Dargan Watts
Early Pioneers
Pictured here is a trio of people who were involved in racing at Sumter Speedway in the beginning. On the left is Ray McCoy who won many championships at the old quarter-mile dirt track. Frank Hurst (center) was the PA announcer for the first seven years of the track's existence and came back later for another five years. On the right is Billy Baker, who stopped the winning ways of Ralph Earnhardt and picked up a $25 bonus when he stopped the streak of the national champion. Baker made the field and raced in the Southern 500 on one occasion.
I can still hear "DIXIE" being played over the loud speakers and see those cars starting in a whirl of dust and always crashing in the first turn.Three restarts later and away they would go!