Henry Clay Earles (August 11, 1913 – November 16, 1999) was the founder and chairman of the board of

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 s ...

, a

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 hi ...

stock car racing track that Earles built in 1947 in

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. M ...

that was one of the circuit's first paved oval tracks and stands as one of its shortest. Born in

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 A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail ...

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 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 ...

'', 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 ''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 ...

'', 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 restaurant in

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 restaurant was sold to buy another gas station. Having seen the crowds attracted by car racing at temporary tracks at fairgrounds, he built a track on of land he had purchased in 1946. The first scheduled race, predating the establishment of NASCAR, took place on September 7, 1947, drawing more than 6,000 spectators at a facility that only had 750 seats; Seating capacity had grown to 86,000 by the time of Earles' death. In its inaugural year,

Bill France, Sr. William Henry Getty France (September 26, 1909 – June 7, 1992), also known as Bill France Sr. or Big Bill, was an American businessman and racing driver. He is best known for founding and managing NASCAR, a sanctioning body of US-based stock ca ...

provided the track with advertising and drivers in exchange for one-fourth of profits, and became the founding president of NASCAR when it was incorporated the next year. Martinsville Speedway is the only one of NASCAR's original tracks still in use.

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 c ...

was awarded a $500 prize for winning the inaugural race at the track, which had grown to $170,000 by 1999. Earles began a tradition in 1964 of distributing grandfather clocks to race winners, with

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 ...

receiving a track-record of 12, and would have received three more for wins that predated the inception of the practice. The track measures around, with a pair of straightaways and tight turns banked at 12 degrees, described as two

dragstrip A dragstrip is a facility for conducting automobile and motorcycle acceleration events such as drag racing. Although a quarter mile (1320 feet, 402 m) is the best known measure for a drag track, many tracks are eighth mile (201&n ...

s with tight turns. The track was first paved in 1955. Unlike the superspeedways, Martinsville became a track where the skill and strategy of each individual driver could overcome the big money and horsepower of the larger teams. Earles died at age 86 on November 16, 1999 at his Martinsville home.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Earles, Henry Clay NASCAR people People from Henry County, Virginia 1913 births 1999 deaths People from Martinsville, Virginia