World's Worst Racetrack Neighbor

Dave Fulton
@dave-fulton
12 years ago
9,137 posts

Back in 1995, neighbor Junior Medlin got angry over the noise from Elm City, North Carolina's County Line Raceway in Wilson County. He decided to take matters into his own hands and upset a lot of folks. The story went national on the wires of the Associated Press. That was 17 years ago and County Line still operates. Anyone know how the issue was resolved?

Here's the story link:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1298&dat=19950930&id=CwAzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0gcGAAAAIBAJ&pg=4313,5832271




--
"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"

updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
Jim Wilmore
@jim-wilmore
12 years ago
488 posts

Dave, I did a little investigating and got some answers for you on LRC on the CLR forum. Here's the viewers responses;

"The gentleman passed away some time ago. The house is still there."

"Mr. Medlin moved out of the house and left it to his daughter and her son in law who now live there. He attends races on a regular basis."

"Well hells bells!! LOL I was told he passed away!"

"maybe Tyler means his son lol

"I remember being at CLR when a national news show called Hard Copy(i think) and came and did a story on the situation"

"funny thing is I remember as long as the race cars were racing, if you were at the track you couldnt hear the sirens lol so It didnt bother many people at the track. All he was doing was creating more noise. I also remeber some CLR fans as they would leave the track and pass the house would blow their car horns, rev up the motors and stuff lol"

"All of this just adds to the lore of the place......I had heard of the story, but never read an actual account.......C.L.R could also stand for Cool,Little,Racetrack!!!

"If anyone would care to share , and if this is ok for this forum......I would love to hear about any other wild or crazy stories that have happened at or in close proximity of that track........I'm sure there are plenty of tales to tell that have rolled in and out of clrs gates over the years!!"

"You are probably right SteveS, since Mr. Junior Medlin (in somebody else business) was a WWII (of which I have the utmost respect for) he may have passed away by now. I surely do not want to upset the family or anyone that might know them, I just found this article to be interesting and now can help Dave Fulton with the rest of the story. Not that I agree with Mr. Medlin's tactics, I can't imagine an old Vet getting all up in a wad over a little noise, perhaps it brought some flashbacks on of the war, I don't know, but thanks to all of you for your input. There always seems to be one person in every neighborhood like this though, always."

Welp, hope this sheds some light on the rest of the story.

Dave Fulton
@dave-fulton
12 years ago
9,137 posts

Thanks for the detective work, Jim. Back when I lived in Wilson in the 70s the Upchurch family all raced at Wilson County Speedway before its demise and their building County Line. I've never been there, but still hope to one day.

I thought it was a really interesting story and I appreciate you finding out (as Paul Harvey used to say) the rest of the story.




--
"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
bill mcpeek
@bill-mcpeek
12 years ago
820 posts

Jim, There's a nice country neighborhood on Rte. 515 just north of New Smyrna Speedway here in Florida. Its about 2 miles from the track, Its called " A quiet place in the country"... There's a nice house on about 5 acres real near the track and he has a big ornate sign out front that says " A noisy place in the country"... At least he's creative and has a sense of humor....

Jim Wilmore
@jim-wilmore
12 years ago
488 posts

There's always one but, like you said, at least this guy had a sense of humor. Strange name for a race track, a bit of humor there too?

Jim Streeter
@jim-streeter
12 years ago
242 posts

In 1951 Big Bill decided to build Raleigh Speedway. The people of Raleigh fought him tooth and nail.

The wanted Raleigh to be maintained as aReligious and Educational Center.