A tribute car to the late Tommie Irvin sits along the frontstretch of the Banks County Speedway during the second annual speedway reunion on Saturday. Irvin, a member of the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame, built the speedway in 1956. Photo by Rob Moore
With cooler temperatures and blue skies above, Saturday afternoon was great for racing.
Even if the track in question hasn’t seen an actual race in 45 years.
Saturday marked the second annual Banks County Speedway Reunion, as former drivers and fans of the raceway, which closed in 1971, gathered at the restored track to share stories and reminisce.
The track, which is located off of Highway 198 between the towns of Homer and Baldwin in Northeast Georgia, was restored last year by family members of the late Tommie Irvin, the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame member who opened the track in 1956.
The first reunion came about, when Irvin’s son, Bobby, decided to bring the track back to life. After attending the annual Athens Speedway Reunion in nearby Jackson County, Bobby made the decision to restore the Banks County Speedway as a tribute to his late father.
Tommie Irvin, himself a pioneer racer who was the 18th person to obtain a NASCAR license during the organization’s first year of existence in 1948, built the track with the proceeds he earned from winning one of the biggest races in the southeast at the time, the 1955 Labor Day race at Atlanta’s one mile Lakewood Speedway.
For the next 15 years, the fast quarter-mile Banks County Speedway played host to some of the best drivers in the area, including Georgia Racing Hall of Fame drivers Bud Lunsford of Gainesville, GA, Buck Simmons of Baldwin, GA, Gober Sosebee of Dawsonville, GA and Charlie Burkhalter of Athens, GA.
But the racing came to an end at Banks County in 1971. A crash at the Yellow River Drag Strip in Covington, GA in 1969 resulted in the deaths of 11 spectators. The next year, the state Insurance Commissioner instituted sweeping regulations for race tracks in the state of Georgia. There could be no more wooden guardrails, they had to be replaced with Armco barriers. There could be no more wooden grandstands, concrete or metal stands had to be put in place.
Most importantly, each track had to have at least a million dollars worth of liability insurance to be permitted to operate.
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A recently restored race car driven by Georgia Racing Hall of Famer Charlie Burkhalter (right) and a replica Burkhalter racer (left) sit in the fourth turn of the Banks County Speedway during Saturday’s reunion. Photo by Rob Moore
Rather than invest the money that it would take to upgrade the facility, Irvin decided to shutter the Banks County Speedway. After running one more race in 1971, the track was shut down, and become a field that gathered old cars, grew up in trees and was grazed upon by herds of goats.
Irvin, meanwhile, spent his time running his nearby store, playing host to many of his old buddies from racing who would drop in to bench race on sunny afternoons. Irvin operated the store just outside of Baldwin until his passing in November of 2010.
Now the track sits graded, and looking like a few passes with a water truck and a little track preparation would have it ready to go for a Saturday night race. Bobby Irvin and his family have worked hard to maintain it. Last year, they worked to clear the land, and used the lumber for trees cut down rebuild the flag stand, concession stand, control tower, ticket booth and, yes, the bathrooms.
“This is just really something unique to see,” said racing historian Mike Bell, who lives in Gainesville, GA. “We find a lot of derelict and abandoned tracks all over the state of Georgia. Some still have their guardrails, maybe even a grandstand or building or two. But for this track to be reclaimed from the elements like this and put back almost in race ready condition is remarkable.
“It’s a great tribute to Tommie Irvin. He would be very proud to know everybody is getting together and enjoying a part of his life that he loved so much.”
On Saturday, the infield was filled with vintage race cars. Some were replicas, while others were the original cars raced at the speedway. Some of the drivers who competed there, like Georgia Racing Hall of Famers C.L. Pritchett of Baldwin, GA, Charles Barrett of Cleveland, GA and James Lyle of Maysville, GA shared stories and remembered days long gone by.
“These are the guys that we need to remember, and these are the places we need to remember,” said Bell, who operates the Georgia Racing Archives. “Tommie Irvin was a pioneer who not only raced, but provided a place for racing history to be written. Drivers like Bud Lunsford, Buck Simmons, Charlie Burkhalter, Charlie Mincey and C.L. Pritchett raced on these tracks and built our sport into what it is today.
“Thanks to the Irvin family, we have a place like this to come remember the history and those who wrote it.”
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