You will miss it when its gone.

[ovalracer44]

These are photos of the only track I ever called home. 30 minutes from my house. Was completed in 2000 and the first season was 10 races in 2000 starting in late july. Track held its last race in August of 2005 under the direction of Ronnie Bacelo. I was driving past it today and snapped a couple photos with my camera phone. Stands are gone, lights are gone, score board is gone and now the asphalt is gone. Man I would put up with the BS again just to have that track back.

[backrow]

Is that Hardeeville?

[ovalracer44]

Yes it is. It almost brought me to tears to see it like this.

[AB195]

What's the story behind it's closing?

[carolwicks]

oval...

just talked to Ronnie yesterday. he is doing well in N.C.
hopefully he will come back for a visit soon... somehow he brings me out of my shell and for a short time i remember who i used to be. Every time Ronnie comes down we gather a bunch of close friends together and we get toasted and act rediculous!!! roflllllll Ronnie is a good friend that makes me laugh so hard. its about the only time i do laugh out loud!. i can live without any material thing i ever knew ... but when your heart is ripped open and you lose those you love.... that cant be fixed. just tolerated.... because we have no choice.
dont worry about the track or cars or things... just keep the memories alive and remember the people that made those places so special. thats all that really matters.
i warned you.... i get all stupid when im tired... nite...

carolwicks aka OZZIE

[ovalracer44]

Owners had a son that raced. Decided to build a track. Spent over 4 million on the facility. They had a good promoter, Todd Fisher. Track was doing great, building car count throughout the 2002 season. Over 100 cars a night in 5 or 6 divisions. Chris started racing in Concord NC so the owners were not present much. They got rid of Todd because he suppoosedly cost too much to keep around. Hired a part time promoter (who was silent partners with someone whos kids raced at the track) No one knew this at the time. 2003 counts dropped like crazy because of bad promoting and officiating. At end of 2003 owners decided they would not operate the track anymore. 2004 Charlie Powell owner of Summerville Speedway (now closed) and Florence Motor Speedway (Close to closing, leased the track. Counts dropped even more and gates closed in August of 2004.

2005. Ronnie Bacelo leases track with Bob Rahilly. In december of 2004 when first rumors were going around that Ronnie would lease the track people called and asked if he would change rules. Exact answer was only the tire would change. Meeting was held mid February announcing him taking over operations. The monday after the meeting rules were released and numerous rules were changed. Many people were ticked and decided to race somewhere else and the season started with very low car counts. Within 2 months Rahilly pulled his funding and you could almost see the writing on the wall. August 6th would be the last racing program at the facility.

Rumors flew about a buyer but nothing ever materialized. 6 years for a mulitmillion dollar facility. The nicest I have ever been to. Airconditioned concession stands. Air Conditioned bathrooms. Musco lighting so bright you would use a blue blocker shield at night.

[Todd McCreary]

bad promoting and officiating.

asked if he would change rules. Exact answer was only the tire would change. .... rules were released and numerous rules were changed.


what else is there to say?

people think because they threw a bunch of money at buying or building or leasing a track that it gives them the right to make everybody else eat crap.

well, yeah. they do have a right to make everybody else eat crap. and then they'll start complaining about everybody else's negativity and lack of support and wonder why..........

1 - if you say you're going to do something do it.
2 - if you've never made any comment about a subject ( like racing at other tracks the same night ) before don't do anything without fair warning.
3 - make certain all the racers know exactly what you expect of them ( a coherent rule book is essential here ) and work with them in any grey areas, don't just use it as an excuse to say "hot damn, i get to DQ you tonight!"
4 - if you have to violate one of the above, make certain that it's unavoidable, that you have a damn good reason that the racers and fans can understand and that you give as much warning as possible.

now if you don't mind, i'm going to natter negatively to some other nabobs.

[Hitman17]

I know that we didn't always see eye to eye, but some of our most memorable times were racing the Legends car at Hardeeville. It hurts to see those photos as we always hoped that we would be able to race again there someday. I agree that it was one of the finest race tracks that we have ever been to and we've been to many. It's truly a shame...

What ever happened to Mike Covert? Aside from the great facilities, we always enjoyed the energy he brought to get the fans amped for each show. He was one of the few people who actually made us feel welcome after making the haul from FL each weekend- no offense.

http://ajfulgenzi.com

[ovalracer44]

I have not seen Mike since early 2006. I agree that he was a good announcer and did a great job keeping what was a fan base pleased and returning.

I think if this track was bigger (at least 3/8 mile preferably 4/10) and a true oval and not shaped like it was it would still be open. Another achilles heel for this track was that the owners built it right next to a housing development. Within a year and a half of court cases there was a noise ordinance, a curfew of 10:30 and a restriction of number of days the track could be used in a week. Could run a max of 3 races per month.

It was hard to get traveling racers to come in with the muffler rule. Especially in the support classes. There were 3 or 4 waivers per year in which the noise ordinance and curfew could be broken. These were usually used for touring series. This track was one of very few that the Goodys Dash series raced at that was not NASCAR sanctioned while they were under the NASCAR banner.

[dannyuscg]

I've been missing it for a while.

My moms family is from the town of Hampton, SC. I had the chance to run our Streetstock there when we went for a visit once. They let us slide on a few things. We ran ok with a spring change considering the car was set up for Hialeah. On our last visit I took these pic's. It is a shame. I did boost an old track sign. I have it hanging in the garage next to one from Hialeah.

[kevin finney]

Disappointing to hear...

When my brother told me to check this out I became very disappointed. Hardeeville was an incredible facility... It was the one place that I won't forget! When the Florida Pro Series traveled there in October 2002 I drove Brian's backup car into victory lane! It was sort of a mistake, but fun to say the least.

It is a shame to see facilities shut down. With today's technology, it is going to become more difficult for outside entertainment facilities to remain intact!

Thanks for posting the pics... But, hate to see them!

[Frasson118]

Sounds kinda like the story of the St. Johns County/St. Augustine Speedway. Nice track, built too close to neighbors, and a local government that couldn't wait to hassle those people into extinction. What a shame... there should be "grandfather" laws that protect racetracks from neighbors that move next to a racetrack, and then bitch about noise.

Of course, bad "Promoters" aren't limited to geographic boundaries either.

[Round D' Round Racer]

Same With Golden Gate

Frank "Helped" the campground get set up across the street from the Gate. The only times they had a decent crowd at that camp was when there were special races and alot of out of towners came.
THEN, the crumb bums took Frank to court over excessive noise and WON.. Gate got closed down...
There were many articles in the paper about what a raw deal was drawn (to no avail).
West Coast of Fl lost a great track... hey, but then the campground failed as well (can we call that karma?)

The "Real Deal"
Round D' Round Racer
So. Ga

[ovalracer44]

When my brother told me to check this out I became very disappointed. Hardeeville was an incredible facility... It was the one place that I won't forget! When the Florida Pro Series traveled there in October 2002 I drove Brian's backup car into victory lane! It was sort of a mistake, but fun to say the least.

It is a shame to see facilities shut down. With today's technology, it is going to become more difficult for outside entertainment facilities to remain intact!

Thanks for posting the pics... But, hate to see them!

I remember watching that race. It was probably one of the best latemodel races I ever saw at the track. The odd shape of the track kept many people away. To win there was definitely a feat. Thanks for supporting the track while it was here. I have hundreds of some of my best memories racing at that facility and hate to see it gone.