Greenville Pickens Speedway was once home to electric Saturday nights. It hosted the first-ever live televised race in 1971 and launched the careers of current stars like Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace, and William Byron. It’s where legends of the sport like Richard Petty and David Pearson won. Now the same track is vacant with its condition deteriorating, and just when fans thought they had a win, things took a sharp turn.
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Greenville Pickens Speedway becomes the butt of jokes in a county meeting
In a video posted by an X account of a Pickens County meeting, the county administrator is visibly making jokes at the expense of the historic racetrack. The administrator claims that the lake should be a district overlay instead of the racetrack. The racetrack’s official account accused the administrator of being more worried about catering to Lake Keowee residents than about citizens who want to save the track.
“This has to STOP! The council shouldn’t be allowed to pick and choose what they want instead of what the people want,” the post from Greenville Pickens Speedway read.
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Reacting to this, Matthew Dillner, senior racing producer at FloRacing, called out the joking and laughing from the administrator. “How does this make you feel? Racing is being mocked. Laughed at. This is the REAL lack of respect that the movement to protect & preserve Greenville Pickens Speedway is receiving from elected officials. The recent news is a positive step, but don’t be fooled. This is far from over,” he wrote.
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Racing is being mocked. Laughed at. This is the REAL lack of respect that the movement to protect & preserve @GPSspeedway1 is receiving from elected officials. The recent news is a positive step but don’t be fooled. This is far from over. https://t.co/ghcTaTAPbc— Matthew Dillner (@MatthewDillner) April 9, 2026
The whiplash though is what makes this moment even more striking. Just a day earlier on April 6, it seemed like fans had finally turned the tide. After years of the track sitting there deteriorating, dozens of residents flooded the Pickens County Council meeting. They were all charged up after a rally came out to save the speedway, where big names also joined like Clemson legend Danny Ford and Attorney General Alan Wilson. Under pressure from fans, the council passed a formal resolution to recognize the speedway as a historic landmark. But the celebration lasted only a fraction of time.
This disrespect is the latest hurdle of a saga that really began in 2003, when Spartanburg car dealership mogul Kevin Whitaker purchased the site. By 2023, he had contracted the property for an industrial park. Phases 1 and 2 already have four industrial buildings standing. The community, though, now has managed to stall the destruction, given the Planning Commission has denied Phases 3, 4, and 5.
However, this resolution didn’t solve the situation completely for the historic track. The council claimed that despite the track being recognized as a historic site, it is still prone to being sold or developed. Nevertheless, the supporters of the track believed it was a step in the right direction.
NASCAR star comments on Greenville Pickens’ tricky situation
Ahead of the Cup weekend at Las Vegas, Ryan Preece was asked about his thoughts on Greenville Pickens Speedway and whether he’d want to see it make a comeback to NASCAR Advanced Racing. Preece is notably tied to short tracks as he began his racing journey on tracks like Stafford Speedway and Thompson Speedway in Connecticut.
“For me, hopefully, there’s a new level of excitement around Greenville Pickens, and I never really raced there, so I haven’t seen the facility, but certainly whoever’s taking on that lease or promoter that’s taking on that opportunity, they work with the racers, the racers work with them, and then that brings in the fans,” he explained.
He is not alone given Dale Earnhardt Jr. has already expressed his desire to take the CARS tour to GPS if the track is saved. The NASCAR community has been united in efforts to save the track, and while there is still a lot to be done, it is clear that steps are being taken to use it for races.
Written by
Edited by
Godwin Issac Mathew