Southern National Motorsports Park (formerly Southern National Speedway and Southern National Raceway Park) is a 4/10-mile
auto racing
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition.
Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...
track in
Lucama, North Carolina
Lucama is a town in Wilson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,108 at the 2010 census.
History
The Lucama Municipal Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
Geography
Lucama is lo ...
.
History
Southern National Motorsports Park hosted 4
NASCAR Southeast Series
The NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southeast Series was a NASCAR-sanctioned amateur/semi-pro late model stock car racing series based in the Southeastern United States. The series was formerly known as the Slim Jim All Pro Series; it was founded ...
races between 1996 and 2002. The track also hosted 7
NASCAR 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. ...
events between 2006 and 2014.
The facility had one
ASA National Tour race in 1998.
Between 1997 and 2014, the track also hosted 15
CARS X-1R Pro Cup Series
The CARS Solid Rock Carriers Tour (formerly known as the USARacing Pro Cup Series, USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series, CARS Pro Cup Series, Rev-Oil Pro Cup Series, CARS X1-R Pro Cup Series) is a stock car racing, stock car auto racing series in the Unite ...
events. 11 different drivers had won races and some of them drove in NASCAR, like
Mario Gosselin,
Bobby Gill
Bobby Gill (born June 25, 1959) is an American former stock car racing driver. He raced for a number of years in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, earning four top-tens in 16 starts.
Pre-NASCAR Career
Prior to racing in NASCAR's national tour ...
,
Mark McFarland
Mark M. McFarland (born February 1, 1978) is a former NASCAR driver who works for Kyle Busch Motorsports as the crew chief for their No. 18 car in the ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series East. In 2021, he won championships in both series ...
,
Michael Ritch
Michael Ritch (born February 24, 1973) is an American stock car racing driver who competed in 47 races across NASCAR's top three series between 1992 and 2002. He also competed in 165 Rev-Oil Pro Cup Series races between 1998 and 2009, winning ...
,
Clay Rogers
Clayton Rogers (born November 6, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He has competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series, and is the 2004, 2006, 2009, and 2010 champion in the ...
and
Caleb Holman.
In 2009, the track essentially closed with only a single racing event taking place on the track. The PASS South Super Late Model Series held one of their points races at the track on September 26, 2009. A
USARacing Pro Cup Series
The CARS Solid Rock Carriers Tour (formerly known as the USARacing Pro Cup Series, USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series, CARS Pro Cup Series, Rev-Oil Pro Cup Series, CARS X1-R Pro Cup Series) is a stock car auto racing series in the United States. It is s ...
event had been scheduled for August 15, 2009, but it was canceled by the series and replaced by a second race at
Langley Speedway.
On Friday, October 7, 2011, Southern National Raceway Park was put up for auction, and was bought by Michael Diaz of Northern Virginia for $650,000.
Plans for the track are currently pending.
The track re-opened in 2013 as Southern National Motorsports Park with a regular racing schedule.
Between 2015 until now,
CARS Super Late Model Tour hosted 6 races at the track. 6 different drivers had won races, including notable
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 ...
drivers like
Christopher Bell,
Quin Houff,
Raphaël Lessard
Raphaël Lessard (pronounced "less-ard"; born July 5, 2001) is a Canadian professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Pinty's Series for Ed Hakonson Racing. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping ...
and
Bubba Pollard
Andrew "Bubba" Pollard (born March 16, 1987) is an American stock car racing driver. He currently competes in super late model racing, driving the No. 26 Ford for his own team, and part-time in the ARCA Menards Series East, driving the No. 17 ...
. In that period, the
CARS Late Model Stock Tour also had run 6 races at the track, 5 different drivers had won races, including notable
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 ...
drivers like
Todd Gilliland
Todd J. Gilliland (born May 15, 2000) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 38 Ford Mustang for Front Row Motorsports. He is the son of NASCAR driver and team owner D ...
,
Deac McCaskill
Deac McCaskill (born September 26, 1977) is an American professional stock car racing driver from Raleigh, North Carolina. He currently drives the No. 08 Puryear Tanklines Chevrolet in the Late Model Stock class at South Boston Speedway in Vir ...
,
Josh Berry
Joshua W. Berry (born October 22, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports. Berry has also competed for JRM in late model ...
and
Taylor Gray.
In December 2015, the track was added to the racing simulation site
iRacing.com
''iRacing'' is a subscription-based online racing simulation video game developed and published by iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations in 2008. All in-game sessions are hosted on the publisher's servers. The game simulates real world cars, tr ...
.
On December 18, 2020, it was announced that Southern National would host an
ARCA Menards Series East race for the first time on June 12, 2021.
The track would lose its ARCA East race but would gain a Carolina Pro Late Model Series and
SMART Modified Tour race in 2022.
Southern National would host the richest Late Model Stock race in history, their annual Thanksgiving Classic in 2022, paying $50,000 to win.
References
External links
Official websiteSouthern National Motorsports Park race resultsat Racing-Reference
ARCA Menards Series East 2021 Schedule Announced
Sports venues in North Carolina
NASCAR tracks
Buildings and structures in Wilson County, North Carolina
1993 establishments in North Carolina
Sports venues completed in 1993
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