Myrtle Beach Speedway
 | |
| Location | Myrtle Beach, South Carolina |
|---|---|
| Time zone | GMT-5 |
| Coordinates | 33°44′47″N 78°57′07″W / 33.74639°N 78.95194°W |
| Capacity | 12,000 (Oval) |
| Opened | 1958 |
| Closed | 2020 |
| Major events |
|
| D-oval | |
| Surface | Asphalt |
| Length | 0.538 miles (0.866 km) |
| Banking | Turns - 13° Straights - 4° front, 3° back |
Myrtle Beach Speedway (originally named Rambi Raceway), was a short track located on U.S. Route 501 near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The track was built in 1958.
The speedway was a semi-banked asphalt oval track that spans 0.538 miles (0.866 km).The NASCAR Cup Series competed at the Speedway from 1958 through 1965. The NASCAR Busch Series (now the Xfinity Series) raced at Myrtle Beach Speedway from 1988 to 2000.
Over the years, Myrtle Beach Speedway has been the training grounds for some of NASCAR's biggest stars including Jeff Gordon (former Busch Series track record holder). All four generations of Pettys (Lee, Richard, Kyle, and Adam) and three generations of Earnhardts (Ralph, Dale Sr., Dale Jr., and Kelley[1]) have taken a green flag around the asphalt oval that spans 0.538 miles (0.866 km).
History
[edit]
Rambi Raceway opened as a dirt track in 1958.
The track hosted one NASCAR Convertible Series event in 1958 and one NASCAR Grand National East Series race in 1972.
Nick Lucas bought the track in 1968, paving it in 1974. Billy Hardee became a co-owner in 1987.
NASCAR Southeast Series had run 17 races at the facility between 1991 and 2004, with the Myrtle Beach 400 Late Model race (originally an All Pro event) beginning in 1993. Originally a 400-lap touring race, the race settled to NASCAR-specification Late Models of 250 laps with heat races and support races combined for 400 laps, originally set for Thanksgiving weekend, but later moved to the week before Thanksgiving in order to allow competitors to participate in the NASCAR Late Model Thanksgiving Classic at Southern National Motorsports Park in Lucana, North Carolina.
The Busch Series race (the Myrtle Beach 250) in 2000 was the last major NASCAR event at the track.
The NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series raced on Saturday nights from late February through November. The track also runs various other classes of racing including Late Model Charger, Super Trucks and Mini Stocks. The speedway is home of the Myrtle Beach 400, IceBreaker 200, NASCAR Racing Experience, Monster Jam, NOPI Nationals and Horry County Fair with recent additions of Wheels of Destruction Thrill Show and the Myrtle Beach BikeFest.[2]
In a deal that closed April 2012, Speedway Group Inc. bought the facility, including 48 acres. Robert J. Lutz, one of the new owners, said Lt. Gov. André Bauer arranged for the deal to take place. Bauer said he wanted the track to help improve Myrtle Beach's economy with new events. Upgrades to the track were planned, and plans called for the NASCAR Racing Experience to attract drivers and tourists. One goal was another top-level race.[3]
The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour had one race at the speedway in 2009. After merging the two NASCAR Whelen Modified Tours at the end of the 2016 season, beginning in 2017, the newly unified tour hosted three events at the track from 2017 through 2019.
CARS X-1R Pro Cup Series had 24 races at Myrtle Beach between 1998 and 2014. CARS Super Late Model Tour and CARS Late Model Stock Tour had 3 events each at the facility, between 2015 and 2018.
In 2016, Myrtle Beach Speedway began opening the season in February with the Late Models in the IceBreaker.
In May 2020, it was announced the track would close its doors for good in August, before the season could be finished as the result of a sale to a land developer.[4] Meanwhile, track promoter Steve Zacharias worked immediately to preserve Myrtle Beach's major races and upon the track's closure, worked to finish the 2020 racing season.
The final race at Myrtle Beach Speedway was held in August 2020. Sam Yarbrough won the final Late Model race[5] while Carmen Odum and Carsyn Gillikin won their respective races in the final feature race ever held at the track.[6] Promoter Steve Zacharias announced the Myrtle Beach season would continue at Florence Motor Speedway in Timmonsville, which Zacharias would take over promotion of the track. That allowed Myrtle Beach's major race weekends to continue in the 2020 season in the Florence-Myrtle Beach metropolitan area.
Originally, the land owners' plan was to demolish the facility and build hotels and condos on the property, but it was announced in early July 2021 that the company will not use the land for the original purpose, and the concept for the area fell through. Although it kept the track safe from demolition for the time being, photos taken on July 6, 2021 showed weeds and grass slowly taking over the racetrack. In December 2021, most of the track, including the track itself, most of the outside walls, and pit road were demolished, as now all that remains (as of December 31, 2021), is the frontstretch and backstretch walls which show the name of the former racetrack.
Florence Motor Speedway
[edit]| Location | Timmonsville, South Carolina |
|---|---|
| Time zone | GMT-5 |
| Coordinates | 34°08′18″N 79°55′07″W / 34.13833°N 79.91861°W |
| Capacity | 4,000 |
| Owner | Steve Zacharias |
| Opened | 1982 |
| Major events |
|
| Oval | |
| Surface | Asphalt |
| Length | 0.400 miles (0.644 km) |
| Banking | Progressive |
In preparation for the last race, in July 2020, track promoter Steve Zacharias and business partners Brian Vause and Savannah Brotherton formed Speedway Plus Promotion LLC, becoming the promoters for Florence Motor Speedway, a .400 mile (644 metre) oval located at 836 East Smith Street in Timmonsville, 75 miles from the track but in the same metropolitan region owned by Charlie Powell, Jr., whose family has raced in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series (son Robert was the 1988 national champion). Built in 1982 as a dirt track, it was paved in 1988. The Powell family and Zacharias' group signed a lease to own agreement that lasted from July 2020 to the end of the 2023 season. At the end of the 2023 season, Zacharias acquired full ownership.[7]
The 2020 season for Florence under the promotion of Zacharias began as a continuation of the Myrtle Beach season, as NASCAR and CARS transferred the track's sanctions for both NASCAR weekly racing and the CARS Tour to Florence Motor Speedway. The first race at Florence with the promoters was the Prelude to the Southern 500, held on the weekend of Darlington's second race meeting. Sam Yarbrough, who won the last Myrtle Beach Late Model feature, won the 100 lap feature. Since Darlington Raceway is 13.1 miles (21.1km) from Florence Motor Speedway, promoters, who kept Myrtle Beach silent during the Darlington weekend, added local races on Darlington's Cup weekends to promote NASCAR's local racing initiative. In 2021, the Prelude to Darlington was added on Goodyear 400 weekend, and was specifically designed where spectators can attend both races on the same day.
On September 9, 2020, CARS then alleviated a situation where South Boston Speedway could not open because of Commonwealth restrictions in Virginia, and moved that round to Florence in October 2020.[8] The Myrtle Beach 400 was renamed the South Carolina 400 Charlie Powell Memorial and continued in its traditional mid-November date in 2020, held the week before the Southern National Motorsports Park Thanksgiving Classic. 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Ty Majeski won the first two held in Florence.
In February 2021, the IceBreaker, which has been held since 2016 to start the Myrtle Beach season, retained its traditional start of season date in February 2021 as the first race for the Florence track championship. Zacharias successfully retained Myrtle Beach's traditional races and dates, with the IceBreaker the second race for the NASCAR Late Model scene, and pays points for the track, state, and national Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series championship. Both races kept their Myrtle Beach lineages.
In 2022, the Charlie Powell Memorial 400 celebrated its 30th running. NASCAR and the Zacharias officially recognised the Myrtle Beach 400 as part of the Charlie Powell Memorial lineage. NASCAR Hall of Fame member Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who raced at Myrtle Beach in his early career, entered a Late Model for himself and one of his Late Model drivers.[9] Numerous winners of the Powell Memorial have won at NASCAR's national level. Earnhardt continues to both drive and field cars for the major Florence races, with participation in the season-ending Powell and the season-opening IceBreaker since the 2022 season finale. Brenden "Butterbean" Queen won the 2022 edition, leapfrogging him to stardom where he finished fourth in a 2024 North Wilkesboro Speedway Craftsman Truck Series race. Carson Kvapil, who drives for JR Motorsports, won the 2024 IceBreaker in a season which led to him making starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series that including a podium finish at Dover Motor Speedway and a win at the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 in Martinsville, earning a 2025 Xfinity ride.
The major events at Florence currently feature the IceBreaker, races on both Darlington Raceway NASCAR Cup Series weekends, and the Charlie Powell 400 as its major weekends.
Charlie Powell 400 Winners
[edit]The Myrtle Beach 400 was originally a NASCAR All Pro / Southeast Series Late Model event from 1993 to 1995 before becoming a NASCAR-spec Late Model division race in 1996 where any Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series track that runs a NASCAR Late Model class car can participate (primarily in the Carolinas and Virginia, perimeter chassis; cars used in this race are the same ones that are used at the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 in Martinsville Speedway). Originally a 400-lap All Pro race, the race has become 250 laps as a NASCAR Late Model with other weekly features combining for the 400 laps. The race was not held in 2012 because of weather, after which there were two features in 2013, one to start the season and one to end the season.
After the transfer of sanction by NASCAR, the race moved to Florence for the 2020 season.
The 2024 format for the Saturday event consists of two heat races (25 laps) where the top six cars qualify for the feature, followed by two entry level feature races for four-cylinder Mini Stocks and eight-cylinder Street Stocks of 50 laps each, and a 250-lap feature for NASCAR-specification Late Models.
The race is currently run in two parts, with a ten-minute halftime break after 125 laps (or earlier if a safety car happens within five laps of the prescribed break). All safety car periods use noncompetitive pit stops (as is the standard at most Late Model and Super Late Model races). Tire changes are only permitted at the Lap 125 break, with single tire changes in case of a flat spot or a tire failure during the race. Tire rotations are permitted. The race will use a specification tire from Continental AG. During safety car periods until Lap 200, the laps to determine the running order before pit lane opens, and if necessary, the first four laps of the safety car period will not count. After Lap 200, no laps under the safety car count.[10]
Starting in 2023, qualifying only awarded positions 2nd to 20th. Pole position is awarded to the winner of the Cook Out 225 Late Model feature during the weekend of the Cook Out Southern 500.
| Year | Driver |
|---|---|
| 1993 | Jody Ridley |
| 1994 | Gary St. Amant |
| 1995 | Freddie Query |
| 1996 | Jay Fogleman |
| 1997 | David Blankenship |
| 1998 | Stephen Grimes |
| 1999 | Scott Riggs |
| 2000 | Greg Edwards |
| 2001 | Robert Powell |
| 2002 | Robert Powell |
| 2003 | Timothy Peters |
| 2004 | Frank Deiny Jnr |
| 2005 | Frank Deiny Jnr |
| 2006 | Frank Deiny Jnr |
| 2007 | Sam Yarbrough |
| 2008 | Jamey Caudill |
| 2009 | Lucas Ransone |
| 2010 | Frank Deiny Jnr |
| 2011 | Garrett Campbell |
| 2013 | Anthony Anders (March) [11] |
| Lee Pulliam (November) | |
| 2014 | Travis Swaim |
| 2015 | Myatt Snider |
| 2016 | Christian Eckes |
| 2017 | Josh Berry |
| 2018 | Chad McCumbee |
| 2019 | Will Burns |
| 2020 | Ty Majeski |
| 2021 | Ty Majeski |
| 2022 | Brenden Queen |
| 2023 | Kade Brown |
References
[edit]- ^ Newton, David (26 January 2010). "Junior took a backseat to big sis Kelley". ESPN. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
- ^ "Start Your Engines at Myrtle Beach Speedway". Compass Cove. 12 August 2016. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
- ^ Kanpek, Kurt (2012-02-25). "New owners have big plans for Myrtle Beach Speedway". The Sun News. Archived from the original on 2012-02-28. Retrieved 2012-02-26.
- ^ Altman-Devilbiss, Alexx (2020-05-13). "Myrtle Beach Speedway prepares for final season of racing". WLOS. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
- ^ Andy Marquis. "Yarbrough wins rain-shortened finale at Myrtle Beach – Short Track Scene". Retrieved 2023-01-04.
- ^ "Final Checkered Flag at Myrtle Beach Speedway Goes to the Ladies – Short Track Scene". Retrieved 2023-01-04.
- ^ Brown, Kinsley. "Florence Motor Speedway gets a fresh start under new ownership". Florence News Journal. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
- ^ Pike, James. "CARS Tour Champion To Be Crowned In Nashville". Speed Sport. Turn 3 Media. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
- ^ Paul, Brandon. "Dale Earnhardt, Jr. To Compete In Enhanced South Carolina 400". Floracing. Flosports. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
- ^ "Next Event Schedule". Florence Motor Speedway. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
- ^ Race cancelled in 2012 because of weather. Two Myrtle Beach 400 races were held in 2013.
- ^ Third Turn
- ^ |Short Track Scene
- ^ |Racing America
External links
[edit]- Sports venues in Horry County, South Carolina
- Motorsport venues in South Carolina
- NASCAR tracks
- Tourist attractions in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
- Buildings and structures in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
- Sports in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
- 1958 establishments in South Carolina
- Sports venues completed in 1958
- Defunct motorsport venues in the United States