Greenville-Pickens Speedway is a race track located in

Easley, South Carolina Easley is a city in Pickens County (with parts extending into Anderson County) in the State of South Carolina. Most of the city lies in Pickens County, with a small portion of the city in Anderson County. In 2001, Easley hosted the Big League ...

, just west of

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville (; locally ) is a city in and the seat of Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. Greenville is located approximately halfway be ...

. The track hosted weekly NASCAR sanctioned races. Several NASCAR touring series have raced at the track in prior years, including the

Whelen Southern Modified Tour The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour (WSMT) was a stock car racing series owned by NASCAR and operated in the Southeastern United States as part of its Modified Division. The series began in 1989 as the Southern Modified Auto Racing Teams (S. ...

and the NASCAR Grand National Division. NASCAR Cup Series and

Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

teams frequently tested at the track until 2015, when all private testing was banned.Long history hugs racetrack's curves
March 17, 2005; Ed McGranahan;

The Greenville News ''The Greenville News'' is a daily morning newspaper published in Greenville, South Carolina. After ''The State'' in Columbia and Charleston's ''The Post and Courier'', it is the third largest paper in South Carolina. History ''The Greenville N ...

; Retrieved November 1, 2007 The Upper South Carolina State Fair has been held at the fairgrounds adjacent to the race track since 1964. The capacity of the track was 35,000, including the Dale Earnhardt Backstretch, a three-tiered parking area where fans can take in races while tailgating or camping. The track held 28 races on the NASCAR Grand National tour between 1955 until 1971. It also hosted two NASCAR Busch Grand National (now

) tour races in 1983. The April 10, 1971 race at Greenville-Pickens Speedway was the first NASCAR race nationally televised from start to finish, on

ABC Wide World of Sports ''ABC's Wide World of Sports'' is an American sports anthology television program that aired on ABC from April 29, 1961 to January 3, 1998, primarily on Saturday afternoons. Hosted by Jim McKay, with a succession of co-hosts beginning in 1987 ...

History

The track opened in 1940 as a half mile dirt track. It was closed the following year for

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

like all race tracks in the United States. It reopened on July 4, 1946 in a race promoted by Bill France Sr. The race was the third of the day after 2 horse races. NASCAR began racing at the track in 1955. The track was paved as an asphalt track in April 1970. The last NASCAR Grand National race was held at the track in 1971, when NASCAR began cutting small tracks from its schedule. The NASCAR Grand National Division's Busch North Series name was changed to Busch East Series in 2006 after the series' first Southern race, held at this track.

NASCAR race winners

Grand National

: ''Note: The 1951 race at Air Base Speedway is sometimes erroneously credited as being held here.'' *1955

Tim Flock Julius Timothy Flock (May 11, 1924 – March 31, 1998) was an American stock car racer. He was a two-time NASCAR series champion. He was a brother to NASCAR's second female driver Ethel Mobley and Bob and Fonty Flock. NASCAR career Tim F ...

*1956

Buck Baker Elzie Wylie Baker Sr. (March 4, 1919 – April 14, 2002), better known as Buck Baker, was an American stock car racer. Born in Richburg, South Carolina, Baker began his NASCAR career in 1949 and won his first race three years later at Columbia ...

*1958 Jack Smith *1959

Junior Johnson Robert Glenn Johnson Jr. (June 28, 1931 – December 20, 2019), better known as Junior Johnson, was an American NASCAR driver of the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966. In the 1970s and 1980s, he became ...

*1959 Buck Baker *1960

Ned Jarrett Ned Jarrett (born October 12, 1932) is an American retired race car driver and two-time NASCAR Grand National Series champion. Because of his calm demeanor, he became known as "Gentleman Ned Jarrett". He is the father of former drivers Glenn J ...

(Greenville 200) *

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

Emanuel Zervakis Emanuel Zervakis (January 23, 1930 – June 25, 2003) was a NASCAR driver and team owner. He won two NASCAR Grand National Series races in his career, both in 1961 (Greenville 200 and Yankee 500). He later went on to own a part-time Cup team ...

(Greenville 200) *1961 Jack Smith (Pickens 200) *1961 Junior Johnson *1962 Ned Jarrett (Greenville 200) *1962

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 notabl ...

(Pickens 200) *1963 Buck Baker (Greenville 200) *

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

Richard Petty (Pickens 200) *1964 David Pearson (Greenville 200) *1964

LeeRoy Yarbrough Lonnie "LeeRoy" Yarbrough (September 17, 1938 – December 7, 1984) was an American stock car racer. His best season was 1969 when he won seven races, tallied 21 finishes in the top-ten and earned $193,211 ($ when inflation is taken into account ...

(Pickens 200) *

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

Dick Hutcherson Richard "Dick" Hutcherson (November 30, 1931 – November 6, 2005) was an American businessman and a former stock car racer. A native of Keokuk, Iowa, Hutcherson drove in NASCAR competition from 1964 to 1967. He won 14 races, finishing runner-up ...

(Greenville 200) *1965 Dick Hutcherson (Pickens 200) *1966 David Pearson (Greenville 200) *1966 David Pearson (Pickens 200) *

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

David Pearson (Greenville 200) *1967 Richard Petty (Pickens 200) *1968 Richard Petty (Greenville 200) *1968 Richard Petty (Pickens 200) *1969

Bobby Isaac Robert Vance Isaac (August 1, 1932 – August 14, 1977) was an American stock car racing driver. Isaac made his first NASCAR appearance in 1961, and quickly forged a reputation of one of the toughest competitors of the 1960s and 1970s. He was most ...

(Greenville 200) * 1969 Bobby Isaac (Pickens 200) *

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

Bobby Isaac (Greenville 200) – First NASCAR race after track was paved *

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

Bobby Isaac (Greenville 200) – 1st NASCAR race televised flag to flag. It was on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

prime-time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

Jim McKay James Kenneth McManus (September 24, 1921 – June 7, 2008), better known professionally as Jim McKay, was an American television sports journalist. McKay was best known for hosting ABC's '' Wide World of Sports'' (1961–1998). His introdu ...

and

Chris Economaki Christopher Constantine Economaki (October 15, 1920 – September 28, 2012) was an American motorsports commentator, pit road reporter, and journalist. Economaki was given the title "The Dean of American Motorsports Journalism."

. *1971 Richard Petty (Pickens 200)

Busch Grand National

*1983

Jack Ingram Jack Owen Ingram (born November 15, 1970) is an American country music artist formerly signed to Big Machine Records, an independent record label. He has released eleven studio albums, one extended play, six live albums, and 19 singles. Although ...

(Coca-Cola 200)Track winners
racing-reference.info, Retrieved November 1, 2007 *1983 Butch Lindley (DAPCO 200)

NASCAR Grand National Division, K&N East Series

*2006 Sean Caisse *2007

Joey Logano Joseph Thomas Logano (born May 24, 1990), is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske, and part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Seri ...

*2008

Austin Dillon Austin Reed Dillon (born April 27, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver and reality TV show actor. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing. ...

*2009

Brian Ickler Brian Ickler (born September 17, 1985) is a former American professional stock car racing driver. Racing career Early career Ickler started in off-road racing when he was 14 years old. At 17, he was SCORE rookie of the year, Lite champion, and ...

*2010 Darrell Wallace Jr. *2011

Brett Moffitt Brett B. Moffitt (born August 7, 1992) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 25 Ford Mustang for AM Racing. He won Rookie of the Year Honors in 2015 in the NASCAR ...

^ *2011 Sergio Peña *2012 Darrell Wallace Jr. (Spring) *2012

Corey LaJoie Corey Daniel LaJoie (born September 25, 1991) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports. LaJoie is the son of two-time NASCAR ...

(Fall) *2013 Brandon Gdovic (Spring) *2013

Dylan Kwasniewski Dylan Kwasniewski ( ; born May 31, 1995) is an American real estate broker and former professional stock car racing driver. A champion in both the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and Pro Series West, he was a developmental driver for Chip Ganassi Rac ...

(Summer) *2014 Ben Rhodes (Spring) *2014

Austin Hill Austin Edward Hill (born April 21, 1994) is an American professional stock car racing driver and former team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing and part-time ...

(Summer) *2015 William Byron^ *2016 Justin Haley (Spring) *2016

Kyle Benjamin Kyle S. Benjamin (born November 3, 1997) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He most recently competed part-time in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, driving the No. 15 for LFR Chassis, and part-time in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors ...

^ (Summer) *2017

^ = Flag to flag

List of late model track champions

Track officials began writing its track champions on the wall in 1971, and they went back to 1957. *1957 Grady Hawkins (1) *1958 Elmo Henderson (1) *1959 David Pearson (1) *1960 Floyd Powell (1) *1961 Floyd Powell (2) *1962 Floyd Powell (3) *1963 Dub Nelson (1) *1964 Jeff Hawkins (1) *1965

Ralph Earnhardt Ralph Lee Earnhardt (February 23, 1928 – September 26, 1973) was an American stock car racer. He was the father of 7 time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt, grandfather of Kerry Earnhardt, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, Dale Earnhardt Jr., a ...

(1) *1966

(2) *1967 Jeff Hawkins (2) *1968 Jeff Hawkins (3) *1969 Jeff Hawkins (4) *1970 Jeff Hawkins (5) First track champion on pavement *1971 Johnny Allen (1) *1972 Butch Lindley (1) *1973 Don Miller (1) *1974 Don Miller (2) *1975 Bob Jarvis (1) *1976 Don Sprouse (1) *1977 Buddy Howard (1) *1978 Buddy Howard (2) *1979 Buddy Howard (3) *1980 Buddy Howard (4) *1981 Donnie Bishop (1) *1982 Gene Morgan (1) *1983 Donnie Bishop (2) *1984 Donnie Bishop (3) *1985 Roy Chatham (1) *1986 Donnie Bishop (4) *1987 Larry Hines (1) *1988

Robert Pressley Robert William Pressley (born April 8, 1959) is an American former NASCAR driver who previously served as the promoter at Kingsport Speedway in Kingsport, Tennessee. Pressley is now a County Commissioner in Buncombe County, North Carolina. Beginn ...

(1) *1989 Larry Ogle (1) *1990 Marty Ward (1) *1991 Marty Ward (2) *1992 Donnie Bishop (5) *1993 Randy Porter (1) *1994 Donnie Bishop (6) *1995 Mardy Lindley (1) *1996 Steve Howard (1) *1997

Dexter Canipe Dexter Canipe (born May 29, 1960) is an American racing driver who won the NASCAR Weekly Series national championship in 1997.Schaefer, Paul. ''Where Stars Are Born: Celebrating 25 Years of NASCAR Weekly Racing''. Coastal 181, Newburyport, Mass ...

(1) (NASCAR Weekly Series National Champion) *1998 Pete Silva (1) *1999 Dennis Southerlin (1) *2000 Gene Morgan (2) *2001 Pete Silva (2) *2002 Marty Ward (3) *2003 Marty Ward (4) *2004 Kenneth Headen (1) *2005 Blair Addis (1) *2006 Randy Porter (2) *2007 David Roberts (1) *2008 Marty Ward (5) *2009 Roger Powell (1) *2010 Marty Ward (6) *2011 Randy Porter (3) *2012 Toby Porter (1) *2013 Anthony Anders (1) *2014 Anthony Anders (2) (NASCAR Weekly Series National Champion) *2015 David Roberts (2) *2016 Dylan Hall (1) *2017 Will Burns (1) *2018 Trey Gibson (1) *2019 Taylor Satterfield (1) *2020 Cameron Bolin (1) *2021 Ryan Walker (1) *2022 Mag Tate (1)

Race broadcasting

References

External links

Official websiteGreenville-Pickens Speedway at nascar.comNASCAR Commentators Crews and Networks1971 Greenville 200
{{coord, 34, 50, 0, N, 82, 30, 1, W, type:landmark, display=title NASCAR tracks Motorsport venues in South Carolina NASCAR races at Greenville-Pickens Speedway Sports venues in Pickens County, South Carolina Sports venues completed in 1940 1940 establishments in South Carolina