|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
H. Clay Earles dead at 86
Posted: Saturday November 20, 1999 02:45 PM
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) -- H. Clay Earles, whose attempt to use auto racing as a money maker turned into a more than a half century career as the owner of Martinsville Speedway, died Tuesday after a yearlong illness. He was 86. Earles got into auto racing after seeing the crowds that races in North Carolina attracted. In 1947, Earles carved a half-mile dirt track out of the red clay near Martinsville, packed the track down with oil and other materials and advertised the race as "dust-free" to an eager crowd, many of whom came dressed for a big occasion. More than 6,000 fans came to the first race at the track, which had 750 seats ready. "It turned out to be the dustiest place I've ever seen," Earles recalled last year. "When the race started, it looked like someone had dropped the atomic bomb." The promoter for the race was Bill France, who told Earles he planned to form a racing association of stock car owners hoping to build a following. A year later, France founded NASCAR, became Earles' partner in the speedway and the track became an original venue in the first year of NASCAR racing. The .526-mile asphalt speedway was paved in 1955. It covers more than 300 acres, seats more than 70,000 people, has six corporate suites, a 115-seat press box, high-rise grandstands and a fully staffed track medical center. Earles grew up during the Depression, the son of tobacco farmers who owned a small farm in southwestern Virginia. Hard times forced him to drop out of Bassett High School to help his family, making 25 cents an hour working for a furniture maker. Soon he went into business for himself. A billiards parlor he opened failed after only six months, then he bought a service station and operated it for three years. That was long enough to turn a profit and afford a loan to buy the first drive-in restaurant in Martinsville. The restaurant also succeeded, and when Earles had paid off his loan after a few years he sold the business. In 1938, he bought another service station with his profits, along with ten homes in the area. Earles kept the second service station for 16 years, finally selling it off in 1954 when the speedway required more of his attention and money. He worked tirelessly at the speedway over the years, and last took a vacation in 1959. "Work is never finished at this track," he said. "Every day brings new challenges and ideas. And if we're not going forward, then we are going backward and that's not going to happen."
| ||||||||||||||||||||
