Old tracks in Mount Airy NC

[44toy]

There are 2 old tracks supposed to be in mount airy. My mom went to these tracks in the 50's or so but I have never seen them.

One is on the right as the road starts to turn to the left on Race Track road off highway 89. Link: <http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=race+track+road+mount+airy+nc&ie=UTF8&ll=36.510723,-80.689559&spn=0.008296,0.012381&t=h&z=16>

The other is under the lake at Green hill development past the Cross Creek country Club. Between lakemont trail and Skyview lane. There are supposed to be race cars under the lake.

[djSNUFFY]

Hey 44toy I had heard of the Greenhill but had no clue of its location. Thanks for that one. As for the other I looked via the usual areials and topos. I ID'ed 3 tracts, could you get your Mother to narrow it down using the map below? The tracts are labeled as well as the road. Do you have a name and size for this tract? Maybe Mt.Airy Speedway opened 1946 a 1/2m dirt oval? Thanks :DJ:

[44toy]

My parents both have passed away.
If you google maps - 248 Race Track Rd, Mount Airy, NC - and look in the upper right corner you will see what I think is turns 3 an 4. but not sure. I do know I have always heard the reason it is called race track road is because thats where the old Mount Airy race track was. I have seen a picture of that road lined both sides full and one lane full of A models and and T models etc as far as you could see looking from highway 89, where people went to see one of the first races. Hope this helps, If I find out anything else I'll let you know.

I just found that Curtis Turner ran or won his first race there in 1946.

[s10raceing]

I know of 1 track in Mount Airy N.C. that ran in 2000 or so. As far as i know it wasnt ran long.It was just off hwy 89 and Sparger Road to the right or sparger.just across the bridge.

[44toy]

That was not really a race track, the king boys made a track in a field and started playing. No formal racing just guys playing around in a frield, I do think some people brought some dirt cars there to play but it was pretty much street cars, one guy brought a van. The EPA put a stop to it pretty quick cause it was on the side of a creek.

[s10raceing]

That was what i was thinking. That is why it didnt run long only a month or 2. Ive been wondering where the track on race track road was. That is the only track mt ariy had that i know of. I wish it was still there...

[DoubleZero]

44toy, the image that you are describing at 248 Race Track Road, does look like the footprint of a turn. Trying to fill in the missing parts of the track, yields a fairly large track, 5/8 mile or so. Thanks for the info.

[djSNUFFY]

Here it is.... http://maps.yahoo.com/;_ylc=X3oDMTExNmIycG51BF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEc2VjA2ZwLWJ1 dHRvbgRzbGsDbGluaw--#mvt=h&lat=36.511163&lon=-80.690097&zoom=17

Can someone verify as Mt Airy Speedway?

[s10raceing]

That would be it...or at least it looks to be

[DoubleZero]

Mt. Airy?

[s10raceing]

Mt. Airy?
I went buy there today and some of the banking is still there. It looks like it was once a mild banked track in the day. The owner has confirmed that is where the track was back in the 50's. It had run late model, street stock.He i thinking that it was 5/8 mile track. that is all he know's. :dirt_race:

[mod90fan]

sounds like time to strap on some scuba gear!!! one thing to photo old race cars in the woods, but under water in a lake....... wow thats a whole new genre'. !!

[capefear01]

sounds like time to strap on some scuba gear!!! one thing to photo old race cars in the woods, but under water in a lake....... wow thats a whole new genre'. !!

Hey, I'm a certified diver. I've since sold most my equipment but can still rent it pretty cheap and a shallow lake would only really need a mask, fins and flashlight. I've got the underwater light!!! Let's do some free diving Mod90!!!
PS. I used my lead weights to set up my son's kart. Ha ha.
Got winch?

[djSNUFFY]

Let me know if ya find a Flathead and i dont mean no catfish!!!!

[BigO]

As my father was feeling up to it today, we went up to the old Greenhill track, or at least the enterance to it. After going up US 52 through Mt. Airy, you turn right onto Greenhill Drive at a stop light (the Cana Mt. Airy Florist in that corner use to be the Southern 500 Truck Stop, the last big place to stop before pulling Fancy Gap). When you get to the T intersection, turn left onto Lakemont Trail, and go just shy of 6/10 of a mile. You will see a minor power line right-of-way going off to the left into a holler. According to Dad, that was the old entrance. There is a newer (chained) enterence going into that holler just up the hill from of it.

Once again, according to Dad, the track was further on down in that bottom. The lake in question was an old mill pond on the creek below. Some time back, the dam burst, but he was not sure of when it did or if anything was found (something tells me it would have been during the floods between '75 and '80). The dam had not been built back.

I get the impression he went when he was a teenager, and that the track remained some years after it was closed.

When I went by, I thought seriously about getting out and looking around, but as that is, umm, a selective community, I didn't want to chance a run-in with the police. I'll do some digging as time arises and see if I can find out the land owner. There is little sign from the road that anything of that type was ever down there. The only indication might be the areas that the brush is not as heavy as the surrounding woods. If nothing else, this next winter I will see if anything more is visible.

Thanks,
Big O

[DoubleZero]

Big O, is this the area you are describing? It's on Lakemont Rd. Mt. Airy, and there's a lake, haven't found the track, yet.

[BigO]

After looking at you image, doublezero, I called Dad to clear some things up. First off, the there are two things I think are working against us. Dad said the lake we see in the picture was built by developers and the road moved across it's dam some time after the track was there. Also, the road itself has been moved some. The minor power line right-of-way I mentioned earlier (and initially understood to be the entrance in there - might still be down in that holler) actually follows the old road.

The track itself is between Lakemont Trail and Lovills Creek, or to the southwest of the road. From talking to Dad while looking at Google Maps, I think the place we are looking for is just across from the intersection of Lakemont Trail and Skyview Lane. You will see a somewhat oval shaped depression between the intersection and the creek. There is also a washed out sand bottom just northwest of it that might be the old mill pond.

Even though he was still pretty young when he went there, he does remember it was a fairly small track. He is positive about the old mill pond that the dam broke on, though.

Will keep trying some things here. . . like trying to get Google Earth to work, and seeing who owns that area now.

Thank you,
Big O

[DoubleZero]

Big O, we are trying to find Mt. Airy track right now...........and the area you've described is where we've zeroed in on.............go to www.racersreunion.com (http://www.racersreunion.com) and check us out on the chat line.........

[BigO]

I apologize, Doublezero. I thought we had moved on from the Mt. Airy Speedway. As for the link you posted, I will check it out tomorrow, as I need to get some rest before checking on some job prospects tomorrow.

Just to clean things up a bit:

(1) Mt. Airy Speedway: This is the one Dad I always knew of being on Race Track Road, which I grew up only about three or four miles from. Actually, and I didn't realize it at the time, a few of us use to launch model rockets down there and in an adjacent field. Local legend has Curtis Turner pulling up in an old Buick, taking off the headlights and taillights, putting them in the trunk, and pulling into the track.

(2) Greenhill track (Raceway?). That is the one I had been looking at off of Greenhill Drive, possibly around Lakemont Trail and Skyview Lane. That is the one Dad went to when he was young, putting it no later than the mid-fifties. That one I'll spin into it's own thread once I get a bit more information on it.

We won't get into the old Riverside go-cart track many may remember.

Thank you,
Big O