Local track racing at Motor Mile Speedway seems to turning some heads as the crowd was noticeably larger than our last visit there. The track is not slowing down at all for August. In fact, they are turning up on several levels. The track is hot 3 of 4 weekends in August with some profile events.

  • Friday August 6 – Family Fun Night – Super Cup Stock Car Series. $25.00 per car with Bike Races for the kids, FREE Rusty Wallace Ride-Alongs for Winners during intermission plus UCAR, Sportsman and Big Rig Trucks on display in advance of August 7 FASS racing. Access to Friday Night Fury at the drag strip, too!
  • Saturday August 7 – FASS Big Rig Series with Mod-4 and Super Street
  • Saturday August 14 – Shelor Motor Mile Presents – Kenny Wallace Night – NAAPWS-CT LMSC Twin 60’s Watch The Motor Mile Stars Race Against Kenny Wallace In Two Big 60 Lap Features! Rusty Wallace Racing Experience Championship, Sportsman, Super Street, Mod-4, UCAR
  • Saturday August 28 – Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour makes their run at Motor Mile Speedway!

For CMC Supply Night on July 31st, the show brought some racing history out with the The Southern Ground Pounders and began the night with tiny but fast Mini Cup laps. NAAPWS Late Models, Limited Sportsman, Super Street, Mod-4 and U-Car filled the night for a full schedule.

Top Results for CMC Supply Night – July 31, 2021:

  • Mini Cup Winner – Tyler Warriner
  • Sportsman Race #1 Winner – Cory Dunn
  • Super Street Winner – Hank Turman
  • Late Model Race #1 Winner – Ryan Wilson
  • Mod 4 Winner – Tanner Young
  • Ground Pounder Winners – Greg Butchser / Sportman and Cowboy Dewite / Modified
  • Sportsman Race #2 Winner – Kyle Barnes
  • Late Model Race #2 Winner- Kres Vandyke
  • UCAR Winner – Peyton Howell

FULL PHOTO GALLERY from JULY 31, 2021 BELOW:

The best laid plans of mice and men…

Uncertainty pops up all the time. Plans get changed for many reasons. Family and illness may be top on the list of forcing changes to schedules which, under any other circumstances, would be practically set in stone.

Such is the situation… With that, we’re away from where we thought we would be this weekend. However, we’re hoping the gears are in motion to make the best of it by paying a visit to a race track close to where we are as opposed to where we thought we would be…

Dominion Raceway. It’s an interesting and multi-faceted facility which current events have us close enough to skip out for a few hours and check out some racing from the northern portion of Virginia.

We keep in touch through social media with Dinah Mullins. She is an active photographer at Dominion and also keeps her husband, Willie Mullins, on track with their own car, team, activities and business. We’re shamelessly pulling a string or two… As long as we’re up here…

Dominion features an oval for Late Model, Modified, Sportsman and other standard “left turn” racing. There is also a road course which is open quite often for drivers to have some fun with their own cars – Daily drivers or track spec. The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) has an event there this weekend. Concerts and other gatherings are also hosted.

Short track racing for many Saturdays or weekends feature the NASCAR sanctioned Advance Auto Parts All American Series. Such is the case for Saturday, June 26th. The CARS Tour ran last weekend. The SMART Modified Tour is set for later this year.

Dominion Raceway is a little speed jewel tucked up in Virginia between Richmond and Washington, DC. We’re looking forward to checking the place out in person.

The hills of Franklin County are roaring out for fast laps and big name racing at the Hannabass & Rowe Collision Center – Kenny Minter Classic 110. But first… A little background…

Things seem to be a little brighter for a place that had fallen back and was laps down. Newer facilities were keeping up with changes but Franklin County Speedway was barely holding on. Folks in the area know the stories and some might even know the real story. The facility had made a hole and seemed ready to fall into it… (That’s one of the stories…)

There was a fellow who could see beyond what was there and remembered times of what used to be. Crowds, racing and a bit of a reputation were a part of the history. Langley Austin took it all in with a plan to put things in motion. Like a driver with a banged up race car in the garage, he began to fix, paint, hammer and build. He needed a little time, a little luck and more than a little money…

As it turned out, luck gave him some time. 2020 came in with some events in the works and was quickly put back off track. Covid-19 came in and shut things down everywhere. This, however, gave Austin some time to do some basic work around that track that took more muscle than money. Without events to plan and work around, he was able to make a good push on fixing some things instead of just throwing duct tape on it. He put the time to good use and was even able to get some events on.

Some of those events had some real impact. Late Model drivers were drawn in as larger tracks with larger footprints were dark. He brought Modified drivers in from around the region with good racing and publicity. The Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour ran there in 2020. All of it was done with CV19 restrictions in place and limited capacity. As luck would have it, the small track was making some waves with events that, realistically, would not have been there at all if not for the circumstances of a pandemic.

Langley Austin is no stranger to racing. His RACE22 website is a regional racing staple of track news around the southeast region and beyond. He knows Franklin County Speedway as well as anyone having grown up in the area, attending races as a kid and later working there. Austin has the gears in motion with Moonshine Capital Promotions taking the momentum of what was 2020 and pushing it forward. He’s not alone in his efforts. His wife, Kimberly, is just as involved as he is. It’s possible she is the real brain power in the deal and he is there for the lifting…

Luck and time. A bit of cash flow in the mix has made for some more improvements and basic fixes. All of which leads to this weekend and the SMART Modified Tour.

The SMART Tour is bringing NASCAR Hall Of Fame driver Bobby Labonte. Current NASCAR Cup driver Ryan Preece is racing. Well known Modified drivers like Burt and Jason Myers, Jeremy Gerstner, Brian Lofton and more will be on track. Matt Hirschman and rookie Caleb Heady have won this season. Ryan Preece raced and won at South Boston last month. Local champion Dennis Holden is getting behind the wheel.

Getting Franklin County on the SMART schedule is a big deal. Langley Austin has been busy turning the luck and hard work of some profile events in 2020 into some real traction for the 2021 season.

If it’s been a while since you’ve made the trip to Franklin County Speedway, this is a good weekend for it. You might be a little surprised by some of the changes. You will see some NASCAR stars and some good racing.

NOTE!! There are still mandates in place. Face masks are still a thing. Distancing in the stands is still a thing. Respect of everyone and staying safe is always a thing. Race with care!

This year has ripped through so many schedules and events as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to push forward with safety protocols often changing daily. Even with the uncertainty, Moonshine Capital and Franklin County Speedway have managed to push through. They have opened the venue to some high profile events that may have been much harder to lure in if not for closings and cancellations elsewhere.

Just a month ago, the “Stadium Invasion” brought North Carolina modified drivers across the border to race here as the NC tracks where they usually run were caught up in restrictions. Over the weekend, the CARS Tour ran hot laps on the Franklin County track that would not have been on their schedule in normal circumstances.

The pandemic had cancelled many dates on the CARS schedule and Moonshine Capital Promotions was able to offer the track and a crowd. The CARS Tour runs at profile tracks such as South Boston, Langley, Caraway and more. It will be interesting to see if Franklin County can continue their partnership. It was certainly a good event this time around with AutosByNelson local sponsorship and Solid Rock Carriers as the series title sponsor.

TOP Three Division Finishers – Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour at Franklin County Speedway

AutosByNelson.com Super Late Model
1 – 26 Bubba Pollard – Harrison Workwear
2 – 51 Sammy Smith – TMC Trucking
3 – 56 Gus Dean – Mashonit Apparel

AutosByNelson.com Late Model Stock
1 – 14 Jared Fryar – Sterling Building Group
2 – 87 Mike Looney – A-1 Heating & Cooling
3 – 88 Connor Mosack – Nic Taylor Custom Fit

PHOTO GALLERY – AutosByNelson.com 250