PENNSBORO SPEEDWAY (Almost Heaven West Virginia)

A couple of weeks ago, I received a call one morning from my good friend, Bob Hissom. Bob was excited as he told me about an upcoming event to be held at Pennsboro Speedway in West Virginia on August 22nd and 23rd. Bob put me in touch with Steve Burnside who is working hard on the upcoming event. I called Steve and enjoyed a conversation about something Steve and I both care about, racing history.

Although I had heard of Pennsboro Speedway,the fact that it is located in West Virginia had limited my personal knowledge of the history of the track that began with horse racing on September 21, 1887. No typo here, that is EIGHTEEN 87. The horse racing was a part of the annual Ritchie County Fair. Of course, like many horse racing tracks, the site evolved into a track for auto racing in the mid twentieth century.

The storied history of this track is filled with facts, and exaggerations, that would fill many a volume of racing lore. The beauty of what is Pennsboro is that there is a dedicated group of folks who have fought to save this parcel ofstock car racing heritage and to bring this egg-shaped half-mile dirt venue back to a vibrant part of Ritchie County. There is much to be said for these efforts, and for the plans for the track, all of which will be better told by some of the folks personally involved when "Racing Through History" airs from 7 to 9p.m.Tuesday night, August 11. 2015. The excitement of the parties to be interviewed by"Bopper" Williamson will easily transmit through the airways just as it does through my cell phone when I talk to these individuals.

All of us on this site have a love for the history of stock car racing or it is unlikely we would be on this site, much less dedicate so much of our time to looking at the photos and reading the stories of the memories of racing throughout the years. We are certainly familiar with The Historic Columbia Speedway, the August International Speedway, The RaleighFairgrounds, and the Occoneechee Speedway through the involvement of RacersReunion to bringthese facilities to the attention of those who may never have heardof those tracks. I remember the first Columbia Speedway Reunion when a young man, probably in his late twenties, told me he never knew there was a race track in the Columbia area. He thoroughly enjoyed his day at the track and was ready to spread the word to his young race fan friends that he had visited the historic site.

So, race fans, be sure to tune into a very special radio show Tuesday evening, August 11th, to learn the history of another legendary speedway and to hear plans for the future of that track. Excitement is in the air for Tuesday night.

Remember, just go to theRacersReunion site, where you are readingthis,and click the"Listen Now" icon in the upper left corner. Listening isFREE. In fact,membership to the site is free and as a member you can enjoy live on-line chat during the show. There is nospam on this site, only great information on the history of stock car racing.

Thank you,and remember,Honor thepast, embrace the present,and dream for the future!!!

Whenever I hear of Pennsboro, I think of a young blue-eyed lady named Lynn who we called "The Mud Puppy." She was from Alabama where both of her parents were professors at the University of Alabama - Birmingham. She'd moved to Charlotte and in the very early 80s was writing and photographing for the little racing paper Ernie Elkins had in Mt. Holly, NC. I don't think she ever missed an event at Pennsboro and talked about it all the time. She was the person who encouraged me to go to my first (and only) NDRA race - the big $100,000 event in 1981 at Satch Worley's Log Cabin Raceway on Martinsville's September weekend. That was weird, because JD Stacy, who we'd just dropped with Earnhardt and Wrangler in Cup had a car there and acted like my best friend. I wish I could remember Lynn's last name and have often wondered what became of her. I bet if she hears things are happening at Pennsboro, though, that she'll be there.

Hope to see you there.

I really wish I could be there but a trip to W.V. is not in the budget for this year. I've already allocated for next year though!!!!

Tim, I'm looking forward to Tuesday's program with Steve Burnside documenting the Pennsboro Reunion effort. As has been described, Pennsboro is one of those special and iconic places of stock car racing....the drama that played on that stage is on par with any track, anywhere....AND it all happened largely under the national radar. Against all odds and conventional wisdom, Pennsboro Speedway and promoter Carl Short effectively established the course of modern dirt late model racing, major promoting, in general. Pennsboro is the stuff of legend and folklore.