Excitement Returns to Historic Columbia Speedway
The second annual Love Chevrolet Columbia Speedway RacersReunion is set for April 14-17,
2010. The success of the 2009 inaugural event coupled with recent activity at the speedway have
stirred anticipation and expectations.
(PRWEB) April 9, 2010 -- It seems remarkable to think that just over a year ago the folks at RacersReunion.com
and a group of volunteers began planning the first event at Historic Columbia Speedway since it closed. After
lying dormant for some 30 years, a crowd of 30,000 spectators and former race drivers reunited to celebrate the
role Columbia Speedway played in the history of stock car racing. That history includes some significant firsts. A
young Richard Petty ran his first race there on July 12, 1958 in a 1957 Oldsmobile convertible. He won his first
ever race there a year later on July 17, 1959.
Columbia Speedway became the spot of the first NASCAR race to be held under the lights when the Grand
National series made its first ever stop there on Saturday night, June 16, 1951. That night Studebaker got its first
and only NASCAR win when “The Rebel” Frank Mundy got to the checkers first. Chevrolet got its first
NASCAR win at Columbia Speedway when Fonty Flock drove a 1955 Chevy to victory on March 16, 1955.
Other first include Buck Bakers first Grand National win on April 12, 1952 in a 1951 Hudson. Buddy Baker ran
his first ever race at this historic track on April 4, 1959 in a 1958 Chevrolet.
All the stars of the sport during that era raced at Columbia. Ralph Earnhardt, Lee Petty, Curtis Turner, Tiny
Lund, David Pearson, Cotton Owens, Little Bud Moore, are only a few of the greats who came to race there.
Doing well at Columbia was an accomplishment recognized by all who competed. The 2009 RacersReunion at
Columbia Speedway has proven to be yet another historic event at this special place. The response to that 2009
event has triggered plans and action to preserve the speedway and utilize it as an events facility to serve Cayce,
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