
DATE: Friday, July 4, 1997                  TAG: 9707040946

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C4   EDITION: FINAL  

SERIES: Fast Times Under the Lights

SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER  

DATELINE: CAPRON                            LENGTH:   99 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: * CLARIFICATION Trackside parking spaces at Southampton Motor Speedway in Capron can be reserved for the season, or are made available on a first-come, first-served basis for each race. Correction published Saturday, July 5, 1997 on page C2 of THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT. * SOUTHAMPTON: POTENTIAL WAITING TO BE SCRATCHED

Southampton Motor Speedway is solid proof that if you build it, they won't necessarily come.

Six years after opening as one of the most modern short-track facilities in the nation, the racetrack built among peanut, corn and cotton fields is still trying to put down its own roots.

But after seasons of discontent, in which there were four different promoters in five years, the D-shaped, 0.4-mile speedway finally may be in the right hands to achieve success.

Richmonders David L. Atkinson and Merlin O'Neil took over from the original owners at the end of last season and made several major changes.

They switched the racing surface from dirt to asphalt, switched race night from Saturday to Friday, began allowing fans to consume alcoholic beverages, and introduced the track to national television audiences. One race was televised by HTS and another by ESPN2. Two more TV events are scheduled.

``People in California saw racing from Capron, and we had calls from some fans in Pennsylvania who said they wanted to stop by for a race on their way to Florida,'' O'Neil says. ``There is considerable potential for this track.''

Indeed, it is hard to imagine another weekly short track that can match Southampton's facilities, or potential, in that it is located about 65 miles from South Hampton Roads and Richmond.

The track is illuminated by the same top-of-the-line stadium lights used at Richmond and Charlotte speedways.

And where else can fans pull into their own reserved parking space above the track, set up a grill to cook dinner, and relax in a lawn chair to watch the races?

The potential for the most part, though, is still waiting to be scratched. Despite solid promotions and advertisements, the track has struggled to overcome a chilly and sometimes wet spring.

``We had a standing-room-only crowd for our first race,'' says O'Neil. ``The next week it turned cold and we had a decent crowd. Then it got cold and colder, and the crowd dropped and dropped.''

``When this track was built, I thought it was a great facility except it needed to be paved,'' O'Neil says.

Once that was done, during the winter, the new operators had little choice but to race on Fridays instead of Saturdays.

``Most of the asphalt cars that might want to race here already were committed to racing at Langley, South Boston or Kenly, N.C., on Saturday nights. We decided the lesser evil was to race on Friday, and it has worked out well,'' O'Neil says.

Southampton has attracted some of the top Late Model Stock drivers in Virginia and North Carolina, including several who compete at Langley Speedway on Saturday nights.

``Our fans are getting to see drivers they have heard about but never had a chance to see before,'' O'Neil says.

However, the old favorites who won on dirt are going through a difficult period adjusting to asphalt.

``We don't have the local rivalries yet that the track had when it was dirt,'' O'Neil admits. ``One of the greatest things that could happen would be one of the local dirt boys winning a race.''

As for now, though, O'Neil would be willing to settle for warm and cloudless nights.

Southampton is closed tonight for the Fourth of July holiday. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

JOHN SHEALLY II, The Virginian-Pilot

Southampton Motor Speedway, newly paved...

Graphic

SOUTHAMPTON

If you want to go: Southampton Motor Speedway is located on U.S.

Route 58 between Franklin and Emporia, about 60 miles west of

Norfolk. Racing begins at 8 p.m. on Fridays. The track is closed

tonight because of the Fourth of July holiday. The season runs until

October. Phone: 804-658-7223.

What it costs: adults $10-12, ages 6-12 $3, under 6 free with an