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H. Clay Earles
Henry Clay Earles (August 11, 1913 – November 16, 1999) was the founder and chairman of the board of Martinsville Speedway, a NASCAR stock car racing track that Earles built in 1947 in Ridgeway, Virginia that was one of the circuit's first paved oval tracks and stands as one of its shortest. Born in Axton, Virginia on August 11, 1913, Earles started making money as a five-year-old, selling unwanted leaves from his father's tobacco farm.Staff"NASCAR TRACK OWNER EARLES DEAD AT 86" ''United Press International'', November 16, 1999. Accessed March 30, 2009. Initially educated in a one-room schoolhouse, he dropped out of school so that he could help support his family with the 25 cents he earned each hour at a furniture factory.Martin, Douglas"H. Clay Earles, 86, Speedway Owner, Dies" ''The New York Times'', November 21, 1999. Accessed March 30, 2009. His first business venture was a failed pool hall, but a gas station was successful and its profits helped pay for a drive-in resta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martinsville Speedway
Martinsville Speedway is a NASCAR-owned stock car racing short track in Ridgeway, Virginia, just south of Martinsville. At in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in stock car racing, being built in 1947 by partners H. Clay Earles, Henry Lawrence, and Sam Rice, nearly a year before NASCAR was officially formed. It is also the only race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948. Along with this, Martinsville is the only oval track on the NASCAR circuit to have asphalt surfaces on the straightaways and concrete to cover the turns. Layout The track is often referred to as paper clip-shaped and is banked only 12° in the turns. The combination of long straightaways and flat, narrow turns makes hard braking going into turns and smooth acceleration exiting turns a must. The track was paved in 1955 and in 1956 it hosted its first 500-lap event. By the 1970s, a combination of h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and his son, Jim France, has been the CEO since August 2018. The company is headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida. Each year, NASCAR sanctions over 1,500 races at over 100 tracks in 48 US states as well as in Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Europe. History Early stock car racing In the 1920s and 1930s, Daytona Beach supplanted France and Belgium as the preferred location for world land speed records. After a historic race between Ransom Olds and Alexander Winton in 1903, 15 records were set on what became the Daytona Beach Road Course between 1905 and 1935. Daytona Beach had become synonymous with fast cars in 1936. Drivers raced on a course, consisting of a stretch of beach as one straightaway, and a narrow blacktop beachfront highway, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ridgeway, Virginia
Ridgeway is a town in Henry County, Virginia, Henry County, Virginia, United States. The population was 742 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Martinsville, Virginia, Martinsville Martinsville micropolitan area, Micropolitan Statistical Area. Martinsville Speedway, a NASCAR racetrack, is located between Ridgeway and the Martinsville city limits. History Approximately three miles south of Ridgeway in Henry County on U.S. Route 220 in Virginia, U.S. Route 220 is a Virginia State historic marker noting the passing of the surveying party of William Byrd II, who moved through the area in 1728 on his expedition to survey the The History of the Dividing Line, dividing line between Virginia and North Carolina. Belleview (Ridgeway, Virginia), Belleview and Ingleside (Ridgeway, Virginia), Ingleside are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Geography Ridgeway is located in southern Henry County at (36.579148, −79.860078). U.S. Route 220 passes through the west side ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Axton, Virginia
Axton is an unincorporated community in Henry County, Virginia, United States. Axton is located on U.S. Route 58 east-southeast of Martinsville. Axton has a post office with ZIP code 24054, which opened on July 17, 1882. Axton Elementary School is located in Axton. Notable people *J. C. Martin J. C. Martin may refer to: * J. C. Martin (baseball) :For the former long-term mayor of Laredo, Texas, see '' J. C. Martin (Texas politician)''. Joseph Clifton Martin (born December 13, 1936) is an American former professional baseball player. He ..., baseball player References Unincorporated communities in Henry County, Virginia Unincorporated communities in Virginia {{HenryCountyVA-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Press International
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th century. At its peak, it had more than 6,000 media subscribers. Since the first of several sales and staff cutbacks in 1982, and the 1999 sale of its broadcast client list to its main U.S. rival, the Associated Press, UPI has concentrated on smaller information-market niches. History Formally named United Press Associations for incorporation and legal purposes, but publicly known and identified as United Press or UP, the news agency was created by the 1907 uniting of three smaller news syndicates by the Midwest newspaper publisher E. W. Scripps. It was headed by Hugh Baillie (1890–1966) from 1935 to 1955. At the time of his retirement, UP had 2,900 clients in the United States, and 1,500 abroad. In 1958, it became United Press I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid digital subscribers. It also is a producer of popular podcasts such as '' The Daily''. Founded in 1851 by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones, it was initially published by Raymond, Jones & Company. The ''Times'' has won 132 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any newspaper, and has long been regarded as a national "newspaper of record". For print it is ranked 18th in the world by circulation and 3rd in the U.S. The paper is owned by the New York Times Company, which is publicly traded. It has been governed by the Sulzberger family since 1896, through a dual-class share structure after its shares became publicly traded. A. G. Sulzberger, the paper's publisher and the company's chairman, is the fifth generation of the family to head the p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martinsville, Virginia
Martinsville is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,485. A community of both Southside and Southwest Virginia, it is the county seat of Henry County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Martinsville with Henry County for statistical purposes. Martinsville is the principal city of the Martinsville Micropolitan Statistical Area, with a population of 73,346 as of the 2000 census. The paper clip-shaped Martinsville Speedway, the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series at and one of the first paved "speedways", is located just outside the city near the town of Ridgeway. History Martinsville was founded by American Revolutionary War General, Native American agent and explorer Joseph Martin, born in Albemarle County. He developed his plantation ''Scuffle Hill'' on the banks of the Smith River near the present-day southern city ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill France, Sr
Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Places * Bill, Wyoming, an unincorporated community, United States * Billstown, Arkansas, an unincorporated community, United States * Billville, Indiana, an unincorporated community, United States People * Bill (given name) * Bill (surname) * Bill (footballer, born 1978), ''Alessandro Faria'', Togolese football forward * Bill (footballer, born 1984), ''Rosimar Amâncio'', a Brazilian football forward * Bill (footballer, born 1999), ''Fabricio Rodrigues da Silva Ferreira'', a Brazilian forward Arts, media, and entertainment Characters * Bill (''Kill Bill''), a character in the ''Kill Bill'' films * William “Bill“ S. Preston, Esquire, The first of the titular duo of the Bill & Ted film series * A lizard in Lewis Carroll's ''Alice's Adv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Byron
Robert Nold "Red" Byron (March 12, 1915 – November 11, 1960) was an American stock car racing driver, who was successful in NASCAR competition in the sanctioning body's first years. He was NASCAR's first Modified champion (and its first champion in any division) in 1948 and its first Strictly Stock (predecessor to NASCAR Cup Series) champion in 1949. Along with Bob Flock, he is considered one of the best drivers of the era. He won the first NASCAR race at Daytona Beach and Road Course and won the inaugural NASCAR Strictly Stock driver's championship. Background Born in Washington County, Virginia, he moved to Colorado at a young age, and then to Anniston, Alabama, which he considered his hometown. Byron began racing in 1932 and was successful in racing in Talladega by the start of the 1940s. His racing career was interrupted when he served in the United States Army Air Forces as a flight engineer on B-24 Liberator bombers during World War II. During combat, Byron suff ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Petty
Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed "The King", is an American former stock car racing driver who raced from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably driving the No. 43 Plymouth/ Pontiac for Petty Enterprises. He was the first driver to win the Cup Series championship seven times (a record now tied with Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson), while also winning a record 200 races during his career. This included winning the Daytona 500 a record seven times and winning a record 27 races (10 of them consecutively) in one season (1967). Statistically, he is the most accomplished driver in the history of the sport, and is one of the most respected figures in motorsports as a whole. Petty remains very active in the sport as both a NASCAR team owner ( Petty GMS Motorsports) in the Cup Series, and owner of Petty's Garage (car restoration and modification shop) in Level Cross, North Carolina. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dragstrip
A dragstrip is a facility for conducting automobile and motorcycle acceleration events such as drag racing Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, mo .... Although a quarter mile (1320 feet, 402 m) is the best known measure for a drag track, many tracks are eighth mile (201 m) tracks, and the premiere classes will run 1,000 foot (304.8 m) races. The race is begun from a standing start which allows three factors to affect the outcome of the race: reaction time, power/weight ratio, and traction. Features A dragstrip is a straight, purpose-built racetrack, typically an eighth, ten feet longer than three-sixteenths, or a quarter of a mile long (660/1,000/1320 feet, 201/304.8/402 m), with an additional ''shutdown area'' to allow vehicles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NASCAR People
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and his son, Jim France, has been the CEO since August 2018. The company is headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida. Each year, NASCAR sanctions over 1,500 races at over 100 tracks in 48 US states as well as in Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Europe. History Early stock car racing In the 1920s and 1930s, Daytona Beach supplanted France and Belgium as the preferred location for world land speed records. After a historic race between Ransom Olds and Alexander Winton in 1903, 15 records were set on what became the Daytona Beach Road Course between 1905 and 1935. Daytona Beach had become synonymous with fast cars in 1936. Drivers raced on a course, consisting of a stretch of beach as one straightaway, and a narrow blacktop beachfront highway, St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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