Dave Fulton
A Year Before Lee Petty at Richmond
The Richmond Times-Dispatch ran this photo from its archives with the following cutline:
TIMES-DISPATCH
"In June 1952, motorcyclists raced in the 10-Mile National Motorcycle Championship at the Atlantic Rural Exposition grounds in Henrico County. More than 4,000 spectators saw Bobby Hill of Columbus, Ohio, the nation’s top racer, ride bike No. 1 to victory in the 20-lap championship race."
The photo was taken one year before Lee Petty won the first NASCAR GN/Cup race on the same half-mile dirt track in April 1953 and 4 years after the venue hosted the first ever NASCAR sanctioned race in Virginia, a NASCAR Modified Series event won by Red Byron in NASCAR's initial year of 1948. The track began holding races in October 1946 with an Indy Car race won by Ted Horn. Today the old half-mile dirt venue is the site of Richmond International Raceway and the frontstretch you see in the motorcycle photo is today's RIR pit road.
