The season at Franklin County Speedway continues to roar at full speed as fall temperatures make their first appearance of the year just as fall begins officially on the calendar. This weekend the 3/8 mile speedplant will play host to a race honoring the life and racing career of one of it’s most prominent drivers, Buster Carroll.
Carroll, who passed away in 2016, was a staple at Franklin County Speedway throughout the 1990s and 2000s, winning countless races and championships at the Callaway, VA track. Franklin County Speedway first hosted the Buster Carroll Memorial in September of 2016 but the race was put on hiatus after management changes in 2017. The event honoring his life was added back to the schedule this year by track promoter Langley Austin.
“I grew up a fan of Buster Carroll when I was a kid going to races and later working races at the track,” Austin said. “Being able to promote this race before and now again means a lot to me. We’ve put a lot of effort into this event and I hope it shows when people attend this weekend. We want to do everything we can to honor his life and his racing legacy and we hope this event does just that.”
The event will feature a 103-lap Late Model race with top local stars expected to battle it out with other challengers for a $1058 top prize. The Charger division will also be center stage this weekend with a 58-lap race paying $1045 to the winner. Every division will have an elevated purse for Saturday nights show with the Mini Stocks racing for $580, Compacts $300, Stock4 $245 and the Any Cars battling for $1,000 to win.
“We wanted to get every division involved in this race to honor Buster,” Austin remarked. “He raced in many of the tracks divisions during his time racing and many of the people racing in every division this weekend knew Buster and was either a fan or a friend of his. It’ll mean a lot to these guys to take home a trophy with his name on it and know they won a race in his honor.”
The Buster Carroll Memorial also kicks off a busy Fall season of racing action with races on tap most every weekend until November. The next event will be the Stadium Invasion 3 on Saturday, October 3rd which will feature the Bowman Gray Stadium Modifieds as well as other divisions from the Winston-Salem, NC track that was shuttered this year due to Covid-19.
The second Night of Destruction this season will take place on October 17th and will also be headlined by racing action in several divisions including twin 44-lap Charger races in honor of the late Kenny Hodges, another long-time competitor at the track. The track is also planning another special event for October 24th and 25th weekend with details to be released soon as well as details on Halloween weekend plans.
“We’ve got a busy fall planned,” Austin explained. “2020 has been a crazy year for everyone and we just want to keep racing so that people have something to do and give racers who need a place to race somewhere to go. We’re going to go as long as the weather will allow us and see if we can’t put on some more great shows for the fans.”
To keep up with the latest schedule updates and changes as well as all other important info visit our website at www.FCSpeedway.com or call/text 276.613.4208