Dale Earnhardt Jr commits to historic track | Sports News

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has stepped ahead to assist a historic NASCAR track at present going through the risk of demolition.

Greenville-Pickens Speedway has long been a cornerstone of NASCAR historical past, however its future in American motorsports has come beneath risk in current months.

For a long time, the venue remained a key half of racing lore, however lately its survival has been unsure. A Greenville-based developer, RealtyLink LLC, has been increasing industrial initiatives onto surrounding land, whereas present proprietor Kevin Whitaker allowed the speedway to stay dormant after the final races had been held in 2022.

The property was contracted for buy by RealtyLink in March 2023, raising questions in regards to the track’s long-term preservation. The early months of 2026 have seen a showdown between the area people and RealtyLink earlier than the Pickens County Planning Commission, with either side presenting arguments over the speedway’s future.

The subsequent section of RealtyLink’s development plan would have encroached on the track’s construction, doubtlessly main to its demolition. While the plan was denied this week, its approval may nonetheless emerge sooner or later, leaving the destiny of the historic venue unsure.

Earnhardt Jr. pledged his assist for the track on social media, tweeting that if Greenville-Pickens Speedway may be preserved, the CARS Tour shall be first to return, with Earnhardt himself planning to be the inaugural entry.

Chairwoman Kelsey Crooks spoke with Frontstretch after the third, fourth, and fifth phases of RealtyLink’s development plan had been rejected, however she didn’t guarantee the track’s survival with out a new purchaser. Losing the speedway would mark a unhappy ending for a historic venue, significantly within the context of NASCAR.

The Greenville-Pickens Speedway hosted no less than one NASCAR Cup Series race per yr in 1955, 1956, and from 1958 via 1971, welcoming legends of the game together with Richard Petty, David Pearson, Buck Baker, Ned Jarrett, and Junior Johnson.

Petty turned the track’s final Cup winner in 1971, a yr that additionally noticed GPS grow to be the primary track to offer flag-to-flag tv protection of a Cup race, cementing its place in NASCAR historical past.

In the fashionable period, GPS has hosted races for NASCAR Weekly Series divisions, the CARS Tour, and the Ok&N Pro Series East (now the ARCA Menards Series East). Several present Cup drivers, together with Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace, Corey Lajoie, and William Byron, have claimed victories on the historic South Carolina track. Drivers from the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck Series, equivalent to Ben Rhodes, Austin Hill, and Justin Haley, have additionally triumphed on its pavement.