGHES NEEDED HIM IN HIS AIRPLANE VENTURES

From the Virginia Historical Society - Auto Races on November 12, 1929 at the 1-mile Richmond dirt track:

Richmonds first race was held in August 1907 at the new fairground track, west of the city on North Boulevard (just a few miles away from the Virginia Historical Society), where The Diamond is now located. This site was across the street from the Kline Kar factory, where the Greyhound Bus station is located. Automobile racing became an annual feature of the state fair, with automobile and motorcycle racing on the last day of the fair, known as Automobile Day. The 1912 race featured Jimmy, a race car manufactured by the Kline Car Corporation. Kline became involved in Richmond racing as soon as he came to Virginia and remained so for the next thirty years. The other Kline Kar that survives is a racing car. I believe its privately owned in England. The success of the Kline Kars, Jimmy, and later, the Jimmy Jr., designed and built in 1910, and named for Kline and his son, attracted attention to the Richmond racing scene. Kline was a promoter of the Labor Day Auto Races held in Richmond and served as president of the Richmond Automotive Trade Association. In 1945, the Richmond fairgrounds moved to Strawberry Hill in northeast Richmond. For you NASCAR fans, the first race took place on April 19, 1953, at the new Richmond fairgrounds, known as Atlantic Rural Exposition Fairgrounds (now the site of the Richmond International Raceway, constructed in 1988).

Dave, this is turning into 'The History of Racing in Richmond Virginia' thread. Great stuff! I love the early motorcycle photos.

Robert/Richard,

Eddie Boomhower has terrific photos and stories at this link, including Joe Weatherly, Paul Goldsmith, Dick Beaty and Buck Brigrance on motorcycles at Richmond:

http://www.racerreunion.org/2.html

Dave, that site is priceless. Some of the best early motorcycle photos of this region I've ever seen.

The first aerial I found turns out to be maybethe athletic field of Richmond High School?-

Very possible. From what I read that school was founded in the 1870s. That is also the "old" John Marshall HS ( now located on the northside near the current RIR) in the maps. This was in the pre-integration period in Richmond. Richmond High School started as Richmond Normal Colored School and later became Armstrong High School.

Robert, thank you for all the tips. I am 67 now and still work 45-50 hours a week, plus we have a weekend flea market gig that makes 7 days a week. I do know a couple of folks that may be able to help fill in some details though. Thesearchaeological digs will have to been done using the internet if I am going to uncover anything. Ha! Stay tuned though....I'm still digging. Thank you for your valuable input.

Hey guys, is this Richmond Speedway?
Photo of Richmond Speedway located in City of Richmond,VA.?
No, it's the old John Marshall High School track & Field, Football field.
Today, in this location is the John Marshall Courts Building parking lot.

Photo 1. shows old photo of 8TH ST., CLAY ST, 9TH ST., SP33(Leigh St.)
photo 2. shows new photo of 8th St. (on left), East Clay St. (at bottom between John Marshal Courts parking lot and the (brown color) John Marshal Courts Bldg.), & 9th St. (on right) , & SP33 (Leigh St. at the top) of photo.

Photo 3. Another view of JJohn Marshall Courts Building parking lot.

Photo 4. shows the (brown color) John Marshall Courts Building , that was built on the same location, after the old John Marshall High School was torn down.

Photo 5. shows old photo the old John Marshall High School before it was torn down.
http://media.northrichmondnews.com.s3.amazonaws.com/news/wp-content...

Photo 6. shows old photo of the old John Marshall High School was torn down.
http://media.northrichmondnews.com.s3.amazonaws.com/news/wp-content...

http://northrichmondnews.com/news/2011/07/15/history-the-demolition...

http://maps.google.com/
8th & East Clay St., Richmond,Va.

Photo 1. shows old photo of 8TH ST., CLAY ST, 9TH ST., SP33(Leigh St.)

photo 2. shows new photo of 8th St. (on left), East Clay St. (at bottom between John Marshal Courts parking lot and the (brown color) John Marshal Courts Bldg.), & 9th St. (on right) , & SP33 (Leigh St. at the top) of photo.

Photo 3. Another view of John Marshall Courts Building parking lot.

Photo 4. shows the (brown color) John Marshall Courts Building , that was built on the same location, after the old John Marshall High School was torn down.

Photo 5. shows old photo the old John Marshall High School before it was torn down.

Photo 6. shows old photo of the old John Marshall High School was torn down.

http://northrichmondnews.com/news/2011/07/15/history-the-demolition...

If you used this below:
http://maps.google.com/

type in:
8th & East Clay St., Richmond,Va.

In the search box ===== you see the above, plus the Richmond Coliseum (1 block to left of John Marshall Courts Building parking lot and Richmond City Hall (1/2 - 1 block) to right of John Marshall Courts Building on Broad St.

I found the following information in the hardback book named:

"The History of America's Speedways Past & Present by Allan E. Brown, on page 713 listed under VIRGINIA (race tracks): 301 Speedway - See: New Richmond Speedway (listed race track informaton on page 720).
New Richmond Speedway - Richmond / 4 miles north of town on US 301
1/4 mile dirt oval (4/17/1951 - 1954) / (aka: 301 Speedway)
1/4 mile paved oval (1955)
==========================================================================
I have heard a whole lock of racing stories, racing tales on the mystery ghost race track named: Richmond Speedway aka 301 Speedway aka New Richmond Speedway aka #2 Speedway??? LOL
Located in Hanover County,Va. or Mechanicsville, VA.???LOL
Located near 48 Crosley car on the pole???LOL
Located near the 301 Drive-In Theatre???LOL
Does anyone know the location or heard of 301 Drive-In Theatre???
That it still has visible signs of being old race track!!!
Somewhere in somebody's old dusty attics is big old cardboards boxes of Richmond Speedway aka 301 Speedway aka New Richmond Speedway aka #2 Speedway racing programs??? LOL

Thanks, Dennis.

Awesome research, Dennis. I hadcalled it Richmond High School according to the topo map I posted earlier.I'm not sure if you missed the second set ofaerials that Richard confirmedwherethe real Richmond Speedway, but check them out if you did.

And I was intrigued by the book you mentioned, so I just found a copy online and ordered it!