Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 2, 1992 TAG: 9202020054
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE LENGTH: Medium
OUT OF THE DUST ROSE MARTINSVILLE
Forty-five years ago, on a warm Sunday afternoon in early September, a real-estate broker named Henry Clay Earles stood atop a wooden ticket booth at his new dirt race track and wondered how on earth he could have done this to thefine ladies and gentlemen of Martinsville.As a hobby, he and a couple of friends had built the Martinsville Speedway dirt track in 1947.
But when his first customers, many dressed in their Sunday best, departed after watching the speedway's first race, all were coated from head to toe in red clay dust.
"It was a good race," Earles, 78, said recently, "but honestly, people came in here that day from church - ladies in their beautiful clothes and men, too - and when they left here, they all looked alike."
The anguish that Earles felt could be matched only by his befuddlement. Before the race, he had worked several thousand gallons of oil into the track and added several hundred bags of calcium chloride. Then, he had confidently advertised: "No flying dirt or dust."
"It didn't look like we'd have one spec of dust, honest," Earles said. "But after the race was about 25 or 30 minutes old, it looked like the atomic bomb had been dropped."
But this year, as Martinsville Speedway celebrates its 45th anniversary, the track is considered one of the prettier and better-maintained Winston Cup facilities.
Shrubbery and flowers frame the turns of the .526-mile asphalt track. Earles never could completely beat the dust problem and paved the track in 1955. The restrooms are attended. The concessions are among the best.
You can get the famous Martinsville Speedway hot dog, complete with chili, slaw and onions on a warm bun, for a buck.
Much of this is due to that dusty, disappointing first race - a Modified event won by the aptly nicknamed Robert "Red" Byron. More than 9,000 spectators had come and many must have vowed never to return.
The crowd was only half as big at the next race, and Earles learned an important lesson: "If you don't try to make the fans comfortable, they will stop coming to see you."
Martinsville's annual race schedule has not changed much over the years. It is highlighted by the two Winston Cup events: the Hanes 500 on April 26 and the Goody's 500 on Sept. 27.
Although NASCAR dropped two short tracks (South Boston and Oxford, Maine) from this year's Busch Grand National schedule, Earles is not worried he will lose his Winston Cup dates.
"That's not going to happen to me," Earles said. "They don't have a right to do it. I've been with NASCAR ever since it got started in 1948. I feel that they are loyal people."
Besides, both Martinsville races are thriving, with all reserved seats sold. This year, ticket sales are ahead of last year's pace. And if the stands are full in April, Earles said he will build more new seats for the fall event.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING