Columbia Speedway

**Columbia Speedway**
	Cayce , South Carolina , USA
Opening:	Late 1940s
Decommissioned:	1979
Short track oval
	oval
	Route data
Important ; events:	NASCAR Grand National Division; Columbia 200 (until 1971) ; Sandlapper 200 (until 1971)
Route length:	0.804 km (0.5 mi )
Curve superelevation:	Curves: 12 °, ; straight lines: 6 °

33.958333333333 -81.077777777778Coordinates: 33 ° 57 ′ 30 " N , 81 ° 4 ′ 40" W.

The Columbia Speedway is a former Speedway with a length of half a mile in Cayce , South Carolina , near Columbia . The NASCAR Grand National Division races were held on it between 1951 and 1971 .

history

The Columbia Speedway was opened towards the end of the 1940s as a so-called dirt track, that is, a racetrack on loose ground. At the time, NASCAR held a race every Thursday evening. Among the participants were well-known drivers such as Fireball Roberts , Ned Jarrett , Ralph Earnhardt , Lee Petty and the later seven-time Winston Cup champion Richard Petty , who contested his very first race here on July 12, 1958. A special feature was that the races were held on Thursday, while races on other tracks were held on Friday or Saturday. The background to this peculiarity was that the soldiers received their wages on Thursday and the organizers found out that they had already spent it on Friday or Saturday.

From the 1951 season, championship races for the Grand National Division were held at Columbia Speedway. The race distance was 100 miles or the equivalent of about 161 km with the exception of two of the 43 races that were held here. Between 1956 and 1959, the NASCAR Convertible Division also held a total of eight races here, each over a distance of 100 miles.

For the 1971 season, the entire route was paved, so that the last two NASCAR races on Columbia Speedway took place on asphalt. At the same time, laws were being passed in Cayce that made it virtually impossible to race on the speedway. Because of this, and because of new, more modern racetracks, NASCAR's races at Columbia Speedway have been removed from the racing calendar. The racetrack was finally closed in 1979.

present

The speedway still exists, but the infield is completely overgrown. The stands either collapsed or were demolished. Since 2003 the race track has served as a leisure and training area for cyclists.