The Asheville–Weaverville Speedway near Weaverville, North Carolina was a raceway for NASCAR races in both the Grand National and Winston Cup Series eras. From 1951 to 1969, races at the track were won by drivers like Richard Petty, Bob Flock, Fonty Flock, Lee Petty, Rex White, and Fireball Roberts. As a dirt oval track, the speedway helped serve its purpose during the dirt-dominated formative years of NASCAR's premier series. The track was paved in 1957. Other NASCAR legends like Banjo Matthews, Ralph Earnhardt, Junior Johnson, and Cotton Owens had made notable appearances here.
The track was closed in 1970, until North Buncombe High School was built on the property. In the 1970s and 1980s the track was used as softball fields and sports practice fields. The track itself had been disabled by first placing earthen barriers on opposite sides of the track, and later, concrete barriers at 8 locations around the track.
An anti-noise ordinance was used to shut down the track after years of racing; this fight was staged as early as the 1970 racing season when a group of citizens petitioned their city council to shut down the track. 75% of people who read the Asheville Citizen wanted that track to be closed in a poll done in the summer of 1987. However, by that time, the track had already been physically disabled for racing purposes. Urbanization and progress forced the property to be closed, demolished, and re-zoned for educational purposes.
The property is now occupied by North Buncombe High School.
Winners of the circuit Winners of the circuit during the Grand National Series.
Year Winner Manufacturer 1951Fonty FlockOldsmobile 1952Bob FlockHudson 1953Fonty FlockHudson 1954Herb ThomasHudson 1955Tim FlockChrysler 1956Lee PettyDodge 1957Buck BakerChevrolet 1957Lee PettyOldsmobile 1958Rex WhiteChevrolet 1958Fireball RobertsChevrolet 1959Rex WhiteChevrolet 1959Bob WelbornChevrolet 1959Lee PettyPlymouth 1960Lee PettyPlymouth 1960Rex WhiteChevrolet 1961Rex WhiteChevrolet 1961Junior JohnsonPontiac 1962Rex WhiteChevrolet 1962Joe WeatherlyPontiac 1962Jim PaschalPlymouth 1963Richard PettyPlymouth 1963Fred LorenzenFord 1964Marvin PanchFord 1964Ned JarrettFord 1965Ned JarrettFord 1965Richard PettyPlymouth 1966Richard PettyPlymouth 1966Darel DieringerMercury 1967Richard PettyPlymouth 1967Bobby AllisonFord 1968David PearsonFord 1968David PearsonFord 1969Bobby IsaacDodge 1969Bobby IsaacDodge
New Asheville Speedway The Asheville-Weaverville Speedway is not to be confused with the "New Asheville Speedway", which was a oval circuit located on Amboy Road in Asheville, about 12 miles south of the Asheville-Weaverville Speedway. This track was closed after the track owners sold the track in 1998 to RiverLink, an organization that promoted making the French Broad River area of Asheville a public park. New Asheville became Carrier Park, with its racetrack becoming a banked concrete bicycle track.
References
External links Track race results at Racing Reference